KOH SAMUI, SURAT THANI - The police officer in charge of the investigation into the brutal killing of two Britons on Koh Tao appeared for the first time in court Wednesday to be questioned by a lawyer for the two Myanmar migrants facing murder charges.
The testimony of Jakkrapan Kaewkhao, an officer at Koh Tao police station who was called as the first witness for the prosecution, capped the first day of the closely watched trial at the Koh Samui Provincial Court in Surat Thani province.
Prosecutors pressed several charges including murder and rape against Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo over the deaths of David Miller and Hannah Witheridge on Koh Tao on Sept 15.
The two suspects have been detained at a prison on neighbouring Koh Samui since October.
Zaw Lin, 22, and Wai Phyo, 21, insisted on their innocence and denied that they had committed the crimes.
"God will know that we are not the murderers and we hope to get freedom and justice," said Zaw Lin in a letter written in the Myanmar language.
Pol Lt Jakkrapan said he saw Miller's body partially immersed in the ebbing sea along Sai Ree beach and decided to move him to higher ground and walked around to check the vicinity while leaving his subordinate to look after the corpse.
Some five metres away behind some rocks lay the body of Witheridge with evidence showing she was raped, he told the three-member judge panel.
Pol Lt Jakkrapan was cross-examined by a team of defence lawyers led by Nakhon Chompuchat.
Mr Nakhon said later that he had questioned the police report in the court.
"The police officer who made the report and was in charge of the case answered the defence lawyers. The police report called into question its credibility as his statement was not the opinion of experts and doctors," he said.
The two suspects had admitted to the killing of the two British holidaymakers to police but later retracted their confessions, saying they were tortured.
Members of the families of Miller and Witheridge attended the courtroom, along with an official of the Foreign Commonwealth Office from the United Kingdom.
