Kirsty Jones' Mother In Thailand Murder Appeal

[webfact]

Kirsty Jones' mother in Thailand murder appeal

CHIANG MAIL -- The mother of a Welsh woman murdered in Thailand 12 years ago is travelling to the country to appeal for information.

Kirsty Jones, 23, from Tredomen, near Brecon, was raped and strangled at a guesthouse in Chiang Mai in 2000.

Her mother, Sue Jones, will make the journey with detectives from Dyfed Powys Police, who are keen to discuss progress made in the investigation.

Ms Jones was three months into a two-year around-the-world trip when she died.

Officers last visited Thailand in February this year, following a series of meetings with the director of trans-national crime at the department of special investigations, police colonel Songsak Raksaksakul. [more...]

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk...-wales-19116071

-- BBC 2012-08-04

[Maejo Man]

Possibly what it needs is a reward so large as to encourage people here that seem to be in posession of information that is not available to the police to come forward.

[JulesMad]

Hope she finds what she is looking for (closure?/justice?!?)

[Arkady]

"The Thai authorities told them they were continuing to investigate the circumstances of Ms Jones's death, with the focus on the inquiry in Chiang Mai."

There is probably a group of policemen in Chiang Mai assigned to pretend to work on the case and send occasional nonsensical emails to Wales. Most likely the truth is that they finished their investigation years ago after destroying all the evidence to protect the killer who was a policeman.

[deedeedee]

Possibly what it needs is a reward so large as to encourage people here that seem to be in posession of information that is not available to the police to come forward.

hmm..it seems the police has got a lot of witness statements and know pretty well who was around the place that night...

they just didnt manage in 11 years to compare the DNA evidence with a main suspect - a chiang mai university professor (thai)....

[deedeedee]

another interesting fact is, that the night shift reception would know already hours before the body was found, that there was a body to be found...

the maid admitted to be pushed into making a false statement in the first place... regarding the time the victim was found (by her)...

just a guess - would they try or think about a cover up if a farang was involved?

i would think, these delays (to contact someone, to think about alternatives) are used when a local is involved, definitely not a farang...?

Edited August 4, 2012 by deedeedee

[easybullet3]

it must be really hard for the mum to make this journey and it must have been a long road to get here. BUT 12 years ago is a LONG LONG time to wait.

Peoples memories of events get distorted over time. Major things that I saw 12 years ago (while travelling around) are all planted firmly in my memory, (but the accuracy is based on what I believed when the event happened) and i may have forgotten some elements (that are not important to me, but may have been important to the event).

its a shame to wait so long to find more answers.

I think this trip will not bring closure for her, I think it will re-awaken so many bad memories and sadness.

if she can find closure, then that's good for her.

if she is looking for revenge, then its a long-shot.

[rbrooks]

RIP for Kirsty Mrs Jones but you are in the wrong country to try find justice for your daughter's killer. You made get some peace of mind in your attempt but the Thai police and judicial system is a joke and they only take your money and promise you enough to lead you on and keep paying. Death in Thailand is just another phase in life and it does not matter how the death occurred especially to a farang.

[gamini]

"The Thai authorities told them they were continuing to investigate the circumstances of Ms Jones's death, with the focus on the inquiry in Chiang Mai."

There is probably a group of policemen in Chiang Mai assigned to pretend to work on the case and send occasional nonsensical emails to Wales. Most likely the truth is that they finished their investigation years ago after destroying all the evidence to protect the killer who was a policeman.

This is an unfair asumption. There were, so I am told a number of different people involved with Kristie which made the case difficult.

[EmptyBasementBin]

they just didnt manage in 11 years to compare the DNA evidence with a main suspect - a chiang mai university professor (thai)....

I thought it was Tony the Tourist Policeman who was convicted over the internet.

Seems it's Uni Professor this time.

Maybe Dave had the answer and that's why he ended up moat floating.

[dob310870]

This is horrible. The place looks like a dump, too. I don;t know why they don't try and establish the what race the person was that the DNA came from. It has been done before in America to catch a serial killer. At least that would narrow down the search and rule out the innocent..

I just found this, the work on DNA done in the USA

http://www.wired.com/politics/law/magazine/16-01/ps_dna

Edited August 5, 2012 by dob310870

[Maejo Man]

This is horrible. The place looks like a dump, too. I don;t know why they don't try and establish the what race the person was that the DNA came from. It has been done before in America to catch a serial killer. At least that would narrow down the search and rule out the innocent..

I just found this, the work on DNA done in the USA

http://www.wired.com...ne/16-01/ps_dna

They have, and it's Asian. The police had not established this originally, and that was why Andy Gill was locked up as the prime sucpect. Later released, and deported for a long expired visa.

[webfact]

MURDER

British victim's mother offers Bt493,000 for information

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The mother of a British woman who was raped and murdered in Chiang Mai 12 years ago yesterday offered 10,000 British pounds (nearly Bt493,000) to anyone who comes forward with information leading to an arrest in the case.

At a press conference yesterday with officials from the Department of Special Investigation, Susan Jones, the mother of victim Christy Sarah Jones, said she still felt a great loss in her life, especially with the murderer still being at large.

"I believe there must be someone with information [that could lead] to the arrest of the one who took our daughter's life. As time goes by, one's loyalty is supposed to change after certain connections are over, which results in lingering hesitation in the past being taken away, and later the information [could] lead to filling in the missing jigsaw," she said.

Jones was found raped and strangled in her room at the Aree Guesthouse in Muang Chiang Mai district on August 10, 2000. Guesthouse owner Andrew Gill was arrested and prosecuted, but later acquitted when a DNA test showed his semen did not match that found on the victim's body.

The DSI took over the case five years later, finding no clues despite DNA testing of 22 other suspects, including many incarcerated sex offenders.

The semen found on the victim's body was also tested in the UK, where experts determined it belonged to a man of South Asian origin.

A senior DSI official, Songsak Raksaksakul, said the police's DNA database of 80,000 sex offenders turned up no match.

He said the reward would be helpful in encouraging anyone with knowledge in the case or of the offender to come forward. Eight years remain before the case lapses under the statute of limitations.

Susan Jones appeared at yesterday's conference with John Andrews, a senior investigator from the DyfedPowys police in Wales.

Andrews expressed hope of securing information from someone with knowledge of the case, and vowed to support the DSI in working on the murder. He said the reward money would be helpful in encouraging witnesses to come forward.

-- The Nation 2012-08-10

[clockman]

Bib still being payed to look the way, disgusting! There is a suspect in the university!

[Sao Jiang Mai]

They did, it didn't match.

Possibly what it needs is a reward so large as to encourage people here that seem to be in posession of information that is not available to the police to come forward.

hmm..it seems the police has got a lot of witness statements and know pretty well who was around the place that night...

they just didnt manage in 11 years to compare the DNA evidence with a main suspect - a chiang mai university professor (thai)....

[Sao Jiang Mai]

another interesting fact is, that the night shift reception would know already hours before the body was found, that there was a body to be found...

the maid admitted to be pushed into making a false statement in the first place... regarding the time the victim was found (by her)...

just a guess - would they try or think about a cover up if a farang was involved?

i would think, these delays (to contact someone, to think about alternatives) are used when a local is involved, definitely not a farang...?

It is a tiny guesthouse, no nightshift reception. At the time, 12 yaers ago, frankly teh police panicked with the pressure of international press. They made huge mistakes, it remains to be seen to what degree the mistakes were malicious and intentional.

[Sao Jiang Mai]

Actually it was established within a week or so of the crime. The head of forensics at CMU said categorically it was an Asian guy. The police chose to disregard this and claimed that the DNA was planted. The doctor told me that it was definitely not planted.

This is horrible. The place looks like a dump, too. I don;t know why they don't try and establish the what race the person was that the DNA came from. It has been done before in America to catch a serial killer. At least that would narrow down the search and rule out the innocent..

I just found this, the work on DNA done in the USA

http://www.wired.com...ne/16-01/ps_dna

They have, and it's Asian. The police had not established this originally, and that was why Andy Gill was locked up as the prime sucpect. Later released, and deported for a long expired visa.

[Gonzo the Face]

Was there not an instance where the police had questioned/arrested a hill tribe tour guide and tried to extract a semen sample from him....If that were to be true, what could have be the required result???? To have an Asian fall guy or possibly cover up for another Asian male. It would seem that the original DNA sample would have to be switched also.

Anybody remember what I am remembering?

[philw]

they just didnt manage in 11 years to compare the DNA evidence with a main suspect - a chiang mai university professor (thai)....

I thought it was Tony the Tourist Policeman who was convicted over the internet.

Seems it's Uni Professor this time.

Maybe Dave had the answer and that's why he ended up moat floating.

Any body got any more info about "Dave the moat floater ?

Was this a real incident ?

Who was Dave ?

Does any body know the circumstances ??

[Loaded]

Was there not an instance where the police had questioned/arrested a hill tribe tour guide and tried to extract a semen sample from him....If that were to be true, what could have be the required result???? To have an Asian fall guy or possibly cover up for another Asian male. It would seem that the original DNA sample would have to be switched also.

Anybody remember what I am remembering?

I believe AD broke this story at that time. As I remember the guide was associated with the guesthouse but was on a trek at the time of the murder. When he returned to CM, he was kidnapped by a group of Thai men wearing casual jackets but police-issue boots. He was taken to a room, had a gun pointed to his head and told to produce sperm. Fortunately for him, he was too scared to rise to the occasion, and this saved him.

[Sao Jiang Mai]

He was actually on the trek with Kirsty and had returned to town the day before, with her group. But you are right, he was kidnapped and was forced to produce DNA. It turned out not to be a match anyway. He contacted Khun Lek from the Elephant Nature Park and she contacted Drummond.