NONTHABURI, Aug 29 (TNA) – The Supreme Court upheld death penalties for two Myanmar migrant workers for the murder of two British backpackers on Koh Tao in 2014.
The Nonthaburi provincial court delivered the verdict on their final appeal. The court ruled that the death penalty handed down by lower courts would be upheld as the duo had been found guilty of murder and rape on the basis of evidence and forensic results.
The duo displayed no emotion as they listened to the reading of the verdict through a translator. Their legal team said it would seek a royal pardon within 60 days.
Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were found guilty of the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and of killing David Miller, 24. Their battered bodies were found on a beach on Koh Tao in Surat Thani on September 15, 2014.
In October of the same year, Zaw Lin was detained on the island and Wai Phyo, who fled from the island was arrested at a pier in Surat Thani.
A court handed down a ruling in 2015, giving them the death sentences and the appeal court upheld the convictions in 2017. – (TNA)
