I am the former owner and editor of the Samui Times, a news publication on Koh Samui, and covered the stories of the so-called "backpacker murders" and other suspicious . koh tao murders crime scene photos Koh Tao - Thai Police - Their scapegoats, Tourist Trade Exposed by Anonymous Greetings world, We are Anonymous. The DNA analysis in the case, which was not subject to independent oversight or verification, was provided to the court as a one-page summary with four supporting pages, some of it handwritten with amendments. Myanmar men who murdered two UK backpackers on Ko Tao have their death sentences commuted to life Mobile phone of Ukrainian woman key to the puzzle as police decide between murder or suicide Ko Samui police probe the death of a Ukrainian woman found in a forested area last Sunday by a local man Carla Boonkong & Pranee O' Connor All times AEDT (GMT +11). Christina Annesley 2015; Nick's mother Tracy Pearson, told Derby and South Derbyshire Coroner's Court in the U.K., she had "a gut feeling there was foul play". https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/03/world/asia/thailand-koh-tao-death-island.html#:~:text=But%20among%20some%20foreigners%2C%20Koh,began%20calling%20it%20Death%20Island.&text=She%20accused%20the%20police%20of,up%20crime%20on%20the%20island. The university graduate, who was two weeks. [15] Public prosecutors initially rejected the report, asking for "certain flaws" to be fixed, more information to be supplied, and for the report to be made "more succinct". Nick's father, Graham, had been the last person to see him when he walked with his son back to where the family was staying. Pol Maj Gen Pornchai Sutheerakhun, director of the Institute of Forensic Science at Police General Hospital in Bangkok, said There were wounds around the neck due to the hanging and some non-fatal bruises in the head, and no drugs were found in the body. [87][88] The protests angered Thailand's prime minister, who believed the demonstrations were a plot "instigated" to hurt the government. However, at that time I was already aware of other tourist deaths on the island. Unfortunately, the Thai defence lawyers did not call Ms Taupin to give evidence even though she was available. [10], Witheridge and Miller travelled and arrived on the island separately on 25 August. [5][6] Both were students who were backpacking in Thailand. She was dedicated, ambitious and would have made an amazing difference to the lives of many families through her chosen career as a Speech and Language Therapist. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. A former Australian soldier, Justin Christopher House, died in Bangkok, where he was living, on February 2. It's dangerous. The 25-year-old's mum Tracey told a documentary about the island she would warn parents not to allow their children to travel to the island. [10][32] They highlighted a British tourist who had shared a room with Miller as a suspect, labelling it a "crime of passion"; he became the subject of a nationwide manhunt before the police quickly dropped the lead. [54] They argued that the defendants intended to kill Miller, using a hoe to hit him multiple times on the head. Tony Witheridge bowed his head as bloody images of his daughter's body were shown on the third day of the trial of Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo. Rocio Gomez; By the mid 1980s, the criminal underworld . It will take a bit of time to find loopholes to appeal. Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were sentenced to death for the killings. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller's bodies were found on a beach in Koh Tao in September 2014 Two Burmese migrants convicted over the killings had their death sentences reduced to life. [7] Witheridge had completed undergraduate studies in education at the University of East Anglia and had started post-graduate studies in speech and language therapy at the University of Essex. [42][43] The police said the suspects' DNA matched a sample of semen taken from Witheridge's body, and to the hoe and cigarette butts found near the body. "There has been lots of chit-chat on the internet. Russian tourist Valentina Novozhyonova, 23, vanished from her hostel on Koh Tao in March and has still not been found. Understanding powerlessness and vulnerability of migrants across Thailand, when combined with widespread criticism of this murder investigation and allegations of powerful actors influencing developments continues to produce deep distrust or suspicion that the real people responsible for . Police told Elise's mother Michele that her daughter had committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree around three days before she was found. [70] Wai Phyo was also convicted of theft for allegedly stealing a phone and sunglasses from Miller's body. The Mirror reports that Hannahs family have pleaded for the photos of the pair, who were brutally murdered on a Thailand beach, to be taken off the internet. warriors: come out to play board game; be quiet dark rock pro 4 vs noctua nh-d15; ridgeview road house cursed items; pan seared yellowfin tuna recipes British holidaymaker Christina Annesley, 23, died on the island in January 2015 after apparently mixing antibiotics she was taking for a chest infection with alcohol. While collecting forensic evidence, tourists and locals were allowed to walk on the beach. The government of Thailand was concerned the murders might affect tourism to the island, with arrivals dropping in the months following the murders. Despite claims of a fall, he had no broken bones. The Samui Times believes that it is in the best interests of any visitor to the island to be aware of the numerous tourist deaths and the fact that many families of those who died on the island are not satisfied with police investigations.. Thai police arrest men accused of murdering Brits on Koh Tao Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were sentenced to death for the killings. [38] Police entered the home the next day; only one of the men, Zaw Lin, was present. [42] In the trial, the prosecution said the phone was found smashed at the home of a friend of Zaw Lin's. Coincidentally, pictures of Bernd with a snake were to be found online. Read about our approach to external linking. But many cases appear very suspicious according to family members and insufficiently investigated. Picture: Viral Press/Australscope Zaw Lin was said to have entered between 2011 and 2012, and Wai Phyo in 2012. [52] The suspects were defended pro bono by two lawyers from the Lawyers Council of Thailand. As investigators descended upon the apartment, one of them picked up a camera and photographed the scene. Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk and David Miller, 24, of Jersey were bludgeoned to death with a wooden hoe as they walked back to their hotel room late at night on September 15, 2014, on the popular Sairee Beah. She was later identified by dental records and previous x-rays. Christina, from Orpington, South East London, died shortly after arriving on Koh Tao. The father of murdered British backpacker Hannah Witheridge has wept as graphic photos of her body lying on a Thai beach were shown in court. Picture: Viral Press/Australscope Mr Sachathamakul's wife, Anshoo. I Nov. 3, 2018. Dec. 24, 2015. Nick Pearson 2014; Try for $0.00. Dimitri Povse 2015; Two weeks later, two illegal Burmese migrant workers were blamed for the deaths, primarily on the basis of DNA evidence, and confessed following an hours-long interrogation. Hanspeter Suter 2014; [59] The defence struggled to find members of the public willing to testify at the trial, as many feared retribution,[1][60] hence their alibi was not considered convincing by the court. CONFESSION WITHDRAWN: Burmese suspect claims he was beaten, tortured by police. International experts criticized the DNA testing done by the hospital at the time with claims that samples were tampered with in order to falsely incriminate two Burmese workers. Bernds family in Ingolstadt, Germany, said that the authorities told them he had died of heart failure or had been bitten by a snake. Resting in the Gulf of Thailand, a two-hour ferry ride north of Koh Samui, Koh Tao is best known for its incredible marine life, which over the years has attracted a small but buoyant expat. 2040 / 2557, Regional Court of Appeal VIII No. According to the Daily Mail, the District Attorney publicized the gruesome photos a week after they were presented to a jury. I have created a Facebook page and a YouTube channel dedicated to looking into tourist deaths on Koh Tao. The governor of the island said he had instructed the district chief to file criminal charges against the local online news outlet Samui Times in 2017 after it ran an article that questioned the police account of deaths and referred to Koh Tao as Death Island. There was no evidence of a misdemeanour, but the bodies are send to the police hospital for atopsies. [47][75][12] Human Rights Watch said the case was "profoundly disturbing" and called for the verdict to be reviewed in a "transparent and fair appeal process". The victims have been named by Thai authorities as 23-year-old Hannah Witheridge from Great Yarmouth . [34][35], According to the prosecution in the subsequent case, CCTV footage analysed by the police showed three individuals riding a motorcycle to 7-Eleven, where they bought beer and cigarettes, before going towards Sairee Beach. [66], On 24 December 2015, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were found guilty of murdering Witheridge and Miller by the three judges, and were sentenced to death. Alexandr Bucspun, 33, from Moldova, was found dead in the sea off Had Sai Ree on Koh Tao on Tuesday, October 9, 2018. 2145/2559, "Two British tourists found dead on Thai island of Koh Tao", "Suspects in Thai Tourist Murders Face Dubious Trial", "Manhunt underway after brutal murder of 2 British tourists on Koh Tao", "Thailand's paradise island murder mystery", "What the Murder of Two British Tourists Tells Us About Thailand's Dark Side", "Thailand's Supreme Court upholds death penalty for men convicted of murdering British backpackers", "Koh Tao DNA evidence & international standards", "Thai court upholds death penalty for murder of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller", "Thailand backpacker murders: Burmese workers sentenced to death", "Thailand beach murders: A flawed and muddled investigation", "Koh Tao murders: DNA matches, confessions obtained, crime re-enacted", "Hearings Open Into Killings of Two British Tourists on Thai Island (Published 2014)", "Thai king commutes death sentence for Myanmar men in British tourist murder case", "Burmese men confess to killing British tourists on Koh Tao, Thai police say", "The Investigation Into Thailand's Backpacker Slayings Is Officially a Farce", "Migrants accused of murder of British couple in Thailand recant confessions", "Thai Dictator Faces Ire Over Murder Probe", "Koh Tao murder suspects plead not guilty", "Burmese pair to be executed for murder of British tourists on Koh Tao, Thailand", "2 Sentenced to Death in Killing of British Tourists in Thailand (Published 2015)", "Thailand murders: Two men found guilty and face death for UK killings", "Thai beach murders: Convicted men lose death sentence appeal", "Thai beach murders: Death sentence upheld by Supreme Court", "Backpacker's family 'grateful' for Thai king's clemency", "Koh Tao pair claim they were tortured before confessing", "Thai beach murders: DNA investigation into death of British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller 'incompetent at best', "Koh Tao murders: suspects in killing of David Miller and Hannah Witheridge say they were framed", "Koh Tao's dark side: dangers of island where Britons were murdered", "Thai Paradise Gains Reputation as 'Death Island', "Foreign Office calls in Thai diplomat over murder inquiry concerns", "Thailand murder suspects can't have British police report: UK judge", "Thai officials on alert as Myanmar protests spread", "Prayut lashes out at Myanmar Koh Tao protestors", "Thailand's Migrant Worker Woes Exposed in Koh Tao Murder Case", "Govt vows "high-tech" defence against hackers", "Island killings prompt stiffer worker rules", "Contesting narratives: the Koh Tao tourists murders", "Unofficial translation of Koh Samui Provincial Court No. Had he hanged himself, the professor pointed out that the bruises should have appeared on the neck than on his wrists. The body of 48 year old diving instructor Neil Giblin, from Birmingham, UK, was found dead in his rented bungalow on the island after he failed to turn up to a diving . He was discovered floating in the water by a member of hotel staff, with his death coming just days after a tragic final Facebook post on New Year's Eve, in which he said: "Can honestly say this new year I am living the dream". Police and court systems were hacked or taken offline in the following days, and a stash of personal information obtained from the court's servers was posted publicly. Samui Times defended its reporting in an online post. Elise's heartbroken mother, Michele van Egten, has now proclaimed she does not believe police account of events. [4][11][14] Their bodies were discovered on Sairee Beach a few hours later, between 4 and 5am, by a mute Burmese beach cleaner. But an unexplained fire that evening burned down three bamboo huts - including the one Elise had been staying in. A court in Thailand has convicted a pair of Burmese men of the murder of two young British tourists on the holiday island of Koh Tao, a verdict described as just by one victim's family but. BANGKOK A Thai court sentenced two men from Myanmar on Thursday to death for the murder of two British tourists last year, ending a high-profile trial shadowed . The pictures, which News Corp Australia will not reproduce, were taken on the beach at Koh Tao, where the pair was hacked to death with a garden hoe, allegedly by two Burmese men who confessed to the bloody crime then withdrew their confessions. Once youve been living there for a while, youll turn a blind eye to some pretty sketchy stuff, says Mike Earley, 30, from New Zealand, who spent six months on the island working as a DJ. Only if they are not beautiful." Posts on social media said Dallemagne had booked a ticket to Chumphon province, on the mainland, and that her luggage arrived after her death, raising questions of her intentions to take her own life. Thai police have publicly hit back at foreign media allegations that their forensics investigation into the highly-publicised 2014 murder case on Koh Tao did not meet international standards. [1][96], Although tourist arrivals to Koh Tao dropped in the months immediately following the murders, there was little lasting effect on tourism to the island.[92]. Direct quotations from the trial are unavailable, as the judges did not permit the public to take notes. Ms Taupin did note however that the document that the prosecution relied upon was an Unendorsed Report in that it had no seal or stamp certifying that it had been produced by an accredited laboratory and in accordance with international standards. [1], A defence team from Bangkok, composed of nearly 20 lawyers, were only permitted half an hour to meet the men; a request by the defence to delay the hearing and allow more time to prepare was denied by a judge at the Koh Samui Provincial Court. He originally moved to the island in the late 1990s but left in 2016 after becoming frustrated with the corruption and hostility towards foreign business owners. [62] They were both also charged with entering the country illegally, to which Wai Phyo had already confessed. A millionaire hotel tycoon and his wife have been found dead in a luxury resort on Koh Tao, colloquially known as Death Island. Thailand is one of the worlds most popular tourist destinations with around 35 million visitors each year and promotes itself as the Land of Smiles. The government is sensitive to criticism that could undermine the countrys reputation. She had checked into the hostel on February 11 and was due to check out on February 16, but failed to do so. The Backpacker Murders of Koh Tao. The murders on Koh Tao, a laid-back haven for divers, sullied Thailand's image in the tourism industry, which accounts for about 10 per cent of the country's economy. Some of these workers said they can earn more money in Thailand compared to Myanmar. He also had to track down a man seen on surveillance footage leaving his daughter's flat hours before she was discovered. 4.14. senseless" photos of the crime scene, they say, which show her body . Yoshie Sazawa (Sharlyn) 2004; [36] Footage near the crime scene also showed one of the three men running into a shortcut. One of the men Mau Mau resided nearby. He was travelling Southeast Asia with a friend after completing a six-week work placement in Australia with a mining company,[6][8][9] and arrived in Thailand in August. The families of Miss Witheridge and Mr Miller are now returning to the UK. The island of Koh Tao, off the coast of Thailand, is often described as a paradise. They raped and killed Hannah, and killed David who was attempting to fight them off. ISBN: 9780062802910. Most mainstream media provide only superficial accounts of what has been happening on the island and their published information is often inaccurate and understated the seriousness of the situation. But, his sister Maria and the family told the BBC they would not rely on what Thai police said as there was still speculation over the circumstances surrounding the death - and that they had received 'different versions' of what might have happened. The suspects were initially denied access to legal counsel, and alleged that police used torture and threats to secure a confession. She was part of the sect of the Sathya Sai Baba cult movement, and lived with a self-proclaimed "guru", and left the island on April 17 to return home. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. Post-mortem examinations showed that the young backpackers, who had met on the island while staying at the same hotel, both suffered head wounds and that Hannah had been raped. [51] The defence provided a separate explanation for the events on the night. Prosecutors alleged that the double murder of Paul and Maggie was part of an effort by Murdaugh to gain sympathy and distract others from his significant financial crimes. [25] There were no known eyewitnesses to the murders. Ten days after he went missing from Sairee Beach on Koh Tao, the body of Swiss tourist Hans Peter Suter, 44, was washed ashore at Talay Ngam beach in Lang Suan district of Chumphon province on Tuesday, November 18, 2014. [11] The two met in Koh Tao while staying at the same hotel. [49] Wai Phyo was also charged with stealing Miller's phone. Her dad Boyne said a toxicology report was not carried out. Guardian. 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