The family of a British backpacker killed in Thailand have welcomed a decision to commute his murderers' death sentences to life in prison. Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin had denied killing Mr Miller and raping and killing Miss Witheridge. On 15 September, the bodies of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were found on Sairee Beach on the island of Koh Tao, between 4 and 5 am, a few hours after their deaths. "This tree was another tower of Jersey strength brought crashing down before its time," they said. So sad to hear that young man murdered in Thailand was Jerseyman David Miller. 'No one knows, and that must be one of the hardest things for families and friends - for a young person to die and for despite all the investigation, all the inquest process we end up simply not knowing.'. The island is known as a haven for scuba divers. The two men were convicted and sentenced in 2015 and the verdict was upheld by an appeals court in 2017 and the Supreme Court in August 2019, but their sentences were changed to life in prison on Friday thanks to a royal decree. , updated Yeh I made the same mistake and I feel a bit sick now. Two Burmese migrants who were convicted over the killings had their death sentences reduced to life imprisonment in 2020. Despite claims of a fall, he had no broken bones. Police had previously given conflicting statements about the DNA evidence, initially saying that it was lost or "used up" before later insisting that it had been properly saved, Reuters reported. Then came Friday's bombshell about the DNA on the bloody hoe. The two workers, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, were sentenced to death for the murder of David Miller and the murder and rape of Hannah Witheridge, whose bodies were discovered on a beach on the popular tourist island of Koh Tao in September 2014. The bodies of David Miller, 24, from Jersey, and Hannah Witheridge, aged 23, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, were discovered semi-naked on a beach in the divers' paradise of Koh Tao yesterday. The legal team defending the two men also said the evidence collected by police was unreliable and not in accordance with internationally accepted standards. So those other people were probably also murdered, but I am SO tired of relatives saying "she didn't kill herself, she was so happy" being used as a real argument that someone didn't kill themself. Both had been in Thailand since August and had met just hours before their deaths. Putting names to archive photos, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, In photos: India's disappearing single-screen cinemas. Llam demasiado la atencin? British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were killed in September 2014, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were convicted of the murders in a Thai court and originally sentenced to death, The bodies of Mr Miller and Miss Witheridge were found on a beach on the Thai island of Koh Tao, commute his murderers' death sentences to life in prison, Harry: I always felt different to rest of family, Chris Rock talks Oscars slap in live Netflix show, Everything Everywhere wins big ahead of Oscars, Mbappe breaks PSG goal record in win over Nantes, PM to end asylum claims from small boat arrivals. She screams, he panics, so he hits her multiple times with the hoe to make her shut up - not rage as much as fear and desire to stop her screams. Tourist police said the safety measure would be voluntary. Mr and Mrs Miller, from St Helier, said: "Every moment we miss our son. Hannah Witheridge & David Miller: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. They both decide to take a backpacking trip to Thailand before pursuing Master's Degrees in their respective fields. Powered by. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. The BBC reports that police in the area believe the man has already escaped Koh Tao. But far from attempting to address the issues of visitor safety, Thai army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the nations self-appointed Prime Minister following a May 22 military coup, has stoked outrage by pointing fingers at the victims. "The death penalty sentence against the two accused and their conviction should be reversed and quashed," Andy Hall, an adviser to the two men's legal team, said ahead of their appeal. Bystanders, including a TV reporter, were roped in to play the parts of the victims. and our David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, didn't know each other before they met on holiday in Thailand in September. Laura Daniels, 30, died five years after her sister Hannah, 23, was killed on Koh Tao with David Miller of Jersey. Nor did his department fully test the alleged murder weapon. Mr Miller's family said they were "grateful" to the Thai king. One thing I thought of during this episode is there needs to be some sort of DNA processing regulation, preferably independent of police departments/government agencies. Please note: Starting with Case 200, we are using a new Casefile Ratings Form (200-). Win Zaw Htun and his friend Zaw Lin, both 21, are in both the Koh Samui jail and the spotlight of a gruesome crime case, although practically no one believes they really brutally murdered English tourists Hannah Witheridge and David Miller last month on nearby Koh Tao. 18:34 GMT 11 Aug 2021 2023 BBC. Although there were signs of sexual activity, investigators have not ascertained whether Witheridge was raped. On Sept. 15, one of the occupants of that same room A5, Hannah Witheridge, was found bludgeoned to death in their midst alongside fellow British tourist David Miller, just a short stumble. On a human level, it's understandable why they would have these feelings considering the grief and emotional pain they've gone through, but at the same time, judges, juries, and prisons exist for a reason. All in all, this case made me reconsider ever going to Thailand, if I ever thought of doing that. Maybe I missed it but I dont think the fate of the guitar was addressed? The names of the tourists were first announced in a Sky News tweet. Hannah Witheridge was a college student at the University of Essex and lived there, according to her Facebook page. His death was ruled as suicide but police could not explain why his hands were tied behind his back. The family said it had brought to a close a "lengthy and disturbing period" where activists on social media had attempted to influence justice in Thailand and public opinion elsewhere. Two men convicted of murdering two British backpackers in Thailand have had their death sentence upheld by its Supreme Court. The men said they didn't use a condom, even though police insisted they had. When the bodies of British tourists 23-year-old Hannah Witheridge and 24-year-old David Miller were found brutally murdered on the remote Thai island of Koh Tao, the police immediately concluded that the killer had to be a foreigner, as a Thai person couldn't be capable of such brutality. However, given the inconsistencies in the investigation, doubt is likely to remain no matter the verdict. Prosecutors said DNA evidence collected from cigarette butts, condoms, and the bodies of the victims linked Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun to deaths. Hannah Witheridge was a 23-year-old speech therapy student who planned to return to her studies in the summer after her island getaway. Instead, he told the court that the hoe was examined under a magnifying glass but investigators decided there were no viable fingerprints or DNA to collect, Sky News reported. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. The two were said to have been backpackers going through the tiny island of Koh Tao. Wa-hee-rah-long-gonenever heard anyone else pronounce it like that. According to the Burmese suspects it was stolen from them while swimming. The bodies of Ms Witheridge, 23, and Mr Miller, 24, were found on the island of Koh Tao in September 2014 with severe head injuries. Hannah Witheridge was a beautiful blonde from eastern England. Post-mortems found that Hannah had died from head wounds, while engineering student Mr Miller suffered severe blows to his head and drowned. With Jovelle Balani, Byron Charnonneau, Alexandra Chubaty Boychuk, Daniel Cifuentes. The two Myanmar nationals are charged with murder (of both tourists), gang rape (of Witheridge) and stealing, Prachum Ruangthong, police chief of neighbouring Koh Phangan island, told AFP. Its also reported that Witheridge had been raped prior to her death, those reports were later found to be unfounded. He added: 'Life was never going to be easy or the same again, we shared difficult times but we found happiness together.'. Putting names to archive photos, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, In photos: India's disappearing single-screen cinemas. International legal and forensic scientists said in 2016 that the DNA investigation by the Thai Police Forensics Laboratory was incompetent with no chain of evidence. Hannah was also raped. With no DNA evidence and a contested confession, the case appears to be collapsing. Witheridge and Miller are the two British tourists who were found dead after being chopped up on a Thailand beach. When is Eurovision and how do you get tickets? Copy and paste it. In March 2015 Russian touristValentina Novozhyonova, 23,vanished from her hostel on Koh Tao in mid-February - sparking a police search. By the time dawn broke over Koh Tao, the beach had been transformed into a bloodbath. Doubts about the case against the migrants - and the underlying mystery of who killed the tourists - have only deepened since the trial began in early July. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller have been named as the two tourists who chopped up by a hoe in Thailand. The pair were killed with a wooden hoe as they walked back to their hotel rooms late at night on a beach. The pair did not know each other before their holiday, but CCTV footage shows them leaving a bar together just hours before their battered bodies were discovered. "Our thoughts are also with the Witheridge family and the tragic loss of their daughter. "She would have gone on to make a significant difference to the lives of many people.". Good episode, but infuriating for the same reasons as many others. Prosecutors have claimed the men are linked to the killings by DNA evidence collected from cigarette butts, a condom and the bodies of the victims. 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. The exact area where there bodies were found was the village of Hat Sat Ri. They lost their appeal in 2017. Do you know this baby? Thai authorities say IT manager Ben Harrington, 32, broke his neck when he crashed into an electricity pylon on a night-time moped ride on the island in August 2012. Witheridge died from severe head wounds while Miller died from blows to the head and drowning, according to the Thai forensics department. Beware. By Lin and Phyo (also known asWin Zaw Htun)were sentenced to death for the murder of Mr Miller and the murder and rape of Ms Witheridge. They had arrived in Thailand separately and met at the hotel where they were staying. 'No one knows' what caused the death of Laura Daniels, 30, of Norfolk, despite extensive investigations, her family was told at a hearing in Winchester, Hampshire on Wednesday. The thing that struck me about this episode was the guitar. Crowds of onlookers watched as the suspects were led to the rocky alcove along the shore where the two bodies were discovered. While police ruled out foul play, Nick's family, who say officers did not investigate a single witness, believe he was murdered. A post-mortem examination was unable to determine a cause of death for Mrs Daniels, a paediatric nurse who lived in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Her death while pregnant was a 'double tragedy', area coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp said as she recorded an open conclusion. Edit: Just heard him pronounce the Thai king's name at the end of the episode. Yet, that case has also been disintegrating. Thai National police today charged two Myanmar men with murder and rape after they confessed to killing the pair, with AFP reporting their DNA matched traces at the crime scene on Koh Tao island. Laura was being treated at the hospital. David Miller was her handsome friend from the Channel Islands. Friends and family of Mr Miller have commissioned a "simple seat from a plank of oak from a tree that fell in the great storm of 1987". In a statement, Miss Witheridge's family said their daughter had been "taken from us in the most horrific way possible" and learning of her death had been an "indescribably impossible time". Miss Witheridge's family paid tribute to their "beautiful Hannah". Cuando Boyne Annesley busca al ltimo hombre que vio a su hija con vida, cree que ella estaba indagando sobre los asesinatos de Hannah Witheridge y David Miller en la playa Sairee en 2014. Please try again later. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Hannah was also raped in the attack in September 2014. It is easy to see how/why the Thai police would want to pin this on them, but one part of their story that seemed odd to me was how they ended up with the cell phone. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The problem is all the distractions, Quaglia tells TIME. "The second roti seller has been on the stand and it's become very clear that he does not have much of grasp of Thai at all so we don't understand how he could have translated for police," Andy Hall, a British migrant rights advocate who is assisting the defence, told the newspaper. --- Nar Two Burmese workers were sentenced to death in 2015, after being found guilty of killing David Miller, 24, of Jersey, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, of Norfolk. Jacob Thorburn For Mailonline And wasnt the English guy that was an initial suspect found with a blood stained guitar? I kept thinking the episode was going to circle back around to this aspect but it never did. She is an absolute nut job with an inexplicable vendetta against Tao, who has been exiled from Thailand due to defamation charges (not just from this story), and her and her partner are supporters of the English Defence League and known racists. In a separate address, for which he has since apologized, he said that tourists think our country is beautiful and is safe so they can do whatever they want, they can wear bikinis and walk everywhere. The general even suggested that the only tourists who should feel safe in bikinis were those who were not beautiful.. We are confident that these people will be caught now or later.. Under the scheme hotels will distribute the wristbands to new arrivals. The death sentences of two men convicted of murdering two British backpackers in Thailand were upheld by the Supreme Court. Burmese bar workers Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were found guilty of murder in 2015. Colonel Cherdpong also said that his department had not investigated rumours of a fight between Ms Witheridge and the son of a powerful Koh Tao politician on the night of the killings. In 2019, the mothers of Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun filed a plea for clemency from the King of Thailand on Thursday, in a case tainted by allegations of wrongdoing, saying the couples confessions were obtained under duress. Frenchman Dimitri Povse, 29, was found hanged in a bungalow on the island on New Year's Day 2015. Hannah & David: Directed by John Barnard. David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23 Forensic tests carried out on two British tourists murdered in Thailand have found that the woman died from severe head wounds, while the man had. Basically, Myanmar shares a border with Thailand and is considerably lower on the economic development index so a lot of labour, both legal and illegal, is done by Myanmar people inside Thailand. All Rights Reserved. Both were found. Case over Hannah Witheridge and David Miller's deaths on Thai island unravelling. Having backpacked a few parts of South-East Asia (tho not Thailand), theres def a dark underbelly to some of these tourist paradise places that is palpable and unsettling.. and that came through in the storytelling of the episode. Two Myanmar men accused of murdering two British holidaymakers David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, in Thailand will go on trial on Wednesday in a case that caused outrage in Britain and raised questions about the competence of the Thai police and the treatment of migrant labourers. The killings roiled Koh Tao, a 2000-hectare island buoyed by tourism. Privacy Policy. Finally, he said he did not think it was relevant that CCTV footage showed men fleeing from the area in clothing that was different to that worn by the Myanmar workers that night. They had been bludgeoned to death. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller are perfect strangers who hail from coastal towns in the UK. However, a lawyer for Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo told the BBC that the pair had not admitted their guilt when their death sentences were commuted. These two kindred spirits meet for the first time on the . The murders of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, occurred in the early hours of the morning after they left AC Bar. A UK autopsy later discovered Ben died of a transected aorta a rupture of the bodys largest artery rather than a broken neck. Thai king commutes sentence of UK pairs killers, Historic ocean treaty agreed after decade of talks, China looks at reforms to deepen Xi's control, Inside the enclave surrounded by pro-Russia forces, 'The nurses wanted me to feel guilty about my abortion, From Afghan TV fame to a US factory floor. The case was upheld and taken to the Thai Supreme Court, the countrys last court of appeal. It was a year ago that the bodies were discovered on the beach: nearly naked, their blood mixing with the morning surf. The men alleged that they had been tortured by the police, and legal teams claimed that the evidence was . He described the impact the tragic murder of Miss Witheridge had on the family, and how Mrs Daniels 'spearheaded the fight for justice for her sister'. Their sentences will be reduced to life in prison after a royal clemency decree was issued on Friday, said their lawyer Nakhon Chompuchat. For other inquiries, Contact Us. The testimony is just the latest in a long series of shocking setbacks that threaten to sink not only the case, but also the Thai criminal justice system. Write to Charlie Campbell at charlie.campbell@time.com. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. The government has lowered its forecast for tourist arrivals this year to 25.9 million, down from an initial target of 28 million. One of the things I like most about Casefile fans is the respect given to the victims and their families, which is not always the case with true crime fans. The pain of this loss is indescribable and our family needs a lot of time and privacy during this excruciating time.. It doesnt seem like the two convicted of the murder actually committed it, but that leaves wiide open the question of who is actually attacking + murdering backpackers on this island, and why?! Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were murdered on a Thai island in 2014 Hannah Witheridge, a backpacker who was murdered in Thailand, The family of Hannah Witheridge, has had their hearts broken by the second death of her sister who died in hospital, Laura Daniels. A bloodstained garden hoe, which is thought to be the murder weapon, was discovered nearby, AFP reported. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller. Koh Tao is actually pronounced 'kaw? Case 220: Hannah Witheridge & David Miller casefilepodcast 70 56 56 comments Add a Comment Lisbeth_Salandar 4 mo. I doubt we'll ever know the truth. The two suspects, identified only as "Saw" and "Win," appeared at a news conference this week where the Thailand police commissioner said that DNA samples from . We are not going into their personal information its just the details they have to fill out on the immigration form already, he said. The two workers from Myanmar, wearing helmets and handcuffs, during a re-enactment of the alleged crime. They still maintain their innocence, as they did throughout the trial. The men have been charged with the murder of both Britons -- a charge which carries the death penalty. Today it emerged that two men had confessed to killing the pair. Sue Witheridge gave evidence at the inquest into the death of. And even Sairee was mispronounced. T he brutal murder of British tourists Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, on the Thai resort island of Koh Tao, has reverberated around the world. She died at Southampton General Hospital on September 16, 2019 - five years after her sister Hannah Witheridge, then 23, was found beaten to death on a Thailand beach. If anything happens to them we will then know their names, nationality and hotel, said Arnuparp Gaesornsuwan, director general of the Department of Tourism told AFP. Their bodies were found semi-naked and severely battered, and both had severe head wounds. It is still unclear what prompted the killings. What science tells us about the afterlife. Or, for the IPA-inclined, '/k/ /taw/'. Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, were found dead on the island of Koh Tao on 15 September last year. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital (Facebook). "We're confident we have a very high chance of finding the suspects," the senior police officer said. Burmese bar workers Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were found guilty of murder in 2015. The Daily Telegraph reports that the two were seen leaving a bar at around 1 a.m. Sky News reports that Witheridge had been traveling with three friends. Last month, the translators, who were used to obtain the now retracted confessions, admitted in court that they were roti (pancake) vendors who barely understood Thai and spoke little Burmese, the Myanmar Times reported.
Philadelphia Folk Festival 1974,
Mobile Massage Phoenix, Az,
2017 Chevy Cruze Gear Shift Plus And Minus,
Why Do Episcopalians Cover The Cross During Lent,
Stuart Scott Speech Transcript,
Articles H