Thai Police: Koh Tao backpacker Hannah Witheridge raped twice, arrest imminent

THAI police say one of two murdered British backpackers was raped twice as they claim an arrest will be made by Saturday.

epa04404020 An undated handout image provided by the family of Hannah Witheridge through Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 17 September 2014, shows Briton Hannah Witheridge, who was found murdered on island of Koh Tao, Thailand on 15 September 2014. Hannah Witheridge aged 23, from Norfolk, eastern England was found alongside fellow victim Briton David Miller aged 24 from Jersey, both victims were found in the early hours of the 15 September 2014. EPA/BRITISH FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

A BRITISH backpacker on the holiday island of Koh Tao in Thailand was raped by two of her killers before she was murdered, police have revealed.

Thai police believe three people were involved in the attacks on 23-year-old Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, 24, whose semi-naked bodies were found on a beach on September 15.

“Two of the suspects raped and killed Witheridge while another one witnessed the murder. We’re confident we have a very high chance of finding the suspects,” Lieutenant General Panya Mamen told the Bangkok Post.

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Raped twice before being bludgeoned to death ... Hannah Witheridge, 23, was on a backpacking holiday when murdered on Koh Tao island in Thailand.

Drowned and bludgeoned about the head ... David Miller, 24, was found alongside Hannah Witheridge on Koh Tao island in Thailand.

Lt Gen Panya, appointed assistant national police chief today, said authorities had short-listed 10 potential suspects.

“We are confident that within two or three days an arrest warrant can be issued or a wrongdoer arrested,” Lt Gen Panya said, adding that the list of 10 contained both Thais and Myanmar nationals.

“We have confidence in the forensic evidence that points to the wrongdoers, but we must be careful.”

About 300 people on the island had their DNA taken, and 10 had been at AC Bar, the last place Miller, from Jersey, and Witheridge, from Great Yarmouth, were seen alive. A bloodstained garden hoe, which is thought to be the murder weapon, was discovered nearby.

A police source told the Bangkok Post that detectives were looking for three men who shopped at a convenience store near Sairee Beach where the pair were killed.

Captured on security cameras, the trio bought one item later found discarded. The source said DNA recovered from that package matched that found at the crime scene.

The murders has forced Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports to start a pilot program giving “safety wristbands” to tourists at designated areas.

The wristbands will have the names of the tourists and the hotel where they are staying, so inebriated visitors may be “guided” back.

“The idea was first proposed by tourist police,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Tourism and Sports said.

“It was in response to the murders that happened on Koh Tao.”

Hannah Witheridge (left) and David Miller (second right) with David's friend Chris Ware (third right) on the evening Miller and Witheridge were murdered on Koh Tao.

The murders have had a disastrous effect on tourism to Koh Tao.

Vannee Thaipanich, president of the Koh Phangan Tourism Association, said the murders on Koh Tao have affected bookings for the October 8 full moon party on that island, with 30 per cent of rooms unbooked.