Miller & Witheridge’s battered bodies have been found September 15, 2014, on the rocky shores of Koh Tao, an island within the Gulf of Thailand known for its white sand beaches & scuba diving.
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Police said DNA taken from the two men matched samples taken from the bodies.
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Defence lawyers had asked to retest DNA samples but authorities issued conflicting statements on DNA evidence and, at one point, said that it had been used up.
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And a Palestinian was killed during clashes with Israeli forces at a refugee camp in the West Bank, health officials said. Smaller crowds came out to Bethlehem’s Manger Square to celebrate Christmas Eve, 2015. “I don’t have a lot of sales”.
Speaking outside court, Miller’s brother Michael said “justice is what has been delivered today”, and said Thai police had carried out a “methodical and thorough” investigation.
Miss Witheridge was described as “a handsome, intelligent, loving young woman who poured joy into the lives of all who knew her”, while Mr Miller was a “hard-working, bright and conscientious” young man who would be “sorely, sorely missed”. Results from the investigation would appear to show that semen of both men was found inside the British Witheridge, the court said in its ruling the evidence from the crime scene and the witnesses “confirmed without any doubt” what Htun and Lin had done.
Both defendants, aged 22, initially confessed to the killings but later retracted these statements, saying they had been tortured.
“We are here just to demand justice for the two Myanmar nationals who were unfairly sentenced to death”, poet Aung Khun Sat said.
Zaw Lin also said that before the re-enactment of the crime a year ago, the interpreter had told him and Win Zaw Htun what they should do in front of reporters attending the event.
The mothers of Phyo and Lin burst into tears after the verdicts.
The grim killings have sullied Thailand’s reputation as a tourist haven and raised questions over its justice system after the defence accused the police of bungling their investigation and using the men as scapegoats – a charge authorities deny. The worldwide non-governmental organization also said questionable DNA evidence that linked them to the crime was never analyzed in deep.
When the bodies were found, police said that Witheridge had been raped and was bludgeoned to death, and Miller suffered blows to the head before being drowned in the sea.
It is understood the family of Mr Miller were planning to travel to Thailand for the verdicts.
Andy Hall, an global affairs adviser with the Migrant Worker Rights Network, which has represented the defendants, said they planned to appeal against the court’s decision.
“We feel that the court decision is unfair and that there was no transparency in the court hearing”.
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“We now need time, as a family, to digest the outcome of the trial and figure out the most appropriate way to tell our story”.
