Thai police say two confess to murder of British tourists

October 03, 2014 | 09:36

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Two men from Myanmar have admitted to the murders of David Miller and Hannah Witheridge on Koh Tao island, which have dented Thailand's image as a tourist haven.

Thai workers carry the bodies of two British tourists on Koh Tao island in the Surat Thani province of southern Thailand
on September 15, 2014. (Photo source AFP)

BANGKOK: Thai police on Friday (Oct 3) said two men from Myanmar have admitted to killing a pair of British holidaymakers whose battered bodies were found on a resort island last month.

"Two Myanmar suspects have confessed to killing the pair," Thai National police chief Somyot Poompanmoung told AFP, adding their DNA matched traces found at the crime scene on Koh Tao island where David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, were found dead on Sep 15.

British tourists Hannah Witheridge (L) and David Miller who were found dead on the Thai island of Koh Tao. (AFP)

The two who have confessed were among three Myanmar nationals held since Thursday on suspicion of involvement in the crime, Somyot said. "The third suspect said he left the crime scene before murder took place," Somyot, Thailand's top policeman said. "DNA test results (from the two men) confirmed that same DNA was present that we found in body of the (female) victim," he said, without giving further details. Police are waiting for a local court to issue a warrant so the men can be charged, he added.

The murders, on a normally tranquil island popular with divers, dented Thailand's image as a tourist haven. Critics - especially among the British media - have accused Thai authorities of bungling the investigation in the near three weeks since the murders by chasing the wrong leads and failing to lock down the island in the hours following the killings.

AFP

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