Kirsty Jones Case Revived

[Flashermac]

Police investigating the murder of British backpacker Kirsty Jones 13 years ago in Thailand say DNA advances and fresh interviews with witnesses could provide a breakthrough, the BBC reports.

 

Jones, 23, from Tredomen in Wales, was raped and strangled at a guesthouse in Chiang Mai in 2000.

 

Police in Wales said they had been given permission to forensically review evidence collected by Thai officers, according to the BBC.

 

Jones' mother Sue told the BBC she was confident the case could be solved because of scientific improvements.

 

Her daughter, a Liverpool University graduate, was killed in Chiang Mai just three months into a two-year trip around the world.

 

Since then, Mrs Jones has worked tirelessly to ensure that her daughter's murderer is brought to justice. Last year she visited Thailand with Welsh police officers and offered a 10,000-pound reward for information.

 

Det Supt Andy John, who heads the case for the Dyfed-Powys Police, said they had been given permission to carry out a forensic review of evidence collected by Thai officers.

 

They have also been given access to all the documentation held by Thai authorities on the case for the first time.

 

As well, officers from Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) plan to travel to the UK to re-interview witnesses who were in Chiang Mai at the time of the murder.

 

"They are British nationals who are now back in the UK and we believe there's value to interview them again," said Det Supt John.

 

He said police had a DNA profile of the suspect or somebody who aided in the crime, and the indications are that it was a person of Southeast Asian origin.

 

"The DNA process in Thailand isn't as advanced as in the UK but it is growing," said Det Supt John.

 

"The number of people going in the DNA database in Thailand is growing. They have also taken DNA samples from prison inmates with certain convictions. That's ongoing."

 

Thai police last September accepted an offer of assistance from Dyfed-Powys Police, in particular with forensic tests.

 

Officers later came back to the UK with samples from the murder scene, including the sarong that was used to strangle Jones.

 

The body of Jones was found on Aug 10, 2000 in her room at a guesthouse in Chiang Mai more than 12 hours after the murder.

 

A month after her death, police arrested guesthouse owner Andrew Gill, 36, but Chiang Mai prosecutors decided not to proceed with the case, citing weak evidence.

 

The case was transferred to the DSI at the request of the Jones family, the British embassy and British police, in August 2005. It has since been reopened several times.

 

The statute of limitations in the case is 20 years.

 

 

http://bangkokpost.com/news/local/364000/dna-advances-may-help-in-kirsty-jones-case