An English human rights activist by the name of Andy Hall asked me to put him in touch with the Melbourne forensic expert, Jane Taupin which I did. While Weegee is well known and has work in places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, most of the pictures here come from a junk store box . After searching, All rights reserved. In September 2014, two European backpackers, Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were found murdered on Sairee Beach on Thailands island of Koh Tao. Some sources also refer to Wai Phyo as Win Zaw Htun. The prosecution says a DNA match between samples found on Miss Witheridge's body and the two defendants is central to its case. A judge found the workers guilty and sentenced them to death despite questions about DNA evidence and the police handling of the case. [63] They plead not guilty to the charge at the trial, but Wai Phyo changed his plea to guilty during the proceedings. The suspects were initially denied access to legal counsel, and alleged that police used torture and threats to secure a confession. Brits Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were murdered as they walked back to their hotel rooms in September 2014. There were no signs of fighting or a struggle, nor were foreign objects or substances that could cause loss of consciousness found in the body.. To narrow down the search and display some truly rare crime scene photographs, all images on this list have been taken by the photographer Weegee the Famous, who rose to prominence in the 1930s and 40s. Friends and family remain suspicious of the police investigation and the insistence that Dimitri committed suicide, especially as his hands were tied behind his back. What really happened there? Hannah Witheridge 2014; We had one day on Koh Tao, it was really hard.". The coroner concluded there was not enough evidence to say where or how he met his death. The crime's brutality amid Koh Tao's insular, backpacker charm caused an international sensation and threatened to further weaken a tourist industry already reeling from the military coup of. Administratively it is a subdistrict (tambon) of Ko Pha-ngan District (amphoe) of Surat Thani Province. [46] The police then forced the suspects to re-enact the murder in front of media,[34] a move condemned by legal experts as prejudicing a fair hearing. By Thomas Fuller. Silje Mathisen 2014; 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". [93] Amid the investigation, Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul visited Koh Tao on 28 September 2014 in an attempt to reassure tourists. [76], The International Commission of Jurists said "the defense must be afforded adequate time and facilities to explore whether the alleged destruction of evidence in this case was appropriate and unavoidable, and to test the prosecution case overall." The evidence in the form of this Unendorsed Report would have been ruled as inadmissible in US courts and other Western courts. As the Witheridge family prepares for Hannahs funeral, her parents, Sue and Tony Witheridge, released this statement: Time makes the pain of this horrendous tragedy no easier to bear. The Murders The two people killed were Hannah Witheridge and David Miller. [1][47] The national police chief, Somyot Poompanmoung, denied that torture was involved in the confessions. [5][40] The commutation was welcomed by Miller's family. Photo: CSI LA. Christina Annesley 2015; A woman Povse had been interested in said he had called her twice on the phone that night but she had not picked up because she had been asleep. The country's prime minister, who had been phoning the national police chief daily for updates on the investigation, said "this should not have happened at all, as it will affect Thailand in the eyes of the international community". "There has been lots of chit-chat on the internet. On September 20, 1988, Tara Calico left her home in New Mexico to go on a bike ride she took, In November 1981, actress Natalie Wood mysteriously drowned off the coast of Southern California during a boating trip with her, In July 2014, 52 year old Lynn Messer mysteriously disappeared from her familys 260-acre farm in Bloomsdale, Missouri. The family has contested the police version of events. senseless" photos of the crime scene, they say, which show her body . "We're more and more thinking that the police information is not the right explanation.". Informacin detallada del sitio web y la empresa: smpsotomasyon.com, +902163767779 SMPS OTOMASYON | Plc, Kart, Servo Motor, Src, Panel Tamiri The body had to be identified using dental records and previous X-rays. 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. Guardian. [58] Ostensibly, Wai Phyo changed jobs at the end of September and was travelling by boat to Surat Thani for his new job on the day he was arrested. In December 2015, the pair were convicted of the murder and sentenced to death. Elise's death is the latest in a string of seven fatalities in three years on the island. The men, apprehended soon after the pair's bodies were found, initially confessed to the crime only to retract their statements amid claims they were extracted by torture. However, the event did not materially affect tourism to the island over the following years. [51][21] The trial was attended by external observers, including representatives from Amnesty International and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. 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 There were apparently no signs of robbery or attack in the room at the hotel where Alexandr had been staying. Now their families are demanding answers. The images shown to the court were graphic, reports Jonah Fisher in Thailand. Nick Pearson, from Derby, was found floating in the sea on New Year's Day 2014. [51] This decision was criticised by the Solicitors International Human Rights Group, one of the observers at the trial. Koh Tao has long had a reputation as a home for organized crime, corruption and as a place where the police protected local interests. They also found a suicide note at the scene. British Bricklayer Luke Miller, 26, was found at the bottom of a swimming pool at the Sunset Bar at Sairee Beach on January 6, 2016. The court has now been told that vital DNA evidence cannot be retested. 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. He started another business in neighboring island Koh Phayam before returning in March 2018 to "tie up loose ends". But among some foreigners, Koh Tao has taken on a more sinister reputation. A millionaire hotel tycoon and his wife have been found dead in a luxury resort on Koh Tao, colloquially known as Death Island. A fascinating, cinematic, multigenerational history of the Cuban mob in the US from "America's top chronicler of organized crime"* and New York Times bestselling author of Havana Nocturne. Boyne Annesley believes his 23-year-old daughter Christina Annesley, of Orpington, southeast London, was murdered on Koh Tao Island in January 2015. The family claimed the circumstances surrounding his death and the local police's refusal to co-operate with them have led them to believe the death is "suspicious". In January 2014, 25-year-old Nick Pearson was found dead in the sea below a cliff while visiting the island. The official story is they were walking back to their hotel at night and were jumped by 2 Burmese men. Fears over the safety of idyllic Koh Tao were heightened after the killings of Brits Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in 2014. His parents believe he was murdered - despite police claims he fell 50ft and drowned. Bernd's cousin Christina said: ''We cannot accept what the Thai authorities on the island are telling us. Picture: Facebook DEATH ISLAND VICTIMS REVEALED Thai police have said they will issue a summons for the British teenager raped on Koh Tao after her mother said she fled the island without reporting the crime because she feared for her life. At least eleven European tourists have died or disappeared there since 2014 and it is now described as Death Island or Murder Island. [95] The mayor of the island, Chaiyan Turasakul, announced a new police station and staffed it with 40 full-time officers, compared to five previously. [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. [88][89] Hacker group Anonymous published a video on 3 January 2016 criticising the verdict. He had been dead about 10 days and had left to go snorkeling alone on November 8. She had checked into the hostel on February 11 and was due to check out on February 16 but failed to do so. Frenchman Dimitri Povse, 29, was found hanged in a bungalow on the island on New Year's Day 2015 and his death was ruled as suicide despite his hands being tied behind his back. The university graduate, who was two weeks. Ive never been happier than here, David, a 24-year-old on holiday with friends, told relatives in Jersey in what was to be his last phone call home. Both victims had been hit several times on the head; Witheridge had been raped, and Miller had been drowned. She was found dead in her bungalow with a mix of medication and alcohol in her system in 2015 - leading the. [54] They argued that the defendants intended to kill Miller, using a hoe to hit him multiple times on the head. [64], Several CCTV cameras near the crime scene were reported to be nonfunctional, and cameras near the pier were not checked by the police. CONFESSION WITHDRAWN: Burmese suspect claims he was beaten, tortured by police. "[78] Another commentary in the paper stated that the "overwhelming public skepticism stems from the police's longstanding notoriety for arresting poor and powerless scapegoats to save rich criminals who can afford to buy their innocence". Two Burmese migrant workers, Zaw Lin and Win Zaq Htun, both 21, have been accused of murdering the two backpackers and of raping Hannah. [21][73], The death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment on 14 August 2020 following a royal decree to commemorate King Vajiralongkorn's birthday and "illustrate the king's clemency". The autopsy stated he had drowned. Disturbing online photos leave family of backpacker Hannah Witheridge disgusted By Sophie Goddard 9 Oct 2014 Rex Features Last month, the tragic revelation that backpackers Hannah Witheridge, 23,. They stated they were driven by a desire to rape the victim following sexual arousal when they saw the couple kissing on the beach. It was revealed yesterday that on April 28 Elise became the latest tourist found dead on the island of Koh Tao. Zaw Lin, front, and Wai Phyo (also known as Win Zaw Htun), rear, arrive at the court in Koh Samui, Blinken and Lavrov meet for first time since invasion, Explosive found in check-in luggage at US airport, Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Whiskey fungus forces Jack Daniels to stop construction, Tulsa massacre survivors granted Ghana citizenship, Seven in hospital from US plane turbulence, Same-sex marriage ban not discrimination - Japan PM, Messages reveal battle over Covid school policy. "[56] Attempts to appeal the sentence to the High Court in 2017 were unsuccessful. Virat Asavachin (Mr Ban) 2002; [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]. He had recently returned to the island after building up a motorbike rental business. Hotel owner Rakeshwar Sachathamakul has been found dead along with his wife in a luxury resort on Koh Tao. Andy was assisting the defence lawyers. Samyak Choudhary; and I have created a Facebook page and a YouTube channel dedicated to looking into tourist deaths on Koh Tao. [50], An 18-day trial began on 8 July 2015 in the Koh Samui Provincial Court. His body was found at the beach at the Hillside Resort on Koh Tao, on January 1, 2014. HARROWING photos of the corpses of English backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller have surfaced online, traumatising their families. Their bodies were found on a beach on the island of Koh Tao last September. And insecure residency tends to breed compliance. 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. These are the first pictures of the British tourists murdered on a paradise beach in Thailand. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. Valentina was reported to have been visiting the island to go freediving an activity the area is famed for among backpackers. [71], A lawyer for the men, Nakhon Chomphuchat, said "we will appeal as soon as we can, we have just got a copy of the court's verdict. Some of these workers said they can earn more money in Thailand compared to Myanmar. Ortega, 55, is charged . WARNING CONTAINS SOME DISTURBING IMAGES OF DEATH. I'm asking if they wear bikinis in Thailand, will they be safe? Despite claims of a fall, he had no broken bones. But it was in this idyllic setting that their horribly bludgeoned bodies were discovered, their blood seeping into the sand and staining the water. shark tank hamdog net worth SU,F's Musings from the Interweb. 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 5am, a few hours after their deaths. Most are running guesthouses, eateries and scuba-diving operations or working as diving instructors. While he claimed she "kissed the gun" and that it was an accidental suicide, others - including . [31] Media reports speculated that was because the defence was wary of calling on foreign experts fearing it could appear as undermining the Thai justice system, and could bias the judges against their case. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, "This Septic Isle: Backpackers, Bloodshed and the Secretive World of Koh Tao", "Links revealed between police and migrants on Koh Tao", "Police: Still no suspect in killings of Britons on idyllic Thai island", "Thai king commutes death sentence of UK pair's killers", "Thailand: Hannah Witheridge 'raped by two men before being killed', "Thailand backpacker murders: David Miller and Hannah Witheridge - two lives cut short", "Thailand murders: Victims' families talk of senseless killings", "Hannah Witheridge's family pay tribute to "beautiful, intelligent, loving young woman", "British backpackers murdered in Thailand named as Hannah Witheridge and David Miller", "Thailand murders: Amnesty International call for police torture probe", Koh Samui Provincial Court No. No broken bones of brits Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were murdered as they walked back their. 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