Koh Tao Murders

[Flashermac]

No her face was not smashed in. Is it too much to ask a journalist to report accurately? As I've said, the top of her head was virtually chopped off. She was whacked twice with the murder weapon, a heavy hoe Thai farmers use for digging. One blow hit her in the forehead, the second a bit higher and even deeper. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who saw the police photos, since a Thai cop had posted them on Facebook!

[Coss]

Whilst probably unrelated to the Murders of the two British Tourists, it would be interesting to know where the son of the local "powerful family" is at the moment.

_____

 

Teen's plea for Wellington dad Andrew Missen, missing in Thailand

 

 

Andrew Missen hasn't been heard from in 10 days.

 

The teen daughter of a Wellington man missing in Thailand is pleading for help to find him.

 

Andrew Missen, a designer who has created furniture for iconic Wellington eateries, failed to return to New Zealand after a trip to the Thai island of Ko Samui.

 

His family hasn't heard from him for more than 10 days.

 

His 15-year-old daughter, Teal Edwards-Missen, has made a public plea for information on Facebook:

 

"My dad, Andrew Missen, has gone missing in Ko Samui an island off Bangkok in Thailand. No one in our family has heard from him in over 10 days," she wrote.

 

"He's supposed to have arrived back in New Zealand but he never arrived at the airport in Thailand. Attached is a photo of him, please please please share this for me, he's my best friend and we're all so worried."

 

The status has been shared more than 380 times.

 

A woman who answered the phone at Missen's Newtown shop, Nidus Furniture, on Tuesday night was desperate for information on his whereabouts.

 

"To be honest, right now I'm just waiting for a call from him."

 

Ko Samui Tourist Police were unable to provide any details overnight.

 

A spokewoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said locating missing persons overseas was primarily a police matter and family inquiries should be referred to them.

 

Missen is well-known in design circles for his steelwork and furniture, which feature at Maranui Cafe, Chow, Deluxe and Hummingbird.

 

He has also designed chairs, tables and fittings for chef Al Brown's restaurants, including Depot in Auckland.

 

Missen's website says he is based in the Wellington suburb of Newtown, and lives with his daughter Teal and his dog Honey.

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/72542385/teens-plea-for-wellington-dad-andrew-missen-missing-in-thailand

[YimSiam]

Eek - I'm glad my family members don't post a Missing ad every time I am unheard from in Thailand for a week or two - that' s my usual modus operandi: radio silence while in LoS... Although it's a bit different if you're expected to return, and don't. And were supposed to be visiting Koh Tao.

[Coss]

Public urged to monitor the Koh Tao murder trial by Burmese investigators

 

KOH SAMUI: -- Zaw Lin and Wei Phyo, the two men who stand accused of the murders in Koh Tao last September, are innocent and should be cleared of all charges according to a team of investigators representing the Burmese Government who spoke to reporters in Rangoon on Thursday. During the press interview the team urged the public to monitor the case as it continues on the 10th and 11 of this month, on what are due to be the final hearing dates.

 

Burmese investigation teamThe two Burmese men are accused of the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, and the murder of David Miller, backpackers who travelled separately to the island last year. The gruesome murders have cast a shadow over the island and raised questions about tourist safety in Thailand and well as migrant worker issues.

 

The accused, who initially confessed to the crimes, later retracted their confessions saying they were tortured into admitting involvement in the crime. Htoo Chit, a migrant rights advocate who has been leading the investigation team formed by the Burmese Embassy in Thailand said the evidence presented during the case was overwhelmingly in favor of the defendants and that the Thai justice system should declare them innocent. “At first, they confessed because they were tortured and threatened in police custody, but they told us everything because they trust us,†Htoo Chit said. “I believe they are innocent and will be free soon, but we must monitor [the decision of the court] and whether they are acquitted.†He went on to explain that one of the most crucial pieces of evidence was the DNA testing administered by the Thai investigators that has come under increasing scrutiny. He says that DNA testing typically takes around 20 days where the tests in this case took only three days. Furthermore Thai forensic pathologist Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunan, who was called by the defense testified that the assumed murder weapon, a garden hoe, did not show any trace of the DNA of either defendants.

 

Those close to the case believe the two migrant workers are being used as scapegoats in a trial that has been riddled with ambiguity and accusations of foul play. During the proceedings the translator hired to assist with investigation was revealed to be a Rohingya Muslim who was fluent in neither Thai nor the defendants native Arakanese.

 

Yesterday (October 2nd) marked one year in jail for the two 22 year old defendants who maintain all they did on the night of the horrific murders was play guitar on the beach close to where the crimes took place and have told members of their support group that they had no knowledge of either victim prior to the news they had been murdered the following day, had no motive for hurting anybody on an island they rely on to earn money to provide for their families and pray for justice for the families of the victims. The two, who face the death penalty if found guilty of the crimes, have remained calm during the trial during which they have received support from their mothers, both widows, who have travelled to the island to support their sons. Neither of the accused have a history of any criminal activity.

 

-- Samui Times 2015-10-03

 

via ThaiVisa

[YimSiam]

Wow, that's the first time I've seen "rights advocate" and "Burmese Embassy" linked in anything but conflicting roles.

 

I hope they've been thinking carefully about the impact of their statements - may not be in the best interests of the accused for the Burmese govt to weigh in publicly on their side, when the assertions necessarily mean that the Thais fucked up. Thailand is going to stand for Myanmar giving them any shit? Huh. We'll see.

[baa99]

Yes, the Thais will stand for Myanmar giving them any shit! Because Burma has natural gas fields the Thais want.

[Mekong]

Baa

 

Gas is only part of it. Thailand has now woken up to the fact that Gas will run out by 2055 and it requires alternative sources for energy.

 

As of yet they have still not convinced the locals that coal burning is necessary in order to keep the lights on but Myanmar is allowing Coal Burning Thermal Power Plants to be built over there by Thai investors (Ital-Thai) for export back into Thailand.

 

The next step is to convince the Thai's away from being NIMBY's (Not in My Back Yard) and move forward, this is the shite I do in Vietnam and am trying to sell to the Thai nation

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQRHxKbqIzc

[limbo]

No her face was not smashed in. Is it too much to ask a journalist to report accurately? As I've said, the top of her head was virtually chopped off. She was whacked twice with the murder weapon, a heavy hoe Thai farmers use for digging. One blow hit her in the forehead, the second a bit higher and even deeper. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who saw the police photos, since a Thai cop had posted them on Facebook!

 

The hoe was supposedly used to cover up shot wounds to her head

[Coss]

Even reading the following, it is unfair to categorise a whole Nation, or that Nation's whole police force as being incompetent and feckless. Hang on, not its not, it's apt.

 

Defence team pokes holes in Koh Tao case

 

 

The Nation October 27, 2015 1:00 am

 

 

THE DEFENCE TEAM in the Koh Tao murder case has submitted a 56-page closing statement yesterday to Surat Thani's Koh Samui Court. The team is defending two Myanmar migrant workers accused of killing two British tourists in mid-September last year. The verdict is expected on December 24.

 

According to the team’s press statement, the seven-member team, working on a pro bono basis, called for the court to consider dismissing charges against Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo (Win Zaw Htun) due to the following points:

 

• The process of interrogating and charging the accused prior to prosecution was unlawful. For instance, they were questioned as "witnesses", before the testimony was turned into a so-called confession, with the duo "admitting" to murder and rape charges. They were questioned without the presence of lawyers, and were not provided with adequate translation or legal representation. Their DNA samples were collected against their wishes and, hence, are inadmissible as evidence in court.

 

• The so-called confessions cited by the prosecution in court had been collected through torture and threats to their lives. The accused were made to sign documents and confessions even though they had no understanding of the content, and clips of them being forced to "re-enact" the crime should not be admissible as evidence in court.

 

• No link has been shown between the alleged murder weapon - a hoe - and the accused. DNA samples from the hoe do not match those of the accused.

 

• The DNA evidence that allegedly matches the accused as well as other surrounding or circumstantial evidence apparently proving their guilt is unreliable and should not be considered. This so-called evidence was not collected, tested or analysed in accordance with internationally accepted standards. This includes all evidence allegedly linking the accused to the crime scene, such as cigarette butts, theft of the male victim's mobile phone and sunglasses as well as the "running man" caught on CCTV.

 

• The prosecution's case is marked by the absence of significant evidence necessary to prove the guilt of the accused. This absent evidence includes photographs of the crime scene, autopsy and DNA analysis process, chain of custody documents for forensic evidence, certain forensic evidence documents as well as a detailed DNA analysis laboratory case notes. In addition, the clothes and the body of the female victim - which should have contained significant traces of the perpetrators' DNA - was either not tested at all, or tested but not included in the prosecution file or case evidence list. CCTV footage provided by the prosecution seemed to be incomplete

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Defence-team-pokes-holes-in-Koh-Tao-case-30271669.html

[Mekong]

Two Burmese men have been found guilty and sentenced to death for murdering two UK tourists in Thailand last year.

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo killed Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, judges said.

The backpackers' bodies were found on a beach on the southern Thai island of Koh Tao on 15 September 2014.

The accused retracted their initial confessions saying police had tortured them, but Mr Miller's brother said justice had now "been delivered".

The flawed case of the Thailand beach murders

 

At a Thai court in Koh Samui, three judges found the two bar workers - who were migrants from Myanmar - guilty of murder and ordered that they face the death penalty.

Miss Witheridge and Mr Miller were found bludgeoned to death, and a post-mortem examination showed Miss Witheridge had been raped.

Prosecutors said DNA evidence collected from cigarette butts, a condom and the bodies of the victims, linked Lin and Phyo to the deaths.

 

But lawyers defending the accused argued that DNA from a garden hoe - allegedly used as the murder weapon - did not match samples taken from the men.

They also claimed evidence had been mishandled by police and the pair's confessions were the result of "systematic abuse" of migrants in the area.

The victims met on Koh Tao while staying in the same hotel.

'Justice delivered'

 

Miss Witheridge was a University of Essex student from Hemsby and Mr Miller had just completed a civil and structural engineering degree at the University of Leeds.

The family of Mr Miller attended the hearing but relatives of Miss Witheridge did not travel to Thailand for the verdicts.

Speaking outside court, Mr Miller's brother Michael said "justice is what has been delivered today", and said Thai police had carried out a "methodical and thorough" investigation.

He said the evidence against the accused was "absolutely overwhelming", and he went on to describe his brother David as "irreplaceable".

'Left to die'

 

Mr Miller said he hoped that campaigners who "relentlessly" championed the cause of the accused and believed their innocence would respect the court's decision.

Mr Miller acknowledged that initially when Lin and Phyo were brought forward as suspects, and the family saw pictures of two "innocent-looking men surrounded by tough policemen, it was easy to conclude they might be convenient scapegoats".

But he said the family resolved to keep an open mind and listen to all the evidence.

He said the widespread interest in the case had ensured the defendants received the "best possible representation in court by a team of seven top lawyers".

"[David] was hacked down from behind, dragged into the sea and left to die. That will live with us forever," he added.

"The correct verdict has been reached."

The family of Miss Witheridge previously said their "bubbly and intelligent" daughter, who gained a first-class honours degree at university, had been "taken from us in the most horrific way possible".

"She would have gone on to make a significant difference to the lives of many people," they said.