Murder suspects charged

[Lite Beer]

KILLINGS OF BRITONS
Murder suspects charged
The Nation

Handcuffed suspects Win, centre left, and Saw, centre right, are accompanied by police to the beach on Koh Tao where two British tourists were killed, for re-enactment of the crime. More than 200 policemen were on hand to provide security

KOH TAO: -- Tip-off from Myanmar workers on Koh Tao played key role in arrests over the killings of Britons; police say DNA evidence will prove they are not scapegoats

Two illegal migrant workers from Myanmar have been charged with violent rape leading to death and murder in connection with the killings of two British citizens on Koh Tao, off Surat Thani, after police said their DNA samples matched that found on the female victim's body.

Win and Saw, both 21, underwent a re-enactment yesterday watched by a large number of onlookers, who were kept away from the scene by a 200-strong police force deployed to prevent a large number of angry residents from attacking the two suspects.

Maw, 23, whose DNA matched that found on a cigarette butt had not been charged as of yesterday.

The three men have also been charged with illegal entry, after they were found to have entered Thailand and resided illegally. Win and Saw are in the custody of the Koh Samui court, while there is no information on where Maw has been detained.

Acting commander of the police Institute of Forensic Medicine, Pol Lt-General Manoo Mekmok, said two semen samples found on the female murder victim matched that from Win and Saw, and the one found on the cigarette at the scene of the crime matched that of Maw.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha praised the police for the breakthrough in the much-publicised case, saying he would soon reward them. He said both men could not be scapegoats, as their DNA matched the samples found on the victim's body.

Citing from the "confessions" of the two suspects, police said they entered Thailand about two weeks before the double murders, at dawn on September 15, and worked at AC Pub as general workers. The men said they hardly left the pub, as they had limited knowledge of the Thai language.

Another police source said the three men had been monitored secretly after police detected signs of suspicious behaviour after interviewing staff at AC Pub and all shops and restaurants. One of the men, who police did name, had dyed his hair from gold to black after the crime took place.

The two told police that they had raped the woman and killed her, before stealing her mobile phone and other belongings, and destroyed the unit at the back of their living quarters. They said they had continued to work at the pub, as police had prevented all workers from leaving. Win managed to leave the tourist island on a night boat trip a few days ago but he was arrested when he reached Surat Thani.

A police source said that both Win and Saw were smuggled into Thailand via Ranong province by an agent who charged them Bt5,000 each. He said fellow Myanmar workers had also noticed suspicious behaviour from the two after the murders, and secretly tipped off a Myanmar worker chief, who later told the police, which led to their arrests, the source added.

Tour business operators yesterday lit 5,000 firecrackers to celebrate the arrests of the two suspects, and said they believed both men were the real culprits. A merit-making ceremony was later held on Chor Por Ror beach, where the bodies were found, to bless the area.

National police chief Pol General Somyot Poompanmoung said evidence against both Win and Saw from surveillance camera footage and DNA identification had proved that they were "100 per cent the killers - not scapegoats". He said Maw jointly played a guitar with Win and Saw. Somyot arrived in Koh Tao on Thursday night on a helicopter trip and jointly questioned the three men for two hours, after they had been detained since Thursday evening with details on nationality and identities being held confidential.

Leads in the case

l Security-camera images show one of the suspects buying a packet of cigarettes at a convenience store in Koh Tao. A cigarette butt found near the victims' bodies is the same brand.

l A damaged iPhone belonging to one of the victims is found in bushes behind the house where Win, one of the suspects, lives.

l Tests show DNA samples of the suspects, Win and Saw, match semen traces found on the woman's body. A DNA test indicates that Maw had smoked the cigarette found at the crime scene.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Rape-suspects-charged-30244751.html

-- The Nation 2014-10-04

[NongKhaiKid]

All convenient and nicely wrapped up which of course everyone will accept without question.

What remains now is for them to plead guilty so little or no evidence, other than their ' confession ' needs to be produced and tested in court and they will hope their confession will be taken into account so they don't face the death penalty for screwing with Thais losing money over tourism, maybe that's part of the deal already.

[Everton 1986]

There has been nothing on the Uk news today about these arrests, but then again another Uk hostage has just been beheaded by Islamic state so that was wall to wall covarage.

[Fred Flinstone]

International agencies should give them a Geoffrey Robinson Type QC representation at trial.

And find out the facts.

[coma]

will the owner of the AC Bar be liable in a civil lawsuit by the families of the victims for knowingly employing illegal immigrants ?

[ukrules]

A damaged iPhone belonging to one of the victims is found in bushes behind the house where Win, one of the suspects, lives.

This phone ?

[Thailand]

"Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha praised the police for the breakthrough in the much-publicised case, saying he would soon reward them."

Reward them for what?

[Fred Flinstone]

Their stitching up workmanship -

[bannork]

For those posters who seem convinced the headman's son committed the murders, do you really think if he killed the couple he would simply leave the bodies on the beach? With his resources they would surely have taken the bodies out to sea and dumped them, to save his own skin and protect the family business.

What could be worse for an island/ hotel/club or guesthouse than to have2 corpses bludgeoned to death in front of your business that relies on tourists?

Anyone with a vested interest in the island's business would have hidden those bodies if they had been the perpretators.

[longstebe]

There has been nothing on the Uk news today about these arrests, but then again another Uk hostage has just been beheaded by Islamic state so that was wall to wall covarage.

I was watching it on sky news early on (Friday avvy).

[chibo84]

For those posters who seem convinced the headman's son committed the murders, do you really think if he killed the couple he would simply leave the bodies on the beach? With his resources they would surely have taken the bodies out to sea and dumped them, to save his own skin and protect the family business.

What could be worse for an island/ hotel/club or guesthouse than to have2 corpses bludgeoned to death in front of your business that relies on tourists?

Anyone with a vested interest in the island's business would have hidden those bodies if they had been the perpretators.

U dont know that.. if it was his 2 sons they maybe were drunk or on some drugs or idk...

But anyway i have a probably good if not the best question... coz i am always reading about DNA this UK that... so my question to you guys is (hopefully someone is here who knows a bit about the THAI law):

they are now the acused and will have a trial date right? so usually every lawyer has the right to bring expert witnesses into court.. so the easiest way (the UK has her body and the samples of the seamen DNA) is for the lawyer to get an UK expertwitness Scotland Yard or the FBI i read wanted to be involved too and just check the DNA himself with the DNA of these to burmese....

so the question is that possible to bing an expert witness from another country?

[jacknorman]

A damaged iPhone belonging to one of the victims is found in bushes behind the house where Win, one of the suspects, lives.

This phone ?

victims-phone-given-to-police-day-after-murder-photo.jpg

Most people have more than one phone nowadays i use three one for work one for thailand one for my home country

Edited October 3, 2014 by metisdead
Reply repaired, Please learn to make your post outside the quote box.

[shimizu]

From day one on, police were looking for Myanmar workers as the murderers, and now they have them, insisting, the trio is no scapegoat. Never there is so much doubt, so much contrary public opinion, and apparently so much wrong evidence about the case. It seems simply inconceivable, that those three went to the beach to play the guitar peacefully, and at the next moment turn into savage killers, doing the utmost damage possible to the victims.

The phone story, wrong pants color, coaxed into false testimony taxi driver, all make one believe, those three workers are not the murderers.

[thesetat2013]

For those posters who seem convinced the headman's son committed the murders, do you really think if he killed the couple he would simply leave the bodies on the beach? With his resources they would surely have taken the bodies out to sea and dumped them, to save his own skin and protect the family business.

What could be worse for an island/ hotel/club or guesthouse than to have2 corpses bludgeoned to death in front of your business that relies on tourists?

Anyone with a vested interest in the island's business would have hidden those bodies if they had been the perpretators.

U dont know that.. if it was his 2 sons they maybe were drunk or on some drugs or idk...

But anyway i have a probably good if not the best question... coz i am always reading about DNA this UK that... so my question to you guys is (hopefully someone is here who knows a bit about the THAI law):

they are now the acused and will have a trial date right? so usually every lawyer has the right to bring expert witnesses into court.. so the easiest way (the UK has her body and the samples of the seamen DNA) is for the lawyer to get an UK expertwitness Scotland Yard or the FBI i read wanted to be involved too and just check the DNA himself with the DNA of these to burmese....

so the question is that possible to bing an expert witness from another country?

The answer of course would be "why not" However do you really think the Thais will care to do anything more than a fast hearing with a faster sentencing just to end the fears of all the Tourism being lost?

[chibo84]

For those posters who seem convinced the headman's son committed the murders, do you really think if he killed the couple he would simply leave the bodies on the beach? With his resources they would surely have taken the bodies out to sea and dumped them, to save his own skin and protect the family business.

What could be worse for an island/ hotel/club or guesthouse than to have2 corpses bludgeoned to death in front of your business that relies on tourists?

Anyone with a vested interest in the island's business would have hidden those bodies if they had been the perpretators.

U dont know that.. if it was his 2 sons they maybe were drunk or on some drugs or idk...

But anyway i have a probably good if not the best question... coz i am always reading about DNA this UK that... so my question to you guys is (hopefully someone is here who knows a bit about the THAI law):

they are now the acused and will have a trial date right? so usually every lawyer has the right to bring expert witnesses into court.. so the easiest way (the UK has her body and the samples of the seamen DNA) is for the lawyer to get an UK expertwitness Scotland Yard or the FBI i read wanted to be involved too and just check the DNA himself with the DNA of these to burmese....

so the question is that possible to bing an expert witness from another country?

The answer of course would be "why not" However do you really think the Thais will care to do anything more than a fast hearing with a faster sentencing just to end the fears of all the Tourism being lost?

No the thing is... even the stupitest lawyer in the world would do that ... so we can be sure he will do it... so IF it shows that the 2 DNA samples match also with the FBI or Scotland Yard they wont show it (not to intimidate them even more) but we can be sure that they did it even if it will never come out that they did the tests. Probably after all these alligations and stuff the FBI or SY will ask the lawyer themselves if they can be of assitance... so i honestly think 99% sure that they will do it... and if the DNA shows that its a false positive it will come out on court day... and if the DNA matches we will not hear from it but we will all know that they did it.... and to your faster hearing its not about that it would just be one evidence of 1 minute hello we tested it ourselfs and the DNA doesnt match.. thats all

Edited October 3, 2014 by chibo84

[chooka]

There has been nothing on the Uk news today about these arrests, but then again another Uk hostage has just been beheaded by Islamic state so that was wall to wall covarage.

on Australian news where they say 3 arrested and charged. One confessed the other two deny the allegations against them.

[WhamBam]

There has been nothing on the Uk news today about these arrests, but then again another Uk hostage has just been beheaded by Islamic state so that was wall to wall covarage.

Daily Mail, Daily Mirror amongst others including the BBC have covered this today. The Mail went overboard with pictures. So where you get that from I do not know.

[NongKhaiKid]

International agencies should give them a Geoffrey Robinson Type QC representation at trial.

And find out the facts.

I know what you mean but there's a couple of problems.

Only Thai lawyers can appear in court unless a non-Thai can speak, read and write the language and has been accepted to practice by the Thai Law Association.

IF, big if, there's a trial I don't know of any Thai lawyers who have the reputation of being a Somchai Mason or Somchai of The Bailey.

It would be conveniently par for the course to have Guilty verdicts which means all a lawyer can do is present mitigation. He / She cannot question the witnesses or facts only make careful suggestions or allude to issues.

[crazygreg44]

For those posters who seem convinced the headman's son committed the murders, do you really think if he killed the couple he would simply leave the bodies on the beach? With his resources they would surely have taken the bodies out to sea and dumped them, to save his own skin and protect the family business.

What could be worse for an island/ hotel/club or guesthouse than to have2 corpses bludgeoned to death in front of your business that relies on tourists?

Anyone with a vested interest in the island's business would have hidden those bodies if they had been the perpretators.

This is a very logical point, in probably all our eyes.

Very difficult to argue and come up with a few explanations, but it's not the end of the road to evidence.

But what with this, while we are trying to spread some logic :

Police found the destroyed iPhone of the victim behind the house of one of the burmese suspects.

Why would a killer just drop such an proof in front of everybody's eyes ? Any killer with a little sense would at least have buried it, or threw it into the sea, made attempts so it will never be found.

Throw it behind your lodge ?

Both of us still have all the more reasons to come up with some logic.

[crazygreg44]

There has been nothing on the Uk news today about these arrests, but then again another Uk hostage has just been beheaded by Islamic state so that was wall to wall covarage.

on Australian news where they say 3 arrested and charged. One confessed the other two deny the allegations against them.

The one who confessed is probably the one who was given a pair of flip flops for the re-enactment, while the other two had to walk barefooted.

Seeing the photos made me cringe. Spit polishd booths and barefooted not guilty until proven.

[Bluespunk]

"Citing from the "confessions" of the two suspects, police said they entered Thailand about two weeks before the double murders, at dawn on September 15, and worked at AC Pub as general workers. The men said they hardly left the pub, as they had limited knowledge of the Thai language."

And yet they were able to under go interrogation and presumably sign confessions. Hope their translator was a good one.

[JohnThailandJohn]

A damaged iPhone belonging to one of the victims is found in bushes behind the house where Win, one of the suspects, lives.

This phone ?

victims-phone-given-to-police-day-after-murder-photo.jpg

Some are putting a lot of effort into this phone thing when it may not even been her phone but rather his as some reports have indicated or she may had two phones (Thai and UK).

Personally I go with the DNA -- if the semen DNA matches these guys then you can talk all you want about phones as a distraction but it just won't be a reality.

[KarenBravo]

The phone was handed over to the police by Hannah's friend who had it for safe-keeping. The police also asked for the code, which was given.

So, if this phone was in police possession, how did it end up smashed and behind the accused's accommodation?

[tartempion]

Dear tourists, you should feel safe now on Koh Tao with 200 cops....

[KarenBravo]

The police are as adept at framing people as they are at investigating murders.

Edited October 4, 2014 by KarenBravo

[Dogmatix]

He said both men could not be scapegoats, as their DNA matched the samples found on the victim's body.

Not wanting to be a spoiler, Sir, but has the DNA match been irrefutably confirmed by independent external experts whose integrity is beyond doubt?

If the DNA matches were to be discredited, how strong would be the police case?

Were the suspects read the Thai equivalent of their Miranda rights before being asked to sign their confessions?

They said they cannot speak Thai. Were the confessions in Burmese? If not, were they able to understand them fully?

Have they been provided with legal aid and spoken to a lawyer yet?

Has the Myanmar Embassy done anything for them?

[Dogmatix]

For those posters who seem convinced the headman's son committed the murders, do you really think if he killed the couple he would simply leave the bodies on the beach? With his resources they would surely have taken the bodies out to sea and dumped them, to save his own skin and protect the family business.

What could be worse for an island/ hotel/club or guesthouse than to have2 corpses bludgeoned to death in front of your business that relies on tourists?

Anyone with a vested interest in the island's business would have hidden those bodies if they had been the perpretators.

Just like the politician's son arranged for the disposal at sea of the body of the police sergeant he shot in front of witnesses at point blank range in a night club I suppose.

[Patje]

More than 200 policemen were on hand to provide security

I can see them hiding behind their Phones and tablets dodging bullets and arrows ........

[evadgib]

Convieniently wrapped up a few days before the next batch of full moon punters head there from kpg..?

[jacko45k]

A damaged iPhone belonging to one of the victims is found in bushes behind the house where Win, one of the suspects, lives.

This phone ?

victims-phone-given-to-police-day-after-murder-photo.jpg

Most people have more than one phone nowadays i use three one for work one for thailand one for my home country

And do you take all 3 out with you at once?