[15] Experts have considered the forensic investigation to have been incompetent, and to have possibly framed the suspects. "We'll go with the flow as much as we can. 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. The university graduate, who was two weeks into a four-month backpacking trip round South East Asia, was found dead on her bungalow in January 2015. [10], Witheridge and Miller travelled and arrived on the island separately on 25 August. Yearly, many professional photographers visit this lodge to capture herds of elephants crossing the dry lake in search of water . Some 200 children have died in one nation after taking toxic cough syrups. Defence lawyers had asked for the samples to be independently verified but have now been told there is nothing left of them to re-test. In accepting the 2nd retrial plea, sought by the family of Hiromu Sakahara, who died of illness aged 75 while serving his term in 2011, the Osaka High Court said . In pictures: Thailand beach murders Show all 12 It has also been claimed that vital DNA evidence linking the two suspects to the death of Miss Witheridge no longer exists - so cannot be retested.. [1][4][24] Witheridge's body indicated she had been raped. Informacin detallada del sitio web y la empresa: joanromans.com, +49803921568627, +34972573012, +34643318517 Focs i Estufes Romans - Joan Romans He told the Sun Online: "We want justice. The island is small and gifted with loads of hidden gems and completely deserted bays. I was told on more than one occasion that I needed to take down this stuff from the paper. [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. [42] In the trial, the prosecution said the phone was found smashed at the home of a friend of Zaw Lin's. [42][48] Amnesty International stated that Thailand "must initiate an independent, effective and transparent investigation into mounting allegations of torture and other ill-treatment by police". Staff checked her room to discover her mobile phone, passport and camera had all been left behind. [4][11][14] Their bodies were discovered on Sairee Beach a few hours later, between 4 and 5am, by a mute Burmese beach cleaner. He started another business in neighboring island Koh Phayam before returning in March 2018 to "tie up loose ends". [47] Thailand's National Human Rights Commission attempted to investigate the allegations, but police representatives did not appear at four scheduled meetings. 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. And at least six young Brits have all died in suspicious circumstances on the small island of Koh Tao, leading their loved ones to label it "Death Island". But, he said that most of these would have been present prior to his death, although he could not completely rule out the possibility that Nick had been attacked. Unfortunately, the Thai defence lawyers did not call Ms Taupin to give evidence even though she was available. They had been brutally beaten to death just a few feet away from their hotel rooms. Frenchman, Dimitri Povse, 29, was found hanging from the beam of a rented house on January 1, 2015. The Koh Samui Provincial Court has set 24 December as the date to deliver its judgement on two Myanmar men, Zaw Lin and Zaw Ein Htun (aka Wai Phyo), who are accused of murdering two British tourists on Thailand's Koh Tao Island on September 15 last year. We have done our own investigation and we are sure she was murdered. Koh Tao, Thailand, Serial killers, Unexplained murders WARNING CONTAINS SOME DISTURBING IMAGES OF DEATH The island of Koh Tao, off the coast of Thailand, is often described as a paradise. Read about our approach to external linking. [36] Footage near the crime scene also showed one of the three men running into a shortcut. The family has contested the police version of events. It covers an area of about 21 km2. Koh Tao murders: 'Asian man' seen on CCTV sought for q uestioning Probe into murder of two Britons on Koh Tao Manhunt on Koh Tao after tourists found brutally murdere d on beach British tourists murdered, stripped on Koh Tao beach Topics: Bangkok, Features Join the Coconuts conversation with a comment. Buchanan told the Sun Online: They all died in really mysterious circumstances- the Thai version of Christina Annesleys death was that she died of natural causes, she's 23! He had been dead about 10 days and had left to go snorkeling alone on November 8. These included backpackers Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, who were found murdered on the . "They won't come forward because they know something is going to happen to them," he added. [11] The two met in Koh Tao while staying at the same hotel. Their findings were never made public, but were shared with the families of the victims. [67] Protesters called for the release of the two suspects, who they believed were innocent and scapegoated for the crime. [87][88] The protests angered Thailand's prime minister, who believed the demonstrations were a plot "instigated" to hurt the government. [38] Both men were 22-year-old illegal migrant workers from Rakhine, Myanmar, who worked in the hospitality industry. She was also part of the Sathya Sai Baba cult and lived with a self-proclaimed 'guru'. It doesn't necessarily mean they are transgender, or that they are doing drag, they just live as women. Shared On: 28th Dec, 2022. Nick Pearson 2014; While police ruled out foul play, Nick's family, who say officers did not investigate a single witness, believe he was murdered. Since then the Samui Times has been inundated with . What really happened there? They weren't looked down upon or treated poorly at all. 2023 BBC. 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. Buy images; Sell images; Lightboxes; We won't comment on the trial process. At the end of the trial's third day, the judge said police had informed him all the samples taken on the island were "finished" - meaning they could not be analysed again. Police have, however, agreed to hand over the garden hoe which was the murder weapon, along with a shoe and a plastic bag. The relevant standard in this case was ISO 17025. In August 2020, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo had their death sentences commuted to life in prison to commemorate King Vajiralongkorn's birthday and to show his "clemency". Are there serial killers operating on the island, with their crimes apparently insufficiently investigated so that the tourist industry remains protected? She was said to have died of natural causes after mixing antibiotics she was taking for a chest infection with alcohol. A Japanese high court approved Monday a posthumous retrial for a man who was convicted of murdering a 69-year-old woman in 1984 in western Japan, upholding a lower court's decision. Two Burmese migrant workers, Zaw Lin and Win Zaq Htun, both 21, have been accused of murdering the two backpackers and of raping Hannah. She had checked into the hostel on February 11 and was due to check out on February 16, but failed to do so. 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. Why are the police not thoroughly investigating, why are they changing facts? The suspects were initially denied access to legal counsel, and alleged that police used torture and threats to secure a confession. [51][21] The trial was attended by external observers, including representatives from Amnesty International and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. 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. [48], The guilty verdict resulted in widespread protests in Myanmar. There were no signs he was suicidal. 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". He had recently returned to the island after building up a motorbike rental business. 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. [55], The defence claimed that the investigation was flawed due to mishandling of forensic evidence, lack of legal representation during interrogations, use of threats and intimidation to secure a confession, and intimidation of witnesses. The coroner concluded there was not enough evidence to say where or how he met his death. Aran Klaewklong, a security guard from Big Blue Diving shop, told police he found a mobile phone, clothes, a hotel key, shoes and an ID on the beach at 1.30 am during a beach patrol. 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. [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. Pol Lt Gen Thanate Pinmuangngam, acting chief of Police Region 8, said In the Dallemagne case, the cause of death was suffocation. [15], Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo retracted their statements following a visit from a consular lawyer for Myanmar and said they had made their statements under duress, after they had allegedly been beaten, left naked in a freezing room, and threatened with electrocution and an extrajudicial killing. Koh Tao is a small and beautiful island in Southern Thailand, approximately 21 km, 30 km north of Koh Phan Gan and about 70 km from the Chumphon town. [1][11][18] A bloody hoe, believed to be the murder weapon, and a wooden club were found near the bodies,[19][4][14] along with three cigarette butts and a used condom. Bernd had also recently separated from his wife, Oey, a Koh Tao native, with whom he had a seven-year-old daughter, Bene, who had been living for the last two years with his sister, Monica, in Germany. [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. [7][12], Miller and Witheridge were last seen at a bar called AC Bar[13] with friends at a party on Sunday night with around 50 people mostly foreign tourists before they left together after 1am. Hannah Witheridge was seen walking through Koh Tao with a group of friends - all of whom are thought to be British - just hours before being brutally murdered +17 View gallery The 23-year-old. [1] After initially failing to find a match to one of the migrant workers, the police focused their attention on Western tourists related to the victims. He announced that he had "ordered all security-related agencies to track down those who are behind the Myanmar demonstrations". A UK autopsy later revealedBen died of a transected aorta a rupture of the bodys largest artery rather than a broken neck. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller koh tao, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo koh tao, dimitri povse koh tao, christina annesley koh tao, Valentina Novozhyonova koh tao, luke miller koh tao, Elise Dallemagne koh tao, Bernd grotsch koh tao, Alexandr Bucspun koh tao, The frightening case of the Trailside Killer David Carpenter, The Yosemite National Park Sightseer Murders and the two faces of evil, The mysterious Koh Tao - Death Island in Paradise, Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, The coroner concluded there was not enough evidence to say where or how he met his death.