Thread: Two Tourists Brutally Murdered on Koh Tao, One Raped: Police Spark Thailand Manhunt

It could well be that the police never expected there to be any defense offered from 2 penniless Burmese who couldn't afford a lawyer.
Court appointed lawyers who's only interests were their fee and keeping in good with the police so they would get more jobs in future, who had no access to any evidence except the defendants word would ensure the correct verdict.

But a problem has reared its head with a proper defense being mounted that questions the police evidence and is prepared to present evidence of its own.

Could the defense lawyers and witnesses be in danger ?

Originally Posted by birding

Could the defense lawyers and witnesses be in danger ?

Only if they expose the truth.

Originally Posted by chassamui

It's a very badly presented show trial designed to appease. Because the military are used to dealing with frightened fuckwits, they believe this will pacify global media.

It's the reason the general believes all his own journos are retards. Just wait until he sees the verdict of the worlds press.

I am not quite sure its that. It has always seemed to me that when some outrageous bollocks is spouted, everyone knows it is a lie, the Thais know it is a lie, but they all go along with it. Its the norm. It is not stupidity as much as a cultural norm. I am lying, you know I am lying, I know you know I am lying and you know I know you know I am lying.

It is NOT the norm for someone to get called on the lie. And indeed, they get quite flustered about it. In my early innocent days I did call my then boss on something, and followed up on it. he was completely unable to handle it, and the lies got more and more fanciful and absurd. Probably would not do it nowadays.

The situation here is, I think the same. "We know this is crap, but you are supposed to accept it". I am lying, you know I am lying..etc etc. But the problem is this is too big, too many outside people are asking "what the f*ck", and the Thais have no way to handle it, except to get more and more absurd and fanciful.

I think it amounts to the same thing Nidhogg. Here is our justice system, I dare you to criticise it.

I reckon Nidhogg's assessment is pretty spot-on. Always interesting when irresistible force meets immovable object. Which means that

this is all going to get more entertaining, for us.....but not for the two Burmese. They'll get more stressed.

Be Interesting to see if these witnesses turn up in court.

Koh Tao defence team finds three key witnesses
By Nyan Lynn Aung | Wednesday, 04 March 2015

A Myanmar team investigating the Koh Tao island case in Thailand says it has identified eyewitnesses to the murder of two British backpackers who could help to free two migrant workers facing a possible death sentence for their alleged involvement in the crime.

U Aung Myo Thant, a member of a Myanmar embassy investigation team, said the three were all Myanmar citizens who had been reluctant to come forward before because they want to continue working in Thailand.

“We are satisfied they were eyewitnesses to the crimes, and we want to get statements from them,” he said yesterday.

U Aung Myo Thant said one of the eyewitnesses saw the men who accompanied the British tourists Hannah Witheridge and David Miller from the hotel shortly before the murder. Another witness said he had seen the rape by the light of his motorbike.

“They are telling the truth, but they are afraid to speak out in court,” said U Kyaw Thaung, another member of the investigation team and director of a Myanmar association in Thailand.

Myanmar investigators have filed the names of 31 witnesses with the court, including two foreigners, and have collected detailed evidence from them.

The suspects, Ko Zaw Lin and Ko Wai Phyo, both 21, could face trial in July. Thai prosecutors said last week they would seek the death penalty.

The Guardian newspaper reported on March 1 that British police might have breached legal guidelines by providing evidence to Thai authorities that could potentially help them execute the two Myanmar suspects.

Britain’s Foreign Office told rights group Reprieve that four English police forces conducted interviews about the case at the request of their Thai counterparts and passed on the information. The Guardian reported that under a British government protocol, British police and officials should not normally provide evidence when defendants face capital punishment in a foreign jurisdiction without getting assurances a death sentence will not be carried out.

Reprieve has also accused British police and officials of giving “one-sided assistance” by handing information to Thai authorities but refusing to share it with the defence.

Koh Tao defence team finds three key witnesses

Originally Posted by chassamui

I think it amounts to the same thing Nidhogg. Here is our justice system, I dare you to criticise it.

In all honesty, I don't think we are on the same page here. I do not think there is a "I dare you", just bewilderment.

Ok. Analogy. So you get invited by a nice friendly couple one day for a nice evening dinner. You turn up, and there on the table is a lovingly prepared joint of human leg. Turns out they are cannibals. You are like "What the f*ck", and they are at a loss to understand why you are like "what the f*ck". They spent a long time preparing their delectable meal, with a nice accompanying jou, and side salad, and here you are recoiling in horror.....Complete cultural confusion.

Now, back to the trial. The Thais have gone to all this trouble, setting up a nice trial, with a real judge, and few police officers who are prepared to "pinky swear", and a couple of scapegoats of no import who will take the blame. Money all round, business as usual and a couple of sacrificed Burmese is a small price to pay to ensure the 500,000 people continue to go to Tao, and the 20+ million to Thailand in general.

They have worked *hard* to put all this dog and pony show on to 'appease" the foreigners, and they simply do not understand why people are like "what the f*ck?".

Originally Posted by nidhogg

Now, back to the trial. The Thais have gone to all this trouble, setting up a nice trial, with a real judge, and few police officers who are prepared to "pinky swear", and a couple of scapegoats of no import who will take the blame. Money all round, business as usual and a couple of sacrificed Burmese is a small price to pay to ensure the 500,000 people continue to go to Tao, and the 20+ million to Thailand in general. They have worked *hard* to put all this dog and pony show on to 'appease" the foreigners, and they simply do not understand why people are like "what the f*ck?".

Like I said, a show trial aimed at appeasement. I did not include the fact that the authorities would be surprised by outsider reaction because It seemed so obvious. Apologies for that.

For those in Thailand who are blocked from seeing the Daily Mail, this today..

Screams of anguish in Thai courtroom as mothers of Burmese migrants accused of killing two British backpackers see their sons for the first time in seven months, as it is revealed CCTV tracked victims' last hours

Screams of anguish filled a courtroom today as two mothers hugged their shackled sons who are face death by lethal injection if they are convicted of savagely murdering two British backpackers.
Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, were killed last September and their bloodied bodies were found on a beach on Koh Tao - an island popular with backpackers and divers.
Following weeks of pressure on authorities to solve the crime, Thai police said in October that Burmese migrant workers Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both 22, had confessed to the killings. Both later retracted their statements, saying they had been tortured into confessing.
This morning's courtroom drama was played out as police revealed that more than a dozen security cameras tracked the last movements of the British couple as they made their way at night along the tourist strip on the island of Koh Tao.
There is no CCTV footage of what happened to them on the beach where they died, however.


As the men accused of killing Miss Witheridge and Mr Miller were led into the tiny courtroom on Koh Samui dragging the leg irons clasped to their ankles, the Burmese mothers began to wail.
As police prepared to present this evidence, the accused murderers, dressed in prison pink, were allowed to sit in front of their widowed mothers and accept their hugs for a full minute, tears running down the faces of all four. The loud cries of the women turned all heads.
It was the first time in seven months that Phyu Shwe Nu, the mother of prisoner Zaw Lin, and Myint Thein, whose son is the accused man Wei Phyo, had seen the defendants - and the cries grew louder when the women produced photographs of their dead husbands.
The sorrowful moments were allowed to continue for a full minute - watched by a male senior chief judge and two female judges - before police intervened and ordered the women, who were seated behind their sons, to move back.
'We are hoping and praying that our boys will be found innocent,' said Ms Myint during a break in the court proceedings as defence lawyers continued the drawn-out task of proving the 22-year-old men were not guilty of the crime which shocked the world - and rattled the Thai tourist industry to its foundations.
'My son has never been in trouble at home. He came to Thailand to earn money to send back to us, his family. He would not risk losing his work.'
The women - whose grief is shared for different reasons by the families of the two murdered young Britons, spoke as claims persisted of a botched police investigation, allegations of a cover-up allowing the real killers to get away with murder, stand-over tactics against witnesses, torture of the defendants, interference with DNA, missing evidence and fake alibis.
It was shortly before dawn on the morning of Monday September 15 last year that a beach cleaner on the small island of Koh Tao came across the bodies of Miss Witheridge, from Great Yarmouth, and Mr Miller, from Jersey.
She had been killed with blows to the head and there was evidence that she had been gang-raped. Mr Miller had been badly beaten and left to drown in the tide.
As fear spread through the island, fingers of suspicion pointed towards wealthy Thai families who many locals liken to an island Mafia.
The son of one leading family member, in particular, was said to have fled Koh Tao on the same morning the bodies were found and turned up for lessons as normal at a university in Bangkok, a seemingly perfect alibi.



The family of Hannah Witheridge, who was murdered in Thailand, have arrived in the country for the start of her alleged killers' trial
Despite other suspicions, it was the two Burmese men who were arrested, interrogated, forced to carry out a re-enactment of the crime on the beach and who were said to have admitted the crime.
Later, however, they recanted, insisting the police had told them, under torture of beating and hot water, that their bodies would end up in the sea if they refused to accept responsibility.
It is the claims of torture that defence lawyer Mr Nakhon Chomphuchat intends to use as part of his attack on the police case.
He had also been hoping to be given the chance to independently test DNA that police claim puts the two arrested men at the scene of the crime, a quiet corner of Koh Tao's famous Sairee beach.
But in a shock revelation, police admitted at an earlier court hearing that DNA found on a condom, on a cigarette butt and on a garden hoe believed to be the murder implement, had been 'used up' in the forensic testing.
'It's disappointing that there hasn't been any progress on this matter,' said Mr Nakhon as he went into court this morning.
'It's vital that the defence gets the chance to double check this, but we've heard nothing. We are, of course, still pressing hard.
'Being able to test the DNA that the police had, even though they say it has been used up, is a vital part of our defence.
'The court has ordered that anything left over should be sent for re-examination at the Central Forensic Institute [in Bangkok]. We are still waiting.'
When the case continued this morning Police Colonel Cherdpong Chiewpreecha told the court that 17 security cameras located on the narrow tourist strip running close to Sairee beach had traced the movements of Miss Witheridge and Mr Miller - although they were not always together.
The last time they were in the same drinking establishment was in the early hours of Monday morning when Mr Miller arrived at the AC bar about an hour behind Ms Witheridge.
There is no evidence that they left the premises together and there have been suggestions that the British woman had agreed to consensual sex with a Thai man - before being attacked by others.
Colonel Cherdpong said that nobody unfamiliar with either Miss Witheridge or Mr Miller could be seen on the security footage following either of them.
Why they apparently died together has led to speculation that Mr Miller heard Miss Witheridge screaming and had gone to her aid - and been attacked.
Experts who have studied some of the security footage have focused on a man seen running on the main laneway from the direction of the murders in the hours before dawn - and they say he has all the movements of a son of one of the so-called Mafia headmen.
But in an earlier interview with the Mail, Mr Woraphan Tuwichian, the owner of the AC bar where the British couple were last seen entering, he insisted his son had to be innocent because he had not even been on the island at the time of the murders.

'He was in university - everybody knows that,' he insisted. 'And yes, I' ve heard the stories that I am powerful enough to have got him away from here on a fast boat in time for him to be seen at the university later that morning.
'But let me repeat, I'm no Godfather. I own businesses here like everybody else. And like everybody else I want the killer or killers caught.'
As the murder trial grinds its way through the Thai legal system - the defence are not expected to begin their case until September and a result won't be known until October - the tourist industry on Koh Tao was buzzing this week, most backpackers totally unaware of the terrible crime that had been committed on the famous beach last September.
From a shady spot on his high balcony, Mr Khao Kanghanapen gazes at the tourists basking on the beach, tranquility they have travelled across the world to enjoy.
Blue sky and horizon merge, broken only by a line of colourful fishing boats. A child laughs, two women throw a ball under a line of coconut trees.
Compared to the big cities, it is paradise - and a holiday lifestyle enjoyed by Miss Witheridge and Mr Miller in the days leading up to the horror that ended their lives in a dark corner of the beach.
'Most of my guests don't know what occurred here and why should I ruin their holiday by letting on?' Mr Khao tells the Mail, his eyes on a mother leading her young daughter into the turquoise water where Mr Miller had been found drowned.
But the fears of people who probably know more than they dare openly admit exist still today, just as they did in the weeks that followed the killings.
Many people quietly whisper that the diminutive Burmese prisoners have been set up while huge sums of money have changed hands to allow the real rapists and killers to remain free.
And those fears exist even on Koh Samui, where the trial of the men is being held.
One translator for a British TV company is reported to have refused to continue working after receiving threats to stay away from the court - and attempts by the Mail to find an interpreter for the trial were met with numerous turn-downs.

One man whose name constantly arises, even today, is Briton Sean McAnna who fled Koh Tao in fear after being 'ordered' by two men known to the alleged 'Godfather' to hang himself.
Mr McAnna, who many believe was at a small beachside gathering strumming his guitar when Miss Witheridge and Mr Miller were attacked, said as he prepared to flee the island: 'They accused me of being the murderer.
'They wanted me to hang myself in the jungle so that it would look like I was filled with remorse for doing the killing.'
His guitar had streaks of blood on it as he spoke but he passed this off as being the result of falling off his motor bike.
Within hours of telling of his fears that 'people of influence' wanted him dead he fled Koh Tao and has recently been located in Italy, angrily refusing to discuss the case.
Having lived for a months on and off on the island, Mr McAnna knew all too well the threat held by dubious and dangerous characters who have nicknames like Big Ears and Stingray, a tough character who wore a ring with a fish barb protruding from it like a small spiked knuckle duster.
On Koh Samui the accused men now face weeks of court hearings and jail.
They listen intently, through an interpreter, to the proceedings, occasionally nodding. Their mothers sit behind them, hands clasped, hoping - and silently praying.


Mothers of Burmese migrants accused of killing British backpackers see their sons | Daily Mail Online

Koh Tao Murder: More Forensic Evidence Available for Re-Test, Witness Reveals

SURAT THANI — Challenging previous testimony provided by police, a forensic expert told the court where two Burmese men are being tried for murdering British tourists on a Thai island that more evidence is available for the independent re-test requested by the defense team earlier this month.

Her testimony contradicted what police witnesses told the court during the first three days of the trial on July 8-10: that only four items were available for re-examination because other key pieces of evidence, such swabs of DNA taken from the victims’ bodies, were "used up."

Today’s witness, a scientist from police’s forensic division named Kewalee Chanpan, said that "all" genetic material tested in the lab is replicated for future processing.

Pol.Lt.Col. Kewalee, who was in charge of testing several items in the investigation, also said that original pieces of evidence, such as a condom found at the crime scene, are still in police custody, though she added that DNA traces on objects diminish over time.

The availability of more forensic evidence is seen as a huge victory for the defense team, which has repeatedly protested their inability to access the alleged DNA match that police say incriminates the two suspects, whose names are Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo.

More: Koh Tao Murder: More Forensic Evidence Available for Re-Test, Witness Reveals

Wow. Time will tell if Thailand is capable of doing the right thing, but at least the world is watching.

Originally Posted by thailazer

Wow. Time will tell if Thailand is capable of doing the right thing, but at least the world is watching.

OF course they are not. They are capable of cocking things up though, and this is the only slight chance these two boys have. However, the judge has his orders already and the summing up statement consisting of "with these two people in jail, we can now say that Koh Tao is still the best tourist venue in the world so all come and bring lots of money to spend there which is the most important thing" has already been written and memorized.

A purr-fect juncture for the Court to take a one month recess after the trial commenced 8 July with witness testimony.

A grueling two weeks, eh.
Initially witness testimony was to have taken place through mid-August.
The defense team should be commended.

Of course , the Prosecution seeks to have this wrapped up in October ahead of TAT's 'high-season'.

I can only pray that the Court does the right thing at the conclusion of the trial for those two Burmese men.
Their freedom could send a message of justice even if the real perpetrators of the two murders can not be brought to stand trial (as sad as that really is).

The chain of evidence from identification and processing of the original specimens is crucial and and will only have evidential value if the process of collection and comparison is conducted in an uncorrupted environment. We are talking about western standards here and the fact remains the original swabs may have been tampered with.

I fear the damage has already been done and no amount of latent comparisons by the defence will alter that.

The disgraceful antics of the British Foreign Office and hapless Met.Police have added a legitimacy to the Thai proceedings and that cannot be undone.

Only a British Home Office forensic laboratory report, or similar agency, will suffice as an investigatory aid in getting to the truth.

Yes, but we didn't expect a revelation like this (below), did we ?

Originally Posted by misskit

Today’s witness, a scientist from police’s forensic division named Kewalee Chanpan, said that "all" genetic material tested in the lab is replicated for future processing.

Pol.Lt.Col. Kewalee, who was in charge of testing several items in the investigation, also said that original pieces of evidence, such as a condom found at the crime scene, are still in police custody, though she added that DNA traces on objects diminish over time.

And what if the damage has NOT been done ? What will happen if in some incredible way, the Burmese are found innocent or unable to be prosecuted ? What fascinates me is the very remote possibility that corruption is actually uncovered. Sort of like the horse on long odds actually winning the race....it DOES happen sometimes. At least often enough to make a race exciting.....or fascinating, as this case is.

^ you can get tablets for that sickness...

Originally Posted by Latindancer

At least often enough to make a race exciting.....or fascinating, as this case is

This statement is rather banal and shallow. This case is about educating an entire nation and exposing its corrupt and inefficient governance for the world to see. Otherwise two young lives will have been lost for nothing.

Originally Posted by chassamui

This case is about educating an entire nation and exposing its corrupt and inefficient governance for the world to see. Otherwise two young lives will have been lost for nothing.

This case is and always has been about the Thai nation saving face and not damaging its tourist industry, this trial is a circus sideshow with a foregone conclusion, the lives of Hannah and David have already been in vain and they'll soon be forgotten in the name of thainess.

Lead defence lawyer Nakhon Chompuchat said the court asked the defence team on Friday to provide a list of the evidence they want independently tested. Police say DNA from both the accused was found at the crime scene.

“Now we must decide what to retest,” Chompuchat said.

Inconsistencies over the police investigation emerged at the start of the trial earlier this month when a testifying police officer said that the sperm samples – the main evidence against the two men – had been “used up”.

But on Thursday, police forensic expert Kewalee Chanpan told the court that although the cotton buds used to take the samples were not available, the DNA extracted still existed.

Other evidence available for retesting includes blood and shoes found on the beach, and a hoe which was allegedly used to kill Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, on Sairee beach on Koh Tao island on 15 September 2014.

Andy Hall, a migrants’ rights activist from Britain who is working for the defence, said he was pleased the evidence was being made available but was still concerned about the reliability of the samples.

“We are not confident in the chain of custody of the samples,” he said, speaking from outside the court in the larger island of Koh Samui. He also complained that some CCTV footage from the night of the murders was not looked at by police.

The high-profile case has thrown the spotlight on Thailand’s legal failings and distressed the grieving families.

The criminal trial will continue until 25 September. A verdict is expected in October. There will be no jury.

The authorities want to solve the case quickly as it threatens the country’s vital tourism industry. Human rights groups say Burmese migrant workers, of whom there are about 2.5 million, have previously been wrongly accused of crimes by Thai police.

Members of the Miller and Witheridge families attended the first three days of the trial from 8-11 July but were not present for the second session of three days ending on Friday.

They have asked for privacy. Miller’s father told journalists that the family felt compelled to fly out for the trial. “It’s been a very emotional time for us,” he said at the court this month. “It’s been hard, very hard.”

British backpackers murder trial: DNA samples available for retesting | World news | The Guardian

^Kirsty Jones scenario all over again.

Going to be interesting in Sept,when the defence team bring there witnesses.

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

“Now we must decide what to retest,” Chompuchat said.

I'd suggest: everything.

Koh Tao Murder: Top Forensic Scientist to Testify for Defense

SURAT THANI — The head of Thailand's Central Institute of Forensic Science will testify in defense of two Burmese men accused of killing two British backpackers in southern Thailand last year.

Judges ruled on Friday to add an additional day to the trial to allow for CIFS director Pornthip Rojanasunand to take the witness stand at Koh Samui Provincial Court on 11 September.

Pornthip’s appearance was requested by the defendants’ lawyers because her agency, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, is re-examining several pieces of forensic evidence from the case that have only been tested privately by police. Pornthip is well-known in Thailand for disagreeing with police in several high-profile cases.

Four items collected from the crime scene on Koh Tao's Sairee beach, including the garden believed to be used in the murder, have already been sent to the CIFS for a second examination. On Thursday, the court learned that solutions containing DNA traces taken from the victims’ bodies may also be available for a re-test.

Defense lawyer Nakhon Chompuchat said his team is still discussing which additional evidence to send to the forensic institute.

"We want to consult with Dr. Pornthip first," Nakhon told Khaosod English on friday.

The defense lawyers have expressed concern about their inability to access ‘chains of custody’ from the investigation, which are documents tracking the collection, movement, processing, and current location of all evidence. The lawyers, who have requested the documents but not recieved them, said they want to confirm that no evidence was tampered with in the process.

The prosecutor said he could not comment on the case while the trial is ongoing.

The suspects, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, have spent the past year in jail and are facing the death penalty on charges of murdering David Miller, 24, and raping and murdering Hannah Witheridge, 23, on the night of 15 September 2014.

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo have insisted on their innocence, and said they initially confessed to police because they were beaten and threatened by officers who interrogated them without a lawyer.

The men, who originally hail from Myanmar’s Rahkine state, had been working on Koh Tao for less than a year before they were arrested. The are both 22 years old and around 150cm tall.

“We are confident they didn’t do it,’” said Andy Hall, a migrant workers’ rights activist from the UK who is assisting the defense team. “And we are confident that the court will deliver justice.”

Controversial CIFS Chief

Pornthip led the CIFS from 2008 until 2013, when the government of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra declined to extend her career. She was later re-instated as CIFS director in June 2014 by the military junta that toppled Yingluck's government less than a month earlier.

Pornthip pioneered the Thai justice system's focus on DNA evidence during her tenure at CIFS, but has also become a household name in Thailand for her connection to several controversies.

For years, she publicly defended the Thai military's use of "bomb detectors," called GT200s, which were later proven to be completely ineffective and sold to the Thai military by a British conman who was ultimately convicted for fraud.

Earlier this month, the Medical Council of Thailand also found Pornthip guilty of an ethics breach for giving false testimony as an expert in the inquest of a businessman who was found dead in his mansion in 1999. She will appeal the Council's ruling, Daily News reported.

DNA implicates defendants: police

In court yesterday - the final day of the trial’s second session of prosecution witnesses - judges heard from two police officers who said they tested evidence collected from the crime scene that matched the DNA of the suspects.

The second witness, Pol.Col. Wathee Asawutthimangkul from the Institute of Forensic Medicine, told the court that he was provided with genetic profiles of the suspects that matched semen collected from Witheridge's body that he tested in his lab.

All forensic officers in court this week told the judges that their testing was conducted in accordance with regulations, their machines met international standards, and they had no knowledge that any evidence was tampered with.

The trial is taking place over several staggered sessions and will conclude in late September, with a verdict expected in October.
Koh Tao Murder: Top Forensic Scientist to Testify for Defense

Koh Tao Murder: More Forensic Evidence Available for Re-Test, Witness Reveals

SURAT THANI — Challenging previous testimony provided by police, a forensic expert told the court where two Burmese men are being tried for murdering British tourists on a Thai island that more evidence is available for the independent re-test requested by the defense team earlier this month.

Her testimony contradicted what police witnesses told the court during the first three days of the trial on July 8-10: that only four items were available for re-examination because other key pieces of evidence, such swabs of DNA taken from the victims’ bodies, were "used up."

Today’s witness, a scientist from police’s forensic division named Kewalee Chanpan, said that "all" genetic material tested in the lab is replicated and saved for at least one year.

Pol.Lt.Col. Kewalee, who was in charge of testing several items in the investigation, also said that original pieces of evidence, such as a condom found at the crime scene, are still in police custody, though she added that DNA traces on objects diminish over time.

The availability of more forensic evidence is seen as a huge victory for the defense team, which has repeatedly protested their inability to access the alleged DNA match that police say incriminates the two suspects, whose names are Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo.

The pair has been charged with raping and murdering Hannah Witheridge, 23, and murdering David Miller, 24, on the island of Koh Tao in September 2014. If found guilty, the 22-year-olds could face the death penalty.

Police’s internal processing of the forensic tests and the prosecution’s efforts to evade an independent re-examination of the evidence have fed long-running suspicions that the two Burmese migrant workers were framed.

The pair, who were arrested following two-weeks of investigative blunders and dead ends, say they were beaten by police into making initial confessions, which they later retracted after speaking to lawyers in prison.

In court this week, the two men, who must wear metal shackles around their ankles, have appeared attentive but generally relaxed during the proceedings.

Although the forensic witness said today that all genetic material is replicated as a matter of protocol in the police lab, she did not specifically confirm which samples can be retrieved for further examination.

According to the prosecution, the key pieces of incriminating evidence are semen found in the female victim’s body, and DNA on cigarette stubs found close to the crime scene.

The defense team told Khaosod English that they will discuss which pieces of additional evidence they would like send to the Central Institute of Forensic Science, a lab administered by the Ministry of Justice.

"We have to be specific about what we want retested, and for what purposes," said Nakhon Chompuchat, one of the defendants’ lawyers. "But at least our perception of things is now clearer."

He said the institute is still processing the items that were sent for a retest earlier this month, which included the bloodied garden hoe police believe was used in the murder, and a shoe, sock, and bag found at the crime scene.


Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo during police conference on Koh Tao on 10 October 2014.
Pol.Lt.Col. Kewalee, who conducted police’s original testing of the garden hoe, told the court today that only Witheridge’s blood was found on the weapon. No other DNA was found on the tool, she said.

When pressed by the defense about why there was no genetic material found on the hoe that matched the suspects, who presumably had to grip its handle tightly, Pol.Lt.Col. Kewalee said that skin cells from the hand are not as likely to adhere to an object as blood.

She also did not supply the full documentation of the results she gathered in her forensic testing, citing a policy that bars scientists from providing investigative officers with detailed graphs of a person’s genetic makeup.

The defendants’ lawyer, Nakhon, said he was suspicious of this reasoning, and has requested access to all of the material in order to ascertain whether any documents were tampered with.

"The prosecutor tried to be evasive by saying that no law supports giving the graphs and tables to the investigative officers, which is true," he said. "But once you testify to the court, you must show them."

He added, "I have already requested this information, but they won't give us. That is why I am suspicious."

According to Nakhon, the defense has not received a number of requested documents from the prosecution, including photographs taken during the post-mortem examinations, and required paper trails – known as a ‘chains of custody’ – that document the collection, movement, and current location of all physical evidence.

"We haven’t received any of this," he said.

The trial is taking place in a court on the neighboring island of Koh Samui over 18 staggered days. The second session will conclude tomorrow, with a third round of prosecution witnesses scheduled to take the stand in August. A verdict is expected in early October.

Among those who attended today’s court hearing were the defendants’ mothers, a representative for relatives of Miller and Witheridge, an official from Myanmar’s Embassy in Thailand, a representative from a Burmese NGO, one foreign correspondent, and several expats who have organized local support for the suspects.

Koh Tao Murder: More Forensic Evidence Available for Re-Test, Witness Reveals

Police handling in spotlight again at trial

Further fuel was yesterday added to accusations that Thai police botched the investigation into the murders of two British backpackers, when a senior Thai officer admitted in court that he did not follow up with or receive the DNA evidence of a key Thai suspect.

Defendant Ko Zaw Lin arrives in a prison bus for his trial at the Koh Samui court on July 22. Photo: AFPDefendant Ko Zaw Lin arrives in a prison bus for his trial at the Koh Samui court on July 22. Photo: AFP

The defence team argues that Myanmar defendants Ko Zaw Lin and Ko Wai Phyo – who could face the death penalty if convicted – were wrongfully maligned by an under-pressure police force looking to peg the crime on migrant workers.

Both the defendants have pleaded not guilty to the murder of David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, on Koh Tao last September. The defendants withdrew earlier confessions that they allege were coerced by threats of torture and even death, one of the many allegations that police have mishandled the case.

Under cross-examination yesterday, Colonel Cherdpong Chiewpreecha, a senior investigating police officer, told judges that he had not looked into the rumour that Ms Witheridge had been involved in an argument with a Thai youth just hours before she was killed, according to a source present at yesterday’s hearing.

While Col Cherdpong admitted that he had heard about Ms Witheridge’s altercation with “Dodo” Toovichien, the son of Koh Tao’s wealthiest man and effectively the island chief, he said that neither he nor his officers actively followed up that line of enquiry.

Col Cherdpong also admitted that of the 300 CCTV cameras on the popular diving island, 200 were not working at the time of the murder, and only 22 captured any video images of the victims. Neither Ms Witheridge nor Mr Miller was seen alive again after entering the AC bar separately between midnight and 2am.

Their bodies were later discovered in the early hours of September 15, 2014.

As the defense extensively questioned the police colonel about the CCTV footage yesterday it was revealed that cameras from the popular diving island’s only pier were not examined. The defence has alleged that a boat was seen leaving the island shortly after the murders.

Dodo, who had the altercation with Ms Witheridge, was seen on CCTV in Bangkok later on September 15. He has denied having anything to do with the murders, however, and provided DNA samples in front of reporters to try to quell rumours that he could be responsible.

But in court the senior investigating officer said he never received the results of those DNA tests.

Additionally, when questioned about why the murder weapon – a bloodied hoe – was not tested for DNA evidence, he told the court he did not believe it was relevant. He also would not confirm if any DNA evidence was sent to Singapore for independent testing.

The prosecution’s case is largely contingent on forensic evidence that allegedly links the Myanmar defendants to the crime.

The defence requested access to the critical DNA evidence for an independent retesting but was told it either no longer exists or was “used up” in the initial analysis.

Ko Zaw Lin and Ko Wai Phyo were arrested three weeks after the bodies were discovered – and shortly after Thai police had publicly announced that a Thai person could not have been responsible for the heinous rape and killings.
Police handling in spotlight again at trial