We admit that in the past, there was a mafia there that took advantage of tourists. [5][6] Both were students who were backpacking in Thailand. Phone records showed that Elise called her mother on Skype on April 17, 2017, before leaving Koh Phangan on a Ferry on April 19. See the latest list of Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30320196. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to ask that Hannah be allowed a well-deserved day of privacy on Friday whilst we join her many friends in a celebration of her life.. [37] Two weeks after the bodies were found, on 1 October 2014, police interrogated Mau Mau, who said he took the motorcycle and separated from the other two men before the murders occurred, and found them both home asleep by the time he had returned. They claim they did not receive an autopsy report and say his body was sent against their wishes to the same Bangkok hospital that carried out botched reports on the bodies of two Brits murdered on the same island in 2014. [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. However, no toxicology report was conducted. The robbery took place on Koh Tao island's Sairee beach at the same spot where islanders found the disfigured bodies of David Miller, a 24-year-old from Jersey, and Hannah Witheridge, a. [51][21] The trial was attended by external observers, including representatives from Amnesty International and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. What really happened there? 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. Nick Pearson, 25, was found floating in an island bay, at the foot of a 50ft drop by scuba divers in the sea after he disappeared following a night out with his family on New Year's Eve. Koh Tao Murders March 28, 2022 courtneyjfretwell Uncategorized 1 Comment In September 2014, two European backpackers, Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were found murdered on Sairee Beach on Thailand's island of Koh Tao. [52] The suspects were defended pro bono by two lawyers from the Lawyers Council of Thailand. Photographs appear to show the mobile phone of Hannah Witheridge submitted to police by her friends, despite police claims it was found in one of their suspect's possession. Are there serial killers operating on the island, with their crimes apparently insufficiently investigated so that the tourist industry remains protected? Doubts lingered over the conviction of two migrant Burmese workers for the rape and murders, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo (also known as Win Zaw Htun). I shall post a link to your podcast on my Facebook page. Aug 10, 2017. Mr Miller's body was discovered with severe head injuries several metres away, he said. Hannah was also raped in the attack. [67][21][68] The conviction was primarily guided by the DNA evidence,[67][69] and the court said it did not consider their confessions in making the judgement. [30] Thailand's National Human Rights Commission said "the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the two Myanmar workers were dubious, leading to impressions the suspects were not aware of their rights and that justice had not been done". Koh Tao ''Turtle Island'' or Ko Tao is an island in Thailand and is part of the Chumphon Archipelago on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand. Phone records show that Elise called her mother on Skype on April 17 before leaving on a Ferry April 19 - but it is not known why she alighted on Koh Tao instead of continuing on to the mainland. [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". https://time.com/3955081/thailand-koh-tao-murder-david-miller-hannah-witheridge-zaw-lin-wai-phyo-burma-myanmar/, https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/dark-side-koh-tao-seven-10708561, https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/true-crime-in-the-outdoors/tag/Cases+on+the+Death+Island+of+Koh+Tao, https://www.nist.gov/feature-stories/dna-mixtures-forensic-science-explainer. He had recently returned to the island after building up a motorbike rental business. 8 Christina is one of the many young Brits to have died on the island Credit: Handout 8 Measuring 21 square kilometres (8sqmi) in area, it is the smallest of three popular tourist islands in the Gulf of Thailand. [28], Due to concerns the murders might affect foreign tourism into Thailand, the national authorities sought to expedite the investigation into the murders. 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. The items were still there are 3 am and he called the police. [61], On July 10, the court ordered the DNA to 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. [51] The defence provided a separate explanation for the events on the night. 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. [36] Footage near the crime scene also showed one of the three men running into a shortcut. The Davidson County Sheriff's Office has released photos of the Corbett home taken the night Jason Corbett was bludgeoned to death in his bedroom. There were apparently no signs of robbery or attack in the room at the hotel where Alexandr had been staying. 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. Elise's death is the latest in a string of seven fatalities in three years on the island. [4], The victims of the murders were Hannah Witheridge, a 23-year-old from Hemsby, England, and David Miller, a 24-year-old from Jersey, a Crown Dependency. The university graduate, who was two weeks. A Thai police officer who was called to the scene of the killing of two British tourists on Koh Tao island in September 2014 testified on Wednesday, the first of dozens of witnesses who . It has long had a reputation as a home for organized crime, corruption and as a place where the police protected local interests. We are furious that we have not been able to have an approved independent forensic examination.". Witheridge was travelling with three other friends, and Miller with two others. I 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 View gallery The 23-year-old is. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier/Pool Diagram of crime scene. 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. 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 . Dubbed 'Death Island', the illusion of a safe haven has since shattered following the brutal deaths of a number of tourists. Belgian backpacker Elise Dallemagne, 30, was found hanging from a tree on April 27, 2017. 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. By the mid 1980s, the criminal underworld . 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. Then came a stumbling police investigation, speculation about a cover-up to protect a prominent local family, the alleged framing and torture of two young Burmese migrant workers, questions about the handling of key forensic evidence and the controversial observer role of Metropolitan Police officers alongside Thai investigators. 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. Pathologists and legal experts criticised the police for mishandling the evidence, allowing contamination of the crime scene and failing to use experts to collect forensic evidence. We are here for David because of his tragic death. koh tao murders crime scene photos Alexandr Bucspun, 33, from Moldova, was found dead in the sea off Had Sai Ree on Koh Tao on Tuesday, October 9, 2018. [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. Their parents must be going through hell just like we are and we have been for the last almost two years. Coincidentally, pictures of Bernd with a snake were to be found online. 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. 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 . [51][56][57] They argued that the defendants, since they were vulnerable as illegal migrant workers, were scapegoated by the police for the crime. [26][27] However, her clothes were not tested for DNA. Hannah was a fun, vibrant and beautiful young woman who will be sorely missed by all who knew her. Expats dont want to lose their time in paradise, Earley tells Time, as its cheap, its nice living, and its very easy to ignore what happens". I have created a Facebook page and a YouTube channel dedicated to looking into tourist deaths on Koh Tao. The convictions were mired in controversy, with supporters of the two men arguing they had been framed because their initial confessions were made under duress. Samyak Choudhary; and [23] Local residents blocked the pier to prevent the unidentified killers from leaving the island. The suspects however have withdrawn their confessions to the murders and claimed Thai police forced the admissions through torture. koh tao murders crime scene photos Koh Tao - Thai Police - Their scapegoats, Tourist Trade Exposed by Anonymous Greetings world, We are Anonymous. 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