Koh Tao murders: Still no arrests, no DNA matches (updated Thursday)

DNA tests have failed to provide a match and police are still working to identify the brutal beach killer of two British tourists on Koh Tao early Monday.

Please join us on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/bangkokpostlearning

Morning update

Post Today quotes Pol Lt Gen Panya Mamen, chief of Provincial Police Region 8, as saying that the failure to match the DNA of any of the current suspects to DNA samples found in connection to the murders of the British tourists means the investigation most now be expanded. Local Thais and fishermen may be investigated and it is essential to find the Asian-looking man seen in CCTV video footage from around the time of the murder, he said.

Royal Thai Police adviser Jarumporn Suramanee said relatives of the victims had arrived in Thailand. He also said it was unlikely that police would be able to detain Christopher Alan Ware, David William Miller's roommate on Koh Tao, but if new evidence emerges they would ask for the cooperation of British police. Mr Ware may return to the United Kingdom as early as tonight.

Earlier

Police now have the results of the autopsies and DNA lab tests and they, at least as of this morning, are not encouraging. Here are excerpts from the Bangkok Post's morning story on the murder investigation.

Note: Audio follows the full text. See below.

Koh Tao murders: Still no arrests, no DNA matches

POST REPORTERS

DNA tests have failed to provide a match and police are still working to identify the brutal beach killer of two British tourists on Koh Tao early Monday.

Royal Thai Police adviser Jarumporn Suramanee said Wednesday DNA of 12 people had been tested, including nine samples from Myanmar workers and one from Christopher Alan Ware, 25, the roommate of male victim David William Miller.

The tests found none of the DNA matched that collected from semen found in the female victim's body, he said.

However, the tests found that DNA from a cigarette near the scene matched the semen.

Investigators confirmed Wednesday they have been questioning Mr Ware for possible involvement in the savage murders which mutilated the victims.

Police sources said Mr Ware, 25, was stopped as he was about to leave Suvarnabhumi airport on Tuesday and placed under police questioning after police found what they thought was a pair of his bloodstained trousers in the luggage of the male victim David William Miller, 24.

Miller and Hannah Victoria Witheridge, 24, were found battered to death on a rocky beach on the island early on Monday morning following a party at a nearby resort.

Investigators who searched Miller's room found a pair of cream-coloured trousers with what they believed were bloodstains on both legs stuffed in Miller's luggage, one of the sources said.

Several witnesses confirmed Mr Ware, who left the island for Bangkok on Monday evening, was wearing the trousers the night the two victims were murdered, the same source said.

Police adviser Jarumporn said yesterday, however, that the stain found on the trousers was unlikely to be blood but a chemical substance.

Following the deaths of Miller and Witheridge, police ordered Mr Ware to undergo a physical examination after they found some bruises on his body and cuts on the back of his hands. The check, however, suggested the bruises and cuts probably occurred long before the murders.

Mr Ware has been questioned since his detention at the airport on Tuesday, the same police source said.

A police officer who asked not to be named said as police investigators were trying to piece together the murders based on the evidence found and the findings from an initial inspection of the victims' bodies they believed Miller was attacked from behind. The victim was also believed to have engaged in a struggle with his assailant.

Witheridge, meanwhile, was dragged away from the first attack spot, said the same police officer.

Pol Col Prachum Ruangthong, chief of Koh Phangan police station, said police were still looking at all possible scenarios for the murder, including a theory that the killing might have been committed by a man of Asian appearance captured on a security camera at the crime scene.

Pol Maj Gen Pornchai Suthirakhun, chief of the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IFM) , meanwhile, told reporters that forensic experts who performed post-mortems on the bodies of the victims have confirmed that they had found semen inside Witheridge's body.

The IFM was working to find out if the semen belonged to one or more men, he said.

The IFM chief said the wounds to Miller's hands and bruises on his back suggested he probably fought with his attacker before being dragged to the ground.

Witheridge was found to have died from head injuries. Miller appeared to have also died from head injuries. Water was also found in his lungs, Pol Maj Gen Pornchai said.

"From the wounds [to both victims' heads] it cannot be certain what exact type of weapons the attacker used on the victims.

The only fact known here is the weapons were blunt objects," he said.

Wednesday's stories

Afternoon update

Lab tests on DNA samples collected by police are expected some time this afternoon. This, police say, should move the case forward considerably. Meanwhile, police here in Bangkok have been questioning Christopher Alan Ware, a friend of victim David Miller, who has just returned from Khao Tao. He is not officially a suspect, they say, but he has been asked to remain in the country until they have completed their investigation.

Mr Ware was previously questioned by police and released. He had initially raised suspicions because he had cuts on his hands, but police were apparently satisfied the cuts were old. Police took renewed interest in Mr Ware after they searched the room where he had stayed with Miller. In a suitcase owned by Miller they found a pair of unwashed and bloodstained trousers believed to have been worn by Mr Ware.

Here's more from our online reporters:

New evidence has police again looking at fair-haired Miller's roommate, Christopher Alan Ware, as a leading suspect.

Forensics experts in Bangkok said they found, and are now DNA-testing, blonde hairs in female victim Witheridge's right hand. Police also found a pair of Ware's blood-stained pants from in Miller's luggage and an Apple iPhone with long blonde hairs snagged on it.

Ware, who a police official said had "left the island promptly" after being questioned and cleared by police, reportedly has been told to remain in Bangkok pending more investigation. Pol Sr Sgt Apichet Cherdguea told the German Press Agency that immigration officials have been asked to block his departure from Thailand.

AFP also reported a second Briton has been asked to remain in the country.

Wednesday morning story

Video 'mystery man' suspected in Koh Tao murders

Supapong Chaolan
Pitsara Jikkham

Police are trying to identify an Asian-looking man captured on security camera footage who is now a prime suspect in the grisly murders of two British tourists on Koh Tao in Surat Thani's Phangan district.

The focus on the suspect seen in the video footage came after police tried in vain Tuesday to identify the killer, detaining six Myanmar workers for questioning for possible involvement in the crime.

Each was released without charges.

Police said three of the Myanmar migrant workers were seen drinking near the beach where David William Miller, 24, and Hannah Victoria Witheridge, 24, were found dead on Monday, a police source said Tuesday.

Pol Maj Gen Kiattipong Khawsamang, Surat Thani police chief, said the six Myanmar nationals worked for a resort called Inthat, just 300m from the crime scene, and lodged in nine rooms there.

The six were detained after a pre-dawn search of their rooms uncovered four iPhones, two of which had shattered screens, along with a bloodstained pair of jeans, Pol Maj Gen Kiattipong said.

DNA samples were collected from the six and another four people for analysis, he said.

Although the six men were colleagues and lived as neighbours, they appear not to have been together on the night of the murders.

The three men seen drinking near the crime scene were believed to be the prime suspects in the murders of Miller and Witheridge.

But police have yet to press any charges against them pending an investigation outcome, Pol Maj Gen Kiattipong said.

They were freed after two rounds of interrogation by the police.

The other three suspects were released earlier in the day after investigators could not link them to the murders, said Pol Col Prachum Ruangthong, chief of Koh Phangan police station.

Police, however, will continue to keep a close watch on the men, he said.

Another police source said one among the group of Myanmar migrants who were drinking looked similar to the man captured by the security camera. Pol Maj Gen Kiattipong described the man as Asian-looking and about 160cm to 170cm tall.

In the video footage, captured by a camera installed at AC Bar, he can be seen walking back and forth near the crime scene.

The man was wearing a pair of shorts and walking about 4am toward the Jor Por Ror cape — the same route Miller and Witheridge took before they were found dead the following morning, said Pol Maj Gen Kiattipong.

The same man returned about 50 minutes later, running back hurriedly in a suspicious manner, said Pol Maj Gen Kiattipong.

Police have so far questioned 20 people in connection with the murders of the British tourists, Pol Col Prachum said.

The British embassy in Bangkok, meanwhile, issued a statement from its government warning its citizens to exercise caution while travelling in Thailand.

Surat Thani governor Chatpong Chatphum said the murder of the British tourists has dealt a serious blow to the province’s tourism.

He said the province was planning to install more security cameras at isolated spots and in areas at high risk of crimes while police were attempting to solve the murder case.

Tuesday stories

Noon update

Thai PBS has just reported that three migrant workers from Myanmar have been detained by police for questioning in connection with the murders of the two young tourists. In an inspection of the workers' living quarters, police reportedly found a pair of bloodstained jeans and an iPhone apparently belonging to one of the victims (not confirmed). The Daily News reports that nine rooms were searched and six workers were questioned. Four iPhones, two with cracked displays, were found. So, the situation is still a bit confused. The Daily News reports that the police search was prompted by CCTV footage showing an Asian-looking man passing by in the beach area at about 4am yesterday. Post Today says the man was seen going toward the beach area and then hurrying back about 45 minutes later.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the two victims are being flown back to Bangkok for forensics tests.

Morning updates

The British media is reporting this morning that Thai police are seeking a British male backpacker, likely a friend of  male victim David William Miller, for questioning. He is believed to have left the island shortly after the murders. His name is known but has not been given to the media.

(10:00am) Thailand-based British journalist Andrew Drummond reports this morning that the man sought by police had already been interviewed by them yesterday. Now they want to talk to him again.

(11:30) Thai police are saying little about their investigation, but they are giving out small bits of information, this from AFP:

An island-wide search for suspects was under way with police deployed at Koh Tao's main pier.

"There are three possible suspects," southern regional police commander Panya Maman told AFP, without confirming their nationalities.

Here is the Bangkok Post's morning report

Two Britons found murdered on Koh Tao

Supapong Chaolan

Police have sealed off Koh Tao of Surat Thani province in the hunt for the killer of two British tourists found battered to death on a beach early yesterday.

Pol Maj Gen Kiettiphong Khaowsam-ang, commander of Surat Thani's provincial police station, said he ordered officers to place all boat jetties under surveillance and ban all vessels from leaving the island while the manhunt was underway.

Police said they believed the murderer was still on the island because bad weather prevented most vessels from putting to sea.

Local police said they were alerted to the brutal murder about an hour before noon yesterday. A combined team of police, forensic experts and relief workers who went to the scene by helicopter found the bodies of a man and woman on Sairee beach on Koh Tao, located near Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand.

The team identified the male victim as David William Miller, 24, a British national. He was found naked with a fractured skull and a deep cut to his neck, believed to have been inflicted with a sharp weapon, police said. The body of the female victim, also naked and identified as British national Hannah Victoria Witheridge, 24, was found about 20 metres away.

Police say her face was disfigured and she was probably hit with a heavy object.

Police said they also found thongs, a pair of black trousers, a T-shirt, a pair of underpants and a used condom at the crime scene. Investigators also found traces of a struggle which indicated possible fighting near the murder scene, police said. A bloodstained hoe and a fertiliser sack were found nearby.

On Sunday, police said, foreign tourists attended a party on Sairee beach in front of Ocean View Bungalow, about 30m from where the bodies were found. The bodies of the two victims were found yesterday morning by Myanmar workers while they cleaned the beach.

Pol Maj Gen Kiettiphong said police believe the murder was committed between 3am and 5am yesterday. Pol Maj Gen Kiettiphong said Miller and some male friends arrived in Thailand on Aug 23, while Witheridge and four female friends arrived on Aug 27.

The two groups of tourists did not know one another before the trip, police said. They checked in at the Ocean View Bungalow and had joined the party in front of the hotel before the murder, according to police.

The victims' bodies were sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok for further examination yesterday.

The double-murder has sent shockwaves through the island, popular for its full-moon parties and scuba diving.

"It was the first time this has happened on the island, I have never seen anything like this," said an employee at the seaside resort where they were staying.

สามารถฝึกอ่านออกเสียงและดูคำแปลได้ที่ : http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/432493/tourists-murdered-on-koh-tao