Koh Tao 'sealed off' after two tourists brutally killed
Gruesome murders of British pair on island paradise shock locals and visitors
POLICE have sealed off the resort island of Koh Tao off Surat Thani province to hunt down killers who brutally murdered a British couple and possibly raped the woman on Sunday night. The 24-year-old victims have been identified as Hannah Witheridge and David Miller.
Last night, one of Miller’s friends was detained after he provided conflicting information, Surat Thani police commander Pol Maj General Kiattiphong Kaosam-ang said. There were multiple scratches on the suspect’s body and he had a serious wound on his hand.
However, Kiattiphong said surveillance camera footage also showed an Asian man fleeing the scene at 3am, which prompted investigators to initially believe there might be a sole attacker. Police believed he could possibly have been a migrant worker or fishing-trawler crewman.
The deaths have come as a shock to tourists and residents on the small island, which is known as one of the best diving sites in Thailand.
Initial investigation at the site on Chor Por Ror beach has been completed and bodies will be sent to Bangkok for autopsy and further forensic examination.
Kiattiphong said both victims had arrived at the island separately. Witheridge checked in at Ocean Ville resort on August 27, while Miller arrived on September 13. Witheridge was with four girlfriends, while Miller came with two or three other men. As their rooms were close by, the two groups came to know each other.
Investigators learned that the victims had gone to a party at the neighbouring AC Resort, and left together before their bodies were found at 6.30am yesterday.
Police sealed off the island and kicked off a manhunt for the attackers. Residents have also been helping with the search.
According to Kiattipong, “most of the wounds were to their heads” and said he believed the suspect, or suspects, were “probably still on the island”.
It was not immediately known whether Witheridge was sexually assaulted – that is expected to be determined in the autopsy. Both victims were naked when discovered.
A statement from the British Embassy in Bangkok said officials were “urgently seeking information from local authorities. Consular staff stand ready to provide assistance to friends and family at this tragic time”.
Checkpoints have been set-up on the island’s two piers, and local police called for reinforcements from Koh Pha-ngan, while high seas prevented ferries and boats from leaving.
Distraught friends of the victims – who had seen the pair partying just hours before their bodies were found – gathered at the local police station.
Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, meanwhile, said Tourist Police were already on high alert. She added that tourists visiting the Kingdom would all be under the protection of official bodies to prevent further damage to the country’s reputation.
An employee at the budget Ocean Ville resort told AFP that the bodies were found behind some large rocks on the beach about 20 metres from each other and a bloodstained hoe was found nearby.
“This is the first time that this has happened on the island. I have never seen anything like this,” the staff member added requesting anonymity.
Regional commander Pol Lt-General Panya Mamen and Kiattiphong had flown into the island earlier upon hearing of the gruesome killings.
This was yet another horrific crime against foreign tourists and British citizens in recent years – including the 2006 rape and murder of Briton Katherine Horton, 21, on nearby Koh Samui and the 2000 rape and murder of Kirsty Jones, 23, at a guesthouse in Chiang Mai.
There were 389 deaths of British nationals in Thailand in the year to March 2013, about one for every 2,400 visitors or residents although that figure includes natural causes.
