Thai Backpacker Murders: Two Burmese Migrants Convicted

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Family members of David Miller, one of the two British tourists killed on Koh Tao island, speak to the media after hearing the verdict at the Koh Samui provincial court in Koh Samui, Thailand, December... Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

Two migrants from Myanmar, found guilty of murdering two British backpackers on a Thai island in September 2014, will face the death penalty, the BBC reported.

The bodies of Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, were found on a beach on Koh Tao on September 15, 2014. A post-mortem also showed that Witheridge had been raped. Burmese bar workers, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, both 22, were found guilty of the rape and murder of Witheridge and the murder of Miller by a Thai court in Koh Samui on Thursday.

The trial has been marred by controversy, with lawyers for the accused arguing that DNA taken from the alleged murder weapon, a garden hoe, did not match samples taken from the men. Lin and Phyo originally confessed to the murders but later retracted their confessions, saying that they had been subjected to torture by police. The judges said there was no evidence that either of the accused had been tortured. The defense team plan to appeal the verdict, according to the Guardian.

Witheridge and Miller were found on Sairee beach, Koh Tao, with severe head wounds. The verdict was welcomed by Miller's family, who attended the hearing. "[David] was hacked down from behind, dragged into the sea and left to die. That will live with us forever," said Michael Miller, the victim's brother. "The correct verdict has been reached."

In a statement, the family of Witheridge, who did not travel to Thailand for the verdict, said that the past year "has served as an unimaginably impossible time for our family" and that the family needed time to "digest the outcome of the trial and figure out the most appropriate way to tell our story."

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Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.

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