Koh Tao - Police turn focus to friends of slain man

[webfact]

Police turn focus to friends of slain man
The Nation


Christopher Alan Ware

British duo stopped at airport and asked to remain in Thailand while DNA tests are conducted

BANGKOK: -- POLICE investigation into the murder of two British tourists on Koh Tao last Sunday has shifted from migrant workers to friends of the male victim, while autopsy results have provided revealing information about the gruesome crimes.

Pol Lt-General Panya Mamen, commander of Police Region 8, said yesterday that British citizen Christopher Alan Ware, a travel companion of victim David William Miller, had cooperated in giving information to the police in an interview at the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok. Samples of Ware's DNA had also been collected since he was on Koh Tao.

Police are giving most weight to scientifically proven evidence from the autopsies, Panya added.

A police source, quoting an Institute of Forensic Medicine (IFM) scientist, Pol Major Kaywalee Janphan, said DNA-based identification of a single blond hair found in the hand of the other victim, Hannah Victoria Witheridge, was not possible, because the hair's cell was not intact.

Police had interviewed six migrant workers and a number of Thais, he said. Three female friends of Witheridge had also been interviewed and were allow-ed to return to Britain.

Panya said an extra 150 members of the Tourist and Marine Police had been deployed on Koh Tao and at piers on the coast of neighbouring Chumphon province to heighten security and boost tourists' confidence.

Deputy police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung said earlier that police had asked two friends of Miller to remain in Thailand for 48 hours pending analysis of DNA samples collected from the victims' bodies.

Miller's friends, whom Somyot did not identify, were at Suvarnabhumi Airport, about to leave Thailand. "We have asked the British Embassy in Thailand to ask for their cooperation in staying in Thailand while the investigation continues."

Police on Tuesday night ruled out three Myanmar workers as suspects after interviewing them and searching their rooms. Panya was quoted as saying that the three men had been very far from the scene of the double murders, adding that DNA samples had been collected from them.

The post-mortem report on Miller's body has revealed that his death resulted from blows to the head and drowning, Pol Colonel Dr Pornchai Sutheerakune, commander of the IFM, said yesterday.

Water was found in Miller's lungs, his body showed traces of being dragged and there were wounds on the back of his hands, Pornchai said. The findings indicate that he fought with his attackers, was beaten and then drowned, the doctor said.

The autopsy on Witheridge, whose body was found near Miller's, showed she also had trauma to the head. There were also traces of recent intercourse and semen was found on her body.

The doctors will use the semen to try and identify the culprit, comparing the DNA samples collected from the bodies with those from suspects.

The doctor said he could not tell what had been used to beat the victims, other than it was a blunt object. The time of death is not known because the bodies had been frozen before autopsy.

The bodies can be reclaimed by the victims' families now that the autopsies have been completed.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn sent a condolence letter to his British counterpart Philip Hammond, saying he felt "profound regret and sadness" over the deaths.

"On behalf of the Royal Thai Government and the people of Thailand, I would like to extend to you and, through you, our sincere condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families for their irreparable loss," the note read.

He further said that he wished to reassure future travellers that the government gave priority to protecting foreign nationals visiting and residing in Thailand.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Police-turn-focus-to-friends-of-slain-man-30243535.html


-- The Nation 2014-09-18

[Halion]

The usual spiral of events which is typical of a Thai investigation into such maters seems to be in force in this case. Surely body temperatures at the time of the initial discovery would provide adequate evidence. Furthermore, there is a very short time frame between when this couple was last seen alive and well and when their bodies were found. I also find it curious as to why a blood stained hoe mentioned in every article has failed to provide possible evidence such as fingerprints or consistency with injuries on the deceased. There is a very strong possibility that this crime scene has been contaminated but the actions of the first responders

[oneday]

The doctor said he could not tell what had been used to beat the victims, other than it was a blunt object. The time of death is not known because the bodies had been frozen before autopsy.

Absolutely brilliant. All they had to do was have a qualified person take the internal temperatures of the bodies before they were frozen. How incredibly stupid are these people. And what is wrong with keeping the bodies cool as opposed to freezing them and further damaging the bodies. They must have zero training in preserving and processing a crime scene.

[Harsh Jones]

The doctor said he could not tell what had been used to beat the victims, other than it was a blunt object. The time of death is not known because the bodies had been frozen before autopsy.

Absolutely brilliant. All they had to do was have a qualified person take the internal temperatures of the bodies before they were frozen. How incredibly stupid are these people. And what is wrong with keeping the bodies cool as opposed to freezing them and further damaging the bodies. They must have zero training in preserving and processing a crime scene.

Thailand does not have to answer for this. It is their country. When you arrive, you know what you are getting into. If you are not comfortable with it, don't come.

[ToddinChonburi]

it is very clear now that there was more than one killer or the girl would have run during the fight for help. Still amazes me no one heard anything or the island people are scared to come forward because they know who they are.

[Harsh Jones]

it is very clear now that there was more than one killer or the girl would have run during the fight for help. Still amazes me no one heard anything or the island people are scared to come forward because they know who they are.

Seems as though the tourist population is being just as quiet

[Oziex1]

"He further said that he wished to reassure future travellers that the government gave priority to protecting foreign nationals visiting and residing in Thailand."

​Oh dear, these words he speaks defy belief. A terrible crime, another amateur effort by the RTP.

And still the jet ski thugs are on the beaches!

[farang000999]

[SOTIRIOS]

....brings up a lot of questions.....

[wpcoe]

it is very clear now that there was more than one killer or the girl would have run during the fight for help. Still amazes me no one heard anything or the island people are scared to come forward because they know who they are.

That, plus the fact that there was semen found in both her vaginal and anal cavities AND that the male apparently was raped (according to other press reports) would seem to indicate multiple assailants. Otherwise, a very virile and prolific single assailant.

No mention has been given to whether the DNA results, which presumably was tested on all fluid samples, indicated whether they were all from the same donor.

[GAZZPA]

The doctor said he could not tell what had been used to beat the victims, other than it was a blunt object. The time of death is not known because the bodies had been frozen before autopsy.

Absolutely brilliant. All they had to do was have a qualified person take the internal temperatures of the bodies before they were frozen. How incredibly stupid are these people. And what is wrong with keeping the bodies cool as opposed to freezing them and further damaging the bodies. They must have zero training in preserving and processing a crime scene.

Thailand does not have to answer for this. It is their country. When you arrive, you know what you are getting into. If you are not comfortable with it, don't come.

Yet another useless comment on Thai Visa.

It is very important to try and determine the time and cause of death for a murder, I hope I don't have to explain why. Thailand may be a "developing" country but it is not backwards, this should be done every time and the fact they didn't is a serious oversight so they should be accountable for this balls up.

Cant believe you would just accept this under the banner of "it's their country".

[johnmail]

The usual spiral of events which is typical of a Thai investigation into such maters seems to be in force in this case. Surely body temperatures at the time of the initial discovery would provide adequate evidence. Furthermore, there is a very short time frame between when this couple was last seen alive and well and when their bodies were found. I also find it curious as to why a blood stained hoe mentioned in every article has failed to provide possible evidence such as fingerprints or consistency with injuries on the deceased. There is a very strong possibility that this crime scene has been contaminated but the actions of the first responders

The hoe had a porous wood handle. Not sure it would be easy to fingerprint.

Lots of red flags though:

1. An unwillingness to even consider a Thai suspect

2. Shaming the victim through statements suggesting she was with many men or wearing a bikini (absolutely irrelevant)

3. Suggesting the Brit was gay and that the man was raped (both probably untrue speculation and irrelevant)

4. Going after migrant workers ( who must have had an air tight alibibi) and releaseing photos of cell phones and bloody? pants (wont be able to use that one again on this case)

5. Suggesting that culteral insensity on the part of the victims is the cause (seems to suggest it WAS a thai)

6. Releasing photos on people unrelated to the case from CCTV footage (everyone looks guilty on CCTV)

The people on the island know who did this. this is an extremely small area of beach. the list of potential suspects has got to be VERY small. the thais are keeping quiet because a lot of money and face is at stake powerful families etc. the foreigners who live there cannot speak up or they will have to leavethailand or risk retribution or losing their homes and business.

But it looks like the only thing that is going to make the police do their job is public pressure. Someone is going to have to get very vocal and talk about this and do interviews. There is no way life on that island can go on normally and order restored without finding the killer or killers who did this.

The thais are gonna just have to suck it up and name their man. It's terrible. But they already know who did this.

[Banzai99]

The doctor said he could not tell what had been used to beat the victims, other than it was a blunt object. The time of death is not known because the bodies had been frozen before autopsy.

Absolutely brilliant. All they had to do was have a qualified person take the internal temperatures of the bodies before they were frozen. How incredibly stupid are these people. And what is wrong with keeping the bodies cool as opposed to freezing them and further damaging the bodies. They must have zero training in preserving and processing a crime scene.

Thailand does not have to answer for this. It is their country. When you arrive, you know what you are getting into. If you are not comfortable with it, don't come.

Yet another useless comment on Thai Visa.

The majority of comments are useless, they are either Thai bashing or Farang bashing and serve no purpose whatsoever, do you think your comments serve a purpose ?

It's an anonymous Internet Forum, any comments here have zero impact on any real life situations, the only impact is on the Blood Pressure of the keyboard warriors involved.

Edited September 18, 2014 by Banzai99

[seajae]

a few years ago now an overseas worker(female) was killed on an Australian island and there were no suspects so the police took samples form all the males on the island. They caught the killer through this, why dont the thai police do the same thing, at the moment it certainly seems like they are denying any thais were involved which smacks of trying to cover something up. DNA test all the islands males, its the only way to remove anyone from suspicion.

[IMA_FARANG]

The usual spiral of events which is typical of a Thai investigation into such maters seems to be in force in this case. Surely body temperatures at the time of the initial discovery would provide adequate evidence. Furthermore, there is a very short time frame between when this couple was last seen alive and well and when their bodies were found. I also find it curious as to why a blood stained hoe mentioned in every article has failed to provide possible evidence such as fingerprints or consistency with injuries on the deceased. There is a very strong possibility that this crime scene has been contaminated but the actions of the first responders

--------------------------

It's always possible the first responders contaminated the scene.

However, although it's always a "television show" thing, only a small portion of crime scenes actually have useful "Fingerprints" found at the crime scene, even on the "murder weapon".

"Fingerprints" are for television cop shows, not for "real life" crime scenes.

[Oziex1]

Well if no arrests of the real culprit soon,we are sure to view this story on a hard hitting investigative news show in the future, featuring the usual suspects.

The shady character who has nothing to hide but gets very angry and flustered when cameras are pointed at him.

The calm and ever smiling police chief who says it can't be that guy because we have evidence to prove his innocence, when asked what it is, says it would be improper and could affect the case if revealed.

The rich and influential family with their house on the hill that everyone knows the source of their wealth is dubious, and when locals are asked of possible involvement suddenly find their grasp on the English language deserting them.

Lets hope it doesn't end up here., and let justice be done.

[Fat Haggis]

She wasn't wearing a bikini at the time of her murder, and she wasn't found naked either, so to make statements that infer it was because she was wearing a bikin is bang out of order, I've seen the pictures, not very nice to look at, and it's already been posted within another thread and also on Hannah's facebook that a local Thai of influence and connections to the Island was "hitting" on Hannah, and she wasn't happy about it, and David stepped in, and there was a bit of a hoo ha, and the Thai left..

That there is enough motive for murder, and not just that, but to suffer humilaition an rejection from a very beautiful blonde girl is again, more than enough motives to seek retribution, she was beaten so severely around the head that all that beauty was gone.. raped and brutally murdered smashing her skull and face to pieces is an act of pure rage..

Time the Thai Police and many Thai apologists took their apologist heads out of their rectums and started looking closer to either rule that person out of their inquiries, or get DNA samples and link him to the crime.

[Fred Flinstone]

She wasn't wearing a bikini at the time of her murder, and she wasn't found naked either, so to make statements that infer it was because she was wearing a bikin is bang out of order, I've seen the pictures, not very nice to look at, and it's already been posted within another thread and also on Hannah's facebook that a local Thai of influence and connections to the Island was "hitting" on Hannah, and she wasn't happy about it, and David stepped in, and there was a bit of a hoo ha, and the Thai left..

That there is enough motive for murder, and not just that, but to suffer humilaition an rejection from a very beautiful blonde girl is again, more than enough motives to seek retribution, she was beaten so severely around the head that all that beauty was gone.. raped and brutally murdered smashing her skull and face to pieces is an act of pure rage..

Time the Thai Police and many Thai apologists took their apologist heads out of their rectums and started looking closer to either rule that person out of their inquiries, or get DNA samples and link him to the crime.

Well , one thing is certain, this is being distributed world wide on twitter , Facebook and forums in many many languages.

Including the PM's comments on provocation inferences.

People are sickened and disgusted -

If the killers are not brought to justice , this case will not disappear anytime soon…...

But the Tourist's will

[inzman]

This already smacks of a cover-up. Which is not unusual here.

[Nickymaster]

She wasn't wearing a bikini at the time of her murder, and she wasn't found naked either, so to make statements that infer it was because she was wearing a bikin is bang out of order, I've seen the pictures, not very nice to look at, and it's already been posted within another thread and also on Hannah's facebook that a local Thai of influence and connections to the Island was "hitting" on Hannah, and she wasn't happy about it, and David stepped in, and there was a bit of a hoo ha, and the Thai left..

That there is enough motive for murder, and not just that, but to suffer humilaition an rejection from a very beautiful blonde girl is again, more than enough motives to seek retribution, she was beaten so severely around the head that all that beauty was gone.. raped and brutally murdered smashing her skull and face to pieces is an act of pure rage..

Time the Thai Police and many Thai apologists took their apologist heads out of their rectums and started looking closer to either rule that person out of their inquiries, or get DNA samples and link him to the crime.

Well , one thing is certain, this is being distributed world wide on twitter , Facebook and forums in many many languages.

Including the PM's comments on provocation inferences.

People are sickened and disgusted -

If the killers are not brought to justice , this case will not disappear anytime soon…...

But the Tourist's will

I don't think that tourists will disappear. Sadly enough terrible things have happened before in this country and the tourists are still coming.

Anyhow, one should certainly be aware that you can't expect much from the RTP when they are needed. This people definitely should take into account when going to Thailand. Especially to more remote areas.

Edited September 18, 2014 by Nickymaster

[vogie]

a few years ago now an overseas worker(female) was killed on an Australian island and there were no suspects so the police took samples form all the males on the island. They caught the killer through this, why dont the thai police do the same thing, at the moment it certainly seems like they are denying any thais were involved which smacks of trying to cover something up. DNA test all the islands males, its the only way to remove anyone from suspicion.

I think it would be a pointless exercise as West Yorkshire Police have suggested they search for men with Geordie accents

[Alwyn]

The doctor said he could not tell what had been used to beat the victims, other than it was a blunt object. The time of death is not known because the bodies had been frozen before autopsy.

Absolutely brilliant. All they had to do was have a qualified person take the internal temperatures of the bodies before they were frozen. How incredibly stupid are these people. And what is wrong with keeping the bodies cool as opposed to freezing them and further damaging the bodies. They must have zero training in preserving and processing a crime scene.

Thailand does not have to answer for this. It is their country. When you arrive, you know what you are getting into. If you are not comfortable with it, don't come.

I can only imagine that after the PM's comments from yesterday where he actually accused the victims of bringing this upon themselves because she was wearing a bikini, a lot of people will choose not to come to Thailand. After the PM's comments that only ugly girls are safe in bikinis, I imagine more people will decide not to visit. I imagine the fact that the clown PM stated he's more interested in solving this because of the negative impact on the country - rather than for justice, this might put people off visiting. Couple that with comments from dimwits like yourself, people will probably think twice. Thailand does have to answer for this, if they want tourists to visit and spend their hard earned, Thailand definitely needs to answer for this, are you mental?

[outsider]

"Panya said an extra 150 members of the Tourist and Marine Police had been deployed on Koh Tao and at piers on the coast of neighbouring Chumphon province to heighten security and boost tourists' confidence."

Boost tourist confidence?

What a stupid and insensitive thing to say.

[Alwyn]

I have just read an article in the DM, if you have a VPN you can find it here. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2760012/Smearing-Britons-murdered-paradise-As-hunt-killers-descends-farce-Thai-prime-minister-insults-Western-girls.html#article-2760012 The two brothers DNA did not match any crime scene DNA and have been released I believe. The migrant workers were cleared by DNA process too. But the big focus of the article was the PM and his moronic statements saying things like "only ugly girls are safe in bikinis" and apparently blaming the victims for bringing it on themselves - even though the girl was not wearing a bikini at the time. The PM also went on to say "‘They think our country is beautiful and is safe so they can do whatever they want, they can wear bikinis and walk everywhere. Can they be safe in bikinis ... unless they are not beautiful?’ This man has single handedly dome more to harm tourism than any beach vendor group or tuk tuk mafia... The article is headed - Did Thai police try to 'stitch up' innocent friends of beach murder victim? Hunt for killers descends into farce as DNA tests CLEAR brothers quizzed over deaths The feelings are running hot about this, to say the least.

[WhamBam]

a few years ago now an overseas worker(female) was killed on an Australian island and there were no suspects so the police took samples form all the males on the island. They caught the killer through this, why dont the thai police do the same thing, at the moment it certainly seems like they are denying any thais were involved which smacks of trying to cover something up. DNA test all the islands males, its the only way to remove anyone from suspicion.

A good idea, seajae, but if they did that, they might get the result they do not want.

[Bluespunk]

The doctor said he could not tell what had been used to beat the victims, other than it was a blunt object. The time of death is not known because the bodies had been frozen before autopsy.

Absolutely brilliant. All they had to do was have a qualified person take the internal temperatures of the bodies before they were frozen. How incredibly stupid are these people. And what is wrong with keeping the bodies cool as opposed to freezing them and further damaging the bodies. They must have zero training in preserving and processing a crime scene.

Thailand does not have to answer for this. It is their country. When you arrive, you know what you are getting into. If you are not comfortable with it, don't come.

They have to answer for it, because it is their country.

[Harsh Jones]

The doctor said he could not tell what had been used to beat the victims, other than it was a blunt object. The time of death is not known because the bodies had been frozen before autopsy.

Absolutely brilliant. All they had to do was have a qualified person take the internal temperatures of the bodies before they were frozen. How incredibly stupid are these people. And what is wrong with keeping the bodies cool as opposed to freezing them and further damaging the bodies. They must have zero training in preserving and processing a crime scene.

Thailand does not have to answer for this. It is their country. When you arrive, you know what you are getting into. If you are not comfortable with it, don't come.

Yet another useless comment on Thai Visa.

It is very important to try and determine the time and cause of death for a murder, I hope I don't have to explain why. Thailand may be a "developing" country but it is not backwards, this should be done every time and the fact they didn't is a serious oversight so they should be accountable for this balls up.

Cant believe you would just accept this under the banner of "it's their country".

So instead we are supposed to degrade and belittle the country every time this happens ?

[HOOD Robin]

The doctor said he could not tell what had been used to beat the victims, other than it was a blunt object. The time of death is not known because the bodies had been frozen before autopsy.

Absolutely brilliant. All they had to do was have a qualified person take the internal temperatures of the bodies before they were frozen. How incredibly stupid are these people. And what is wrong with keeping the bodies cool as opposed to freezing them and further damaging the bodies. They must have zero training in preserving and processing a crime scene.

Or...... "some folks" just dont want they will find the murderers....

[GAZZPA]

The doctor said he could not tell what had been used to beat the victims, other than it was a blunt object. The time of death is not known because the bodies had been frozen before autopsy.

Absolutely brilliant. All they had to do was have a qualified person take the internal temperatures of the bodies before they were frozen. How incredibly stupid are these people. And what is wrong with keeping the bodies cool as opposed to freezing them and further damaging the bodies. They must have zero training in preserving and processing a crime scene.

Thailand does not have to answer for this. It is their country. When you arrive, you know what you are getting into. If you are not comfortable with it, don't come.

Yet another useless comment on Thai Visa.

The majority of comments are useless, they are either Thai bashing or Farang bashing and serve no purpose whatsoever, do you think your comments serve a purpose ?

It's an anonymous Internet Forum, any comments here have zero impact on any real life situations, the only impact is on the Blood Pressure of the keyboard warriors involved.

I dont agree. Not all comments are useless.

Forums like this DO have impact on real life situations. Indeed, it is only publicity, public peer pressure and societies collective disapproval that keeps governments and people in power in check. Why do you think so many people in power all over the world want to silence the free press?

If you think that the majority of comments on here are useless why are you here? Why have you bothered typing on your keyboard so many times? Are you giving your blood pressure a work out?

[GAZZPA]

The doctor said he could not tell what had been used to beat the victims, other than it was a blunt object. The time of death is not known because the bodies had been frozen before autopsy.

Absolutely brilliant. All they had to do was have a qualified person take the internal temperatures of the bodies before they were frozen. How incredibly stupid are these people. And what is wrong with keeping the bodies cool as opposed to freezing them and further damaging the bodies. They must have zero training in preserving and processing a crime scene.

Thailand does not have to answer for this. It is their country. When you arrive, you know what you are getting into. If you are not comfortable with it, don't come.

Yet another useless comment on Thai Visa.

It is very important to try and determine the time and cause of death for a murder, I hope I don't have to explain why. Thailand may be a "developing" country but it is not backwards, this should be done every time and the fact they didn't is a serious oversight so they should be accountable for this balls up.

Cant believe you would just accept this under the banner of "it's their country".

So instead we are supposed to degrade and belittle the country every time this happens ?

Absolutely, if it means that next time they do it correctly. We are talking about peoples lives here, its not a trivial matter.