A Thai court convicted two Burmese men and sentenced them to death on Thursday for murdering two British tourists on a resort island in Thailand last year.

On Sept. 15, 2014, Thailand police found the dead bodies of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, on a beach in the southern Thai island of Koh Tao. They were discovered in a semi-naked state with severe injuries to their heads, as HNGN previously reported.

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, two migrant workers from Myanmar who worked at a bar on the resort island, were arrested approximately two weeks later in connection to the murders. They initially admitted to killing Miller and Witheridge, but later claimed that their confessions were made under duress, according to CNN.


The tourists were found bludgeoned to death and an autopsy revealed that Witheridge had also been a victim of sexual assault. Prosecutors said that forensic evidence, including DNA samples collected from cigarette butts, a condom and the victims' bodies connected Lin and Phyo to the murders, according to BBC News.

Lawyers representing the accused argued that DNA evidence from a garden hoe, believed to be the weapon used for the murder, did not match that DNA samples obtained from the defendants. Another argument made by the defending counsel was that the accused were abused and tortured by police to get a confession from them.

Miller's brother, Michael welcomed the court's decision. "Justice is what has been delivered today," he said, adding that the Thailand police conducted a "methodical and thorough" investigation.