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| Burmese man confesses to murder of two British backpackers in Thailand | Burmese man confesses to murder of two British backpackers in Thailand |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A Burmese man has confessed to murdering Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, the young British backpackers found dead on a Thai island last month, police have said. | A Burmese man has confessed to murdering Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, the young British backpackers found dead on a Thai island last month, police have said. |
| “The investigation has advanced considerably,” Lieutenant General Jaktip Chaijinda, Thailand’s deputy national chief of police, told Reuters. “Three Burmese workers were detained and we took their DNA for testing. During the investigation one of them admitted to killing the two foreigners,” he said. | “The investigation has advanced considerably,” Lieutenant General Jaktip Chaijinda, Thailand’s deputy national chief of police, told Reuters. “Three Burmese workers were detained and we took their DNA for testing. During the investigation one of them admitted to killing the two foreigners,” he said. |
| The bodies of Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and Miller, 24, from Jersey, were found together on a beach on Koh Tao, an island popular with young foreign tourists, on 15 September. | The bodies of Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and Miller, 24, from Jersey, were found together on a beach on Koh Tao, an island popular with young foreign tourists, on 15 September. |
| Both had suffered serious head injuries, which were found to have killed Witheridge, while Miller died from a combination of head injuries and drowning, a postmortem found. | Both had suffered serious head injuries, which were found to have killed Witheridge, while Miller died from a combination of head injuries and drowning, a postmortem found. |
| Jaktip said the man who had confessed was being detained but had not been arrested. “We still have to wait for DNA test results, which we expect to have in 14 hours from now, in order to confirm this,” he said. | |
| Other reports inside Thailand said the three Burmese men had been arrested, and that DNA samples had been taken from all of them. One report, cited by the Bangkok Post, said the man who had confessed was a Thai national, and the other two were Burmese. | |
| Somyot Pumpanmuang, Thailand’s national police chief, was reportedly on his way to Surat Thani, the port town which has ferries to Koh Tao, as well as to the bigger holiday islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. | |
| The double murder brought worldwide coverage and prompted a concentrated, if seemingly chaotic, police investigation. Thailand is heavily reliant on tourism and there were fears the killings could scare away foreigners, especially if the case remained unsolved. | The double murder brought worldwide coverage and prompted a concentrated, if seemingly chaotic, police investigation. Thailand is heavily reliant on tourism and there were fears the killings could scare away foreigners, especially if the case remained unsolved. |
| Initial efforts focused on Burmese migrant workers, of whom there are many in Thailand. Two British brothers who were travelling with Miller were also questioned, but swiftly eliminated as possible suspects. | Initial efforts focused on Burmese migrant workers, of whom there are many in Thailand. Two British brothers who were travelling with Miller were also questioned, but swiftly eliminated as possible suspects. |
| Later, police said they believed the crime might have been motivated by sexual jealousy and were looking into reports that Witheridge and Miller had had a confrontation in a bar with a Thai man before they were killed. | Later, police said they believed the crime might have been motivated by sexual jealousy and were looking into reports that Witheridge and Miller had had a confrontation in a bar with a Thai man before they were killed. |
| Chaijinda had only just been appointed to head the murder inquiry, following concerns that more than two weeks had gone without a definite breakthrough in the case. |