Four questioned in Horton murder probe

[aussie dollar]

Four questioned in Horton murder probe

KOH SAMUI (The Nation/Phuket Gazette): Police detained four men last night for questioning as part of their investigation into the murder of Welsh university student Katherine Horton on this popular resort island.

They also took DNA samples from the four, all employees of a resort close to the bungalow where Ms Horton, 21, was staying. Witnesses saw the men dining at a food stall nearby on the night of the murder, police said. No charges had been filed against the four as of last night.

A motorcycle owned by one of the men, whose identities were not immediately released by police, was seen parked outside Katherine’s bungalow at the New Hut resort on the evening of January 1. But the owner said he had earlier rented it to a foreign tourist, investigators said. The man produced a document to support his claim, they added.

Police yesterday questioned the four for several hours after t aking them into custody at the Sea View Paradise resort on Lamai Beach. The resort is next to the one where Ms Horton, a third-year psychology student from Cardiff, was spending her New Year’s holiday with friends at the time she was killed.

Investigators took samples from the men for DNA analysis after questioning them yesterday and taking them to Samui Hospital for medical checks last night. They were later brought back to Samui police station for further questioning.

A source at the hospital said DNA sampling was carried out yesterday on seven foreigners and eight Thais, including the four men under detention, as part of the police investigation.

Ms Horton’s body was found on Monday in the sea off Thong Krok Beach, a few kilometers from the resort where she had been staying. Police said she had been hit several times on the head and body with a blunt instrument, before being thrown into the sea to drown.

A primary po lice investigation showed that Ms Horton was likely attacked while walking on the beach near her bungalow on the evening of January 1.

Ms Horton was talking to her mother, Elizabeth, on her mobile phone when the attack took place, and her mother reportedly heard her scream before the call was cut off.

Police at first said that an initial examination had shown no signs that Ms Horton was raped before she was murdered, but Pol Maj Gen Santhan Chayanont, Deputy Commissioner of Police Region 8, told the Gazette today, “After looking at much of the evidence we have concluded that Ms Horton was raped and murdered. A forensic examination discovered semen in her body.

“DNA samples are being taken from all suspects, and officers from the Police Forensic Science Office in Bangkok are checking these against evidence already found. We expect complete results of this analysis soon. It will be our main route of investigation.”

The results of the tests are expected today or tomorrow, he said.

Investigators also plan to check photographs from an automatic security camera installed near the spot where Ms Horton was believed to have been attacked, a police source said yesterday.

“At a resort nearby, there is a set of sensor-equipped cameras and lights that automatically snap pictures when something moves past at night. We hope to find some leads from the photo records,” the source said.

Police yesterday set up a field command centre on Koh Samui for the murder investigation. More than 100 police personnel from local and Bangkok-based units fanned out across the island in search of leads in the case.

Central Investigation Bureau deputy commissioner Pol Maj Gen Asavin Kwanmuang and Tourist Police commander Maj Gen Panya Mamen held a meeting with investigators to inquire about their progress.

“We have found some leads but cannot publi cly discuss the details now. Some witnesses have been questioned and evidence gathered that leads to certain suspects,” Maj Gen Panya said.

“I am a father with daughters too, and so are many other officers who are racing against time to solve the case here with the heart of a father,” said Surat Thani Provincial Police Chief, Pol Maj Gen Voravate Vinitnatyanon.

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The Phuket Gazette
17:30 local time (GMT +7)

[JAM]

Police detain 3 teenagers over tourist murder

Bangkok Post

Police Saturday detained three Surat Thani teenagers in Bangkok for questioning over possible links to the Jan 2 rape and murder of Welsh tourist Katherine Horton on Koh Samui.

The three went missing from the island off Surat Thani after the murder and Crime Suppression Division police followed their trail to the capital before arresting them Saturday.

Their names were not disclosed. Police collected saliva and hair samples from them for DNA tests to determine if they were responsible for the crime.

Police have also arrested a fugitive attempted murder suspect, Sirichai Chanphong, for questioning in connection to the case.
Police also took a British couple who found Horton's cellphone back to Koh Samui from Bangkok Saturday for questioning.

They wanted the Britons to point out the location where they found the phone.

Pol Maj-Gen Assawin Kwanmuang, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, said telephone records showed Horton made her last call to her mother in Britain between 9.43pm and 10pm on Jan 1, and her mother heard a dog barking and a scream before the line went silent. Horton was raped and killed, and semen was found in her vagina.

Two police teams combing the crime scene found bloodstains and locks of hair in front of a bungalow on Lamai beach, about four kilometres from Thong Krok beach where Horton's body was discovered. Another police team found locks of hair at Ban Bang Rak pier.

Samples of the blood and hair were collected and sent to the police's Institute of Forensic Medicine for DNA tests for comparison with the victim's DNA.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has called on the police to solve the case quickly.

[steve@thaib]

Just been on the radio that they have charged 2 fishermen with this.

[LivinLOS]

If the fishermen turn out to be Burmese I will think cover up..

Odd that these 4 are on the run and suddently tracked down in BKK (obviously fled the island) yet they now charge fishermen..

[JAM]

Two arrested for tourist's murder

Police arrested two fishermen early Monday as prime suspects in the rape and murder of a British woman, whose body was found last week in a bay off Samui Island resort, officers said this morning.

Bualoy Kothisit, 23, and Vichai Suankhaoyai, 24, were arrested on board a fishing boat off Samui Island at 2 a.m. local time by undercover police pretending to be fish buyers, said Police Major General Asawin Kwanmuang, deputy commissioner of the Investigation Bureau.

The two men have reportedly confessed to the rape and murder of Katherine Horton, 21, whose body was found floating on January 2 in Lamai Bay, Samui.

Bualoy and Vichai confessed to coming ashore drunk on the night of January 1 with the intention of raping a woman, when they spotted Horton walking on the beach chatting on her mobile phone.

They confessed to hitting Horton on the head with a piece of wood, dragging her to their small boat where they raped her, hit her again and dumped her body in the water, said Asawin. The two men then returned to a larger fishing boat to stay offshore for a week.

The two suspects have been brought to Bangkok for DNA tests and authorities said the tests confirmed their semen matches samples believed to be from two men and found in Horton's body during an autopsy.

Thai police have been under pressure to solve the Horton murder, which has damaged Thailand's reputation as a safe tourist destination.

Last week police interrogated and took DNA samples from 14 suspects on Samui, including six foreigners, but none matched the evidence.

"The bungalow where Horton was staying raised dogs and they only barked at Thais, and since they were barking on the night of the murder we assumed the culprits had to be Thais," said Tourist police commissioner Major General Banya Mamen.

The breakthrough in the case occurred over the weekend after a British couple who were the last to see Horton on the beach and who found her hand phone returned to Thailand to present their evidence to police.

Horton arrived December 27 in Thailand and travelled to Koh Samui, a popular island resort 450 kilometres south of Bangkok to celebrate the New Year's holiday with a friend.

She went missing on the night of January 1, after leaving her friend, Ruth Adams, to walk on the beach while making a mobile phone call to her mother in Cardiff, Wales.

The call was interrupted when Horton was attacked. Her mother heard her scream and then the line went dead.

Her parents, Ian and Elizabeth Horton, travelled last week to Samui to monitor the investigation into their daughter's murder and to bring her body home.

Horton is the fourth British tourist to be murdered in Thailand over the last five years.

British nationals Adam Lloyd, 25, and Vanessa Arscott, 24, were shot dead on September 9, 2004, in Kachanaburi province by Thai Police Sergeant Somchai Wisetsingh. Somchai was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

British tourist Kristy Jones was allegedly raped and murdered in 2000 in Chiang Mai. Her killer was never caught.