Thais Reopen Hunt For Backpacker Killer

[phuketsiam]

DNA breakthrough in the Kirsty Jones murder investigation

Mark Townsend, crime correspondent

Sunday January 15, 2006

The Observer

Thai police have relaunched the hunt to catch the killer of Kirsty Jones, the British backpacker who was raped and murdered in the country five years ago.

The case of the 23-year-old, who was strangled in a Chiang Mai guesthouse, had been abandoned by the authorities. But it has emerged that the Thai attorney-general has chosen a team of senior detectives to lead a new murder hunt, following claims that the earlier investigation was bungled. British police officers, who have been in contact with their Thai counterparts, said the case will be, in effect, 'starting from scratch'.

Witnesses are to be re-interviewed and their accounts re-examined after a genetic profile revealed that, contrary to earlier claims that Kirsty's killer was a foreigner, the chief suspect is a local man from a northern Thai city. The case is thought to have gained fresh impetus since it was raised by Tony Blair during a meeting with Thailand's Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, in October.

Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins of Dyfed-Powys Police, who was in close contact with Thai detectives last week, said he had never felt more certain that Kirsty's killer might be brought to justice. 'They are re-interviewing a number of witnesses,' he said. 'There is no reason why we can't get the killer.'

Kirsty's mother, Sue, from Brecon, Powys, said: 'You have to hope that some day, sooner rather than later, whoever is responsible will be caught.' She said she had recently sent a card to Elizabeth Horton, the mother of Katherine, 21, who this month was raped and murdered on Koh Samui. In an apparent attempt to avoid execution, two Thai fishermen have admitted murdering the student from Cardiff. 'Obviously there is relief for them, as far as it may give some sort of closure, but it won't change the situation,' Mrs Jones said. 'It is important to remember that what happened to Kirsty and Katherine could have happened anywhere.'

Kirsty was three months into a two-year round-the-world trip when she was murdered in the Aree guesthouse in Chiang Mai in August 2000. She had recently graduated from Liverpool University and had travelled to meet her friend in Thailand. Initially, the police investigation focused on five foreigners. They were cleared by DNA tests and the inquiry closed amid allegations police officers were involved in the incident.

The list of witnesses to be re-interviewed does not include Andrew Gill, the British co-owner of the guesthouse who was charged and later cleared of raping and conspiring to murder Kirsty. The DNA profile put together by Dyfed-Powys Police and Thai experts is based on skin and semen samples taken from the murder scene. Wilkins said:'The profile is of south east Asian origin.'

[Markymark]

From DailyTelegraph 16 August 2006

Hunt for murderer of backpacker held up by Thai red tape

Red tape is preventing British police from questioning witnesses to the murder six years ago of a backpacker in Thailand, officers said yesterday.

This year, Thai police relaunched the hunt for the killer of Kirsty Jones, the daughter of a Welsh farmer, who was raped and strangled, after the original investigation was declared incompetent.

But eight months after saying that witnesses would be re-interviewed, the Thai authorities have yet to release the paperwork which would allow British officers to question witnesses in this country.

Miss Jones, 24, from Brecon, Powys, had just graduated from Liverpool University and was on a world tour when she was murdered on Aug 10, 2000, at the Aree guesthouse in Chiang Mai.

A string of suspects were charged or arrested, and subsequently cleared and released.

Dyfed-Powys Police, who helped the Thai authorities to secure the killer's DNA, say they now have the "key" to the crime and it is vital that they be allowed to speak with witnesses to get the killer's name.

According to the genetic profile, the killer is a local Thai man. Any of the British witnesses who were in Thailand at the time of Miss Jones's death might hold clues to his identity.

Chief Insp Steve Hughson, of Dyfed-Powys Police, said: "There are witnesses back in the UK and we feel, and the Thais feel, there might be some merit in speaking to them now. In order to do that, on the Thais' behalf, we need a letter of request, an official document."

Royal Thai Police are understood to have written to the Thai attorney-general months ago asking that British police be allowed to question witnesses, but permission has yet to be granted. Police want to question "two or three" Britons. But Mr Hughson said that, without official permission from the Thai authorities to question them, any evidence might not be deemed valid in a court case.

Miss Jones's mother, Sue, said: "It is extremely frustrating."

[kayo]

Oh good. Bound to be lots of fresh clues after FIVE YEARS!

[Gonzo the Face]

Oh good. Bound to be lots of fresh clues after FIVE YEARS!

Well dey tell me....DNA don't die....

Be interesting to see as it unfolds, if there is any connection to the mysterious police official who was rumored to be a suspect and was then transferred to some other part of the kingdom.

Gonzo

At least if may vindicate Andy. There was much the same cloud over his head as there was over the heads of Jon Benet Ramsey's parents. Some coincidence that both cases with similarities break open after many years and they both have a Thai connection/

Gonzo

[Maejo Man]

Be interesting to see as it unfolds, if there is any connection to the mysterious police official who was rumored to be a suspect and was then transferred to some other part of the kingdom.........and now back working happily in Chiangmai

Gonzo

[Ulysses G.]

At least if may vindicate Andy. There was much the same cloud over his head as there was over the heads of Jon Benet Ramsey's parents.

I think that he was completely vindicated.

I've never met anyone who thought he did it after a series of articles published by the Bangkok Post came out saying that he was innocent. The police let him go shortly afterwards.

If not for the Bangkok Post, he would have been framed most successfully.

[adjan jb]

DNA breakthrough in the Kirsty Jones murder investigation

Witnesses are to be re-interviewed and their accounts re-examined after a genetic profile revealed that, contrary to earlier claims that Kirsty's killer was a foreigner, the chief suspect is a local man from a northern Thai city.

A DNA breakthrough ????

Earlier claims that the killer was a foreigner ???

I don't understand.

We know from the beginning that the semen is of Asian origin. I mean it was in the newspapers 5 years ago. The 2 police officers I talked to back then confirmed that information. And when I asked them why Andy was in jail, they looked very surprised because they didn't know that some of their colleagues had arrested him. One even added "I don't understand. Thanks to DNA tests, we know for sure the killer is Asian".

[lamphun]

DNA breakthrough in the Kirsty Jones murder investigation

Witnesses are to be re-interviewed and their accounts re-examined after a genetic profile revealed that, contrary to earlier claims that Kirsty's killer was a foreigner, the chief suspect is a local man from a northern Thai city.

A DNA breakthrough ????

Earlier claims that the killer was a foreigner ???

I don't understand.

We know from the beginning that the semen is of Asian origin. I mean it was in the newspapers 5 years ago. The 2 police officers I talked to back then confirmed that information. And when I asked them why Andy was in jail, they looked very surprised because they didn't know that some of their colleagues had arrested him. One even added "I don't understand. Thanks to DNA tests, we know for sure the killer is Asian".

Expired visa, fleeing the scene of a crime (even tho' he wasn't around when it happened). It's hardly surprising they locked him up. He was never charged with anything.

Now didn't the head of the Tourist Police say all his men would submit to DNA checks. That never happened.

[Gonzo the Face]

DNA breakthrough in the Kirsty Jones murder investigation

Witnesses are to be re-interviewed and their accounts re-examined after a genetic profile revealed that, contrary to earlier claims that Kirsty's killer was a foreigner, the chief suspect is a local man from a northern Thai city.

A DNA breakthrough ????

I don't understand.

Now didn't the head of the Tourist Police say all his men would submit to DNA checks. That never happened.

===============================

Word I got was that they all did, but noone told them that it was not supposed to be in the same glass. That caused the tests to be inclusive as they couldn't determine the species.

Sorry, I thought it said sperm