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POLICE ON THE Thai island of Koh Tao today paraded two Burmese men they say have confessed to murdering two British tourists three weeks ago.
The migrant workers, who face the death penalty if convicted, have also been charged with raping 23-year-old Hannah Witheridge, before beating her and 24-year-old David Miller to death on 14 September.
Investigators told the BBC that the men, named only as Saw and Win, confessed after being told their DNA matched samples taken from the body of the Norfolk woman.
“The two Myanmar nationals are charged with murder (of both tourists), gang rape (of Witheridge) and stealing,” Prachum Ruangthong, police chief of neighbouring Koh Phangan island, told AFP.
The country’s police chief, Somyot Poompanmoung, said earlier:
Two Myanmar suspects have confessed to killing the pair.
DNA test results confirmed that the same DNA was found in the body of the [female] victim.
The two men were among three nationals from Myanmar – formerly known as Burma – held since Thursday on suspicion of involvement in the crime.
The third suspect is believed to be a witness and is currently under police protection on Koh Tao, provincial police chief Kiattipong Khaosamang told AFP.
The breakthrough follows intense scrutiny of Thai authorities, which had been accused of bungling the investigation in the days after the crime.
Earlier today, the men were paraded before the media and hundreds of onlookers, and forced to recreate the crime on the beach where it occurred.
The ritual – which has raised eyebrows around the world for its likelihood of preventing a fair trial – was described by BBC reporter Jonah Fisher as “bizarre.”
Jonah Fisher / TwitterEverything about reconstruction on Koh Tao bizarre. Here one of suspects re-enacts the murder. pic.twitter.com/bPFhElhKlJ
— Jonah Fisher (@JonahFisherBBC) October 3, 2014
Speaking to BBC Radio 4′s Today programme this morning, Fisher said police had even asked him to to “play the part” of murdered Englishman David Miller.
The two men acted out everything, including using garden implements to attack ‘David Miller’ and ‘Hannah Witheridge.’
The whole thing has been bafflingly inept in many ways.
Thai authorities dismissed concerns that they have arrested scapegoats when questioned by reporters.
“Please be reassured that police have worked to their best ability so it’s not possible that they have arrested scapegoats,” Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said Friday.
Khaosod English / TwitterThe 2 suspects behind #KohTao murder were given helmets & body armor to protect them from possible vigilante attacks pic.twitter.com/N9oklBHpz1
— Khaosod English (@KhaosodEnglish) October 3, 2014
In the weeks since the crime, police have come under intense pressure to solve the case after being criticised for mismanaging the probe.
Journalists were allowed to trample all over the crime scene hours after the murders, while information – often erroneous – flowed out unfiltered until the intervention of the nation’s top police officer.
In the days after the murders, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha was widely criticised for suggesting “tourists in bikinis” weren’t safe on the resort island.
There are always problems with tourist safety. They think our country is beautiful and is safe so they can do whatever they want, they can wear bikinis and walk everywhere.
But can they be safe in bikinis… unless they are not beautiful?
Contains reporting by AFP.
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Great app. Irene Walsh was brilliant at the launch of the iPad Pro. Really stood out. Super Irish success story!
Outstanding.
Meanwhile there’s another Irish anatomy app company that’s been collecting prizes and positive reviews for its products aimed at students and practitioners pocketanatomy
There’s no question that this looks brilliant, it can certainly impart a level of detail I’ve only seen on TV but is it viable? Despite the presentation who exactly is this product aimed at, if it were just aimed at the medical field you’d imagine it wouldn’t be available to the general public, yet it’s available to everyone. You’re left with the impression that, while they’d like the medical profession to use it, and market it to this profession, in reality it’s a rather clever marketing ploy to attract the general public to use this product, believing it to be what doctors use.
I attend quite a lot of doctors and hospitals and have yet to see one with an iPad in their surgery, many have an iPhone as a personal phone and of course a desktop computer is essential but not an iPad. I also know there are dedicated products out there from several medical companies, wireless tablet devices some running proprietary software which are able to link with other patient monitoring devices wirelessly. This would mean a patient in a clinic or hospital setting would have all their details wirelessly transmitted from one area to another, transparently, if any of their vital signs began to change as they travelled through the facility this would automatically be detected, alarms raised and staff notified. It would be a little like having everyone monitored all the time as if they were in an ICU.
I’d be particularly alarmed if I went to a consultant cardiologist and he pulled out an iPad to see how the heart worked.
The article alludes to medical students being core customers.
It’s for med students, physio students etc.
Or maybe she pulls it out to so you how “the heart works”. Believe it or not the general public often are to sure of the main arteries of the heart.
In Irene Walsh’s presentation above she began by saying that the average doctors consultation lasts only 7 minutes and their patient retains only 14% of the information received. This then led her into demonstrating the use of the software and its benefits with the new iPad Pro, with a few strategically placed Apple Watches too, where she said if she were a doctor she could discuss clinical issues with a patients knee, for example.
At one point in the demonstration, while using the new pencil tool, she said if she were a Medical Student she could use it to accurately cut through the models layers and simulate surgical procedures. She went on to say that as a physician if a patient presented with another knee injury she could use the pencil tool again to demonstrate to them exactly what is happening, including if they happened to have varying levels of arthritis.
She also clearly stated that she could record all this and share it with the patient for them to view with the software on their own iPad. This implicitly assumes both patient and doctor must be using the same software, and of course must also have an iPad.
Indeed she did Sharky. The Apple keynote speech is not an indication of the target market. It is an exploration of possible markets.
They could widen their audience and usp by making sure that everything can be downloaded as stl/obj/ply for 3D printing too.
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