Koh Tao murders: DNA matches, confessions obtained, crime re-enacted

Thai police have confirmed that DNA samples obtained from two Myanmar workers match that of DNA found on the body of the female tourist. The two have both allegedly confessed to carrying out the crime and this afternoon, the re-enacted it before a large group of police and onlookers.

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Friday evening

The re-enactment of the murders of David Miller and Hannah Witherridge has now taken place. Here is story in considerable detail

Confessed Koh Tao killers re-enact British backpackers' final minutes

DNA proves a match, police say

Supapong Chaolan

Bob James

It was well after midnight and Wyn, Saw and Mau were smoking, drinking and playing music near a line of pine trees on the edge of Koh Tao’s Sairee beach as David Miller and Hannah Witherridge headed toward a secluded spot of ocean where they could be alone.

Mau, like his friends, a migrant worker from Myanmar, got up from the log where they sat and staggered back to his bungalow. His two 21-year-old friends lagged behind and, a moment later, attractive blonde Witheridge, 23, and 24-year-old Miller strolled by. The two men got up and followed them.

The events that transpired in the following minutes – re-enacted in gruesome detail Friday on the Surat Thani province tourist island – would leave the British backpackers molested and brutally murdered, Koh Tao's close-knit island population horrified and Thailand's international reputation badly tarnished.

Wyn and Saw – no surnames have yet been disclosed – confessed after hours of interrogation Thursday to raping Witheridge and bludgeoning her and Miller to death in the early morning hours of Sept 15.

Police pushed through DNA tests in record time, obtaining results in just hours, instead of the usual days. Even before the official 10am press conference, police "sources" began leaking news that the tests were positive; the DNA matched. They finally had wrapped up an investigation that critics at home and abroad had lambasted as bungled.

"Two Myanmar suspects have confessed to killing the pair," national police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang told the AFP news service even before the press conference. "DNA test results confirmed that the same DNA was found in the body of the (female) victim."

"Together with other evidence and (testimony from witnesses) that we have collected thoroughly throughout the investigation, we are convinced that these two migrant workers were the killers,'' Pol Lt Gen Decha Butrnamphech, commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 8, echoed to The Associated Press, again before any official announcement or charges were made.

Pol Gen Somyot trotted out the two Myanmar suspects before hundreds of onlookers and police on Sairee Beach om Friday, making both play out how they allegedly raped and murdered the couple.

A foreign tourist was recruited to play David while a television reporter from the UK's Sky TV jumped into her own story to portray Hannah. With throngs standing from the roadside down to the waterline, the re-enactment had all the markings of a full-blown media circus.

Saw showed how, seeing the couple together behind some large rocks, he grabbed a hoe from a nearby vegetable garden and brought it down on the back of Miller's head before dragging the young man into the sea, where autopsy findings showed he inhaled considerable amounts of water before dying.

With her partner incapacitated, both men then set upon Witheridge, taking turns as raping her while  alternately smoking a cigarette. When they were through, Wyn smashed her head repeatedly with the hoe.

Police said earlier the hoe had only Witheridge's DNA on it. So it was the L&M cigarette butt, casually tossed away, that became the key piece of evidence tying the two men to the killings.

 Wyn – previously identified as both "Soe" and "Cho" – was seen on security-camera video at a nearby convenience store buying the same brand of cigarettes just hours before the killings.

The DNA found on the butt matched the semen recovered from Witheridge, police said. Pol Gen Somyot later told the media Friday that police had gathered additional CCTV and eyewitness evidence to support the case.

Pol Gen Somyot said Friday that investigators Thursday night found Witheridge's mobile phone near Wyn's living quarters.

Having named –and cleared – a succession of "suspects" and "persons of interest" including Myanmar nationals, Thai bar owners, relatives of local village chiefs and even Miller's own friends, police have drawn the scorn of families and media worldwide. With no solid leads, investigators resorted to mass DNA testing of Koh Tao's population, taking more than 200 samples.

They spent six to ten hours reviewing footage from each of the island's 366 closed-circuit television cameras, twice pushing out to the media clips of "suspicious" Asian men seen running through the streets or walking toward the beach. Finally, it was CCTV footage from the convenience store that broke open the case.

A police source said investigators on Sept 30 began paying special attention to Wyn after spotting him at the convenience store at 11.12pm Sept 14 and on other cameras acting "suspiciously".

They already knew that three migrants, believed to be close friends, liked to hang out on the beach playing guitar. They also knew Saw and Mau worked at a resort hotel owned by a village leader on Koh Tao while Wyn worked at a restaurant near the crime scene.

Despite the intense police heat on the island, none of the three left Koh Tao in the days after the killings, although one reportedly dyed his hair from fair to black. Then, finally, at 9pm Wednesday, Wyn decided to flee. He was captured at the main wharf in Nakhon Surat Thani at 6am Thursday.

Wyn was taken to the Provincial Police Region 8 investigation centre where he was questioned for five hours.

Members of the press were barred from approaching the centre and prohibited from taking pictures. Saw and Mau then were picked up around 9pm on Koh Tao. By that time, news of Wyn's confession had been leaking out of police offices in Surat Thani and Bangkok for more than three hours.

While Thai authorities frequently are accused of framing migrants from Myanmar and Cambodia for crimes in the kingdom, police insist they are not scapegoating anyone for the murders. Both public officials and Koh Tao residents seem anxious to put the sordid scenes of the past 19 days behind them

Friday morning

Deputy national police chief Chakthip Chaichinda has just confirmed that DNA samples obtained from two Myanmar workers match that of DNA found on the body of the female tourist, Hannah Witheridge. They have now both confessed to carrying out the crime, he said.

The third man detained yesterday has been cleared on any involvement in the crime, Pol Gen Chaktip said. In addition to the DNA, police have also recovered the Witheridge's smartphone from near where the suspects stayed on Koh Tao.

Later today there will  be a police press conference which should clear up the various bits of conflicting information the media has gleaned from various sources.

(9:15): National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang has just confirmed the DNA matches, saying that he was informed of the results about midnight last night. Speaking on the 9am Thai PBS news show, he said the resolution of the case was the result of a painstakingly thorough, step-by-step investigation. He said the next step was to ask the court to issue arrest warrants for the two suspects, identified as Win and Cho, followed by a re-enactment of the crime and additional search of the suspects' living quarters.

Latest: (11:20) A large group of people has gathered on Koh Tao for the crime re-enactment which will begin shortly. More than 100 police are there to keep order.

Here is an earlier story from this morning's Bangkok Post:

Myanmar man 'admits to killings'

Three detained, police await DNA test results

Wassayos Ngamkham
Supapong Chaolan

One of three Myanmar nationals detained for questioning in connection with the murder of two British tourists on Koh Tao in Surat Thani has confessed to committing the murders, deputy national police chief Chakthip Chaichinda says.

Reports from Koh Tao said the confession directly implicated the other two Myanmar suspects in the killings.

Authorities became suspicious of this Myanmar man, now identified as Mr Cho, after they saw closed-circuit TV taken inside a convenience store shortly before the bloody murders of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24.

Police were waiting for results of DNA tests on the three suspects, Pol Gen Chaktip told the Bangkok Post in a telephone interview Thursday.

National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang reportedly flew to Koh Tao Thursday. A formal press briefing is expected once the DNA test results on the three are obtained.

Pol Maj Gen Kiattipong Khawsamang, former Surat Thani police chief, who is one of the investigators, denied telling foreign media two workers from Myanmar had confessed to the murders.

But Pol Gen Chakthip said the three were detained after a police investigation into the murders of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24. Police inspected video footage from security cameras on Koh Tao and became suspicious of their activities.

One of the three suspects identified only as Cho (and originally transliterated as "Soe"), who was about 25 to 27 years old, was detained at the main wharf of Nakhon Surat Thani Municipality at 6am Thursday after he left Koh Tao on a ferry at 9pm on Wednesday.

The man was taken to Provincial Police Region 8 investigation centre where he was questioned for five hours. Members of the press were barred from approaching the investigation centre and prohibited from taking pictures.

Police officers also refused to talk to reporters until Pol Lt Gen Decha Butrnamphech, commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 8, emerged from the investigation centre at 3pm to say the case was expected to be solved soon. "I'm very satisfied with the investigation," he said.

A source said Cho admitted he been captured on a surveillance camera but insisted he had nothing to do with the murder of the two Britons.

Police then collected DNA samples from Cho and sent them for testing, the source said.

Cho was being detained by the police Thursday on illegal entry charges.

The source did not clarify whether or not Cho was the man of Asian appearance caught on a security camera at the AC Bar near the crime scene on the night of the murder.

Another informed source, meanwhile, said police on Sept 30 began paying special attention to 10 people of interest after discovering one of them was captured on a security camera at a convenience store on Sairee beach while buying a packet of L&M cigarettes.

The man was recorded on the camera at 11.12pm on Sept 14.

DNA samples taken from cigarette butts of the same L&M brand, which were found near the crime scene, matched those extracted from semen retrieved from Witheridge, the same source said.

The police previously learned from a number of staff at a resort near the crime scene that a group of three Myanmar nationals, who were believed to be close friends, liked to hang around together playing guitars on the beach, the source said.

Two of the three Myanmar men were identified as employees of a restaurant near the crime scene while one was confirmed to be Cho who hurriedly left Koh Tao shortly after he was released after being questioned earlier by police, the source said.

At 9pm on Wednesday, a police investigation team, detained the other two Myanmar nationals and took them to a safe house on the island.

No further information about the questioning of the two has been obtained.

Thursday evening update

3 arrested in murder probe

Post Today is reporting that three men have been arrested in connection with the murders of the two British tourists on Koh Tao, all migrant workers from Myanmar.

One of them, according to Post Today, has apparently confessed that he carried out the murders and the other two are said to have knowledge of the crime. DNA samples have been taken from all three.

One of the suspects was detained at the Surat Thani Municipal pier and the other were detained on Koh Tao itself.

One key piece of evidence is a cigarette butt found on a beach near the murder scene. DNA taken from the butt matched that found in semen in the woman victim's body.

Police have CCTV footage from a nearby convenience store showing one of the suspects buying the same brand of cigarettes.

At the moment, there are conflicting reports about the names of the suspects and how many have confessed and what they allegedly said.

National police chief Pol Gen Somyot Pumpanmuang has flown to Surat Thani where a press conference is expected on Friday which should clear things up.

More tomorrow morning.

Morning story

Koh Tao probe gets new chief

Supapong Chaolan

Assistant national police chief Pol Lt Gen Chakthip Chaichinda has been appointed to oversee the investigation into the murder of two British tourists on Koh Tao in Surat Thani, while more than two weeks have passed with no suspects formally identified or arrested.

National police chief Pol Gen Somyot Pumpanmuang said Wednesday he will sign an order appointing Pol Lt Gen Chakthip to lead the probe into the murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, whose dead bodies were found on a beach on the island on Sept 15.

With Pol Lt Gen Chakthip in charge, the integration and efficiency of the investigation should improve, said Pol Gen Somyot, who insisted the police investigation had met international standards.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his deputies are satisfied with the progress in the case, Pol Gen Somyot said.

Pol Lt Gen Panya Mamen, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 8, said police were close to arresting some suspects.

"We're confident that within two or three days we'll be able to obtain an arrest warrant and arrest the suspects who are among the shortlisted 10 Thai and Myanmar workers we're now focusing on," said Pol Lt Gen Panya.

"We have to make sure the evidence we have in hand is solid enough."

Police teams were keeping a close watch on 10 people of interest who were all at AC Bar the night before Witheridge and Miller were found dead, he said. The two victims were last seen at the bar.

A police source meanwhile said officers were going after three more people of interest who were caught on a security camera at a convenience store near Sairee beach on the night of the murder.

According to the source, police have collected a DNA sample from items believed to have been bought from a convenience store close to the crime scene.

The items could have been dropped by the murder suspects, leaving a clue to help identify them, the source said.

Pol Lt Gen Panya also dismissed a claim by footballer Pornprasit Sukdam, 37, that he was beaten on Monday into confessing involvement. He said the allegation was totally untrue.

For our previous coverage which pretty much follows the case from the beginning, look here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/435282/koh-tao-suspect-cleared-but-life-ruined

http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/434177/koh-tao-murders-frustration-grows

http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/433605/koh-tao-murders-still-big-news

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

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