Washington Post
September 18, 2015
It was exactly a year ago that the bodies were discovered on the beach: nearly naked, their blood mixing with the morning surf.
Hannah Witheridge was a beautiful blonde from eastern England. David Miller was her handsome friend from the Channel Islands. They were in their early 20s and vacationing together on the tiny tropical island of Koh Tao, a backpacker’s paradise off the coast of Thailand.
On Sept. 14, 2014, they attended an all-night party on Koh Tao’s idyllic Sairee Beach: a half-mile swath of emerald water and white sand. Sometime deep into the night, the two friends wandered off, perhaps headed back to their bungalow resort nearby.
That’s when the killers pounced.
By the time dawn broke over Koh Tao, the beach had been transformed into a bloodbath. Witheridge was found with her face smashed in, her skirt wrenched up and her body showing signs of rape. Miller was found four meters away: face up, with a blow to the head and water in his lungs.
A rusty hoe, its blade broken and caked in gore, lay nearby.