April 12, 2023 • 31 mins
In September 2014, Hannah Witheridge and David Miller only met by chance while backpacking on the island, but when their bodies were found together on Sairee Beach, they would become linked forever by a tragic mystery. Their senseless deaths sparked international outrage and raised questions about justice on Koh Tao. As the investigation continues and new evidence emerges, it seems that the truth about Hannah and David's murders may be more elusive than anyone ever imagined.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
On September fourteenth, twenty fourteen, twenty three year old Hannah
Witherige and twenty four year old David Miller, who'd only
just met by chance on Catou, were talking at the
ac Bar. The pair, both from the UK, left the
bar together around one am. It was the last time
either of them was seen alive. Early the next morning,
(00:25):
on September fifteenth, a beach cleaner found their partially clad bodies.
David was floating in the water, Hannah was found on
the sand, the waves lapping over her. Near the crime
scene was a pile of clothes, cigarette butts, and a
used condom. Detectives discovered a garden hoe covered in blood
(00:48):
near their bodies, and autopsy revealed that David had scratches
on his back and water in his lungs, indicating he'd drowned.
Hannah's body was covered in defensive wounds, bruising and scratches.
Their death sparked international outrage and questions about a lack
of justice on Katao. Welcome to Death Island, a production
(01:12):
of Katie Studios and iHeartRadio, Episode four, The Case of
Hannah Witheridge and David Miller. I'm Connor Powell, an investigative
journalist at Katie Studios with Stephanie Lydecker, Courtney Armstrong, Andrew
Arnow and Jeff Shane. Their bodies were found it early
(01:34):
this morning on the Popular Beach, not very far from
the Bungling where they're staying. They believe they were killed,
probably beaten to death sometime they last night. This is
an island in shock. Two breekle murders right on the
very beaches to have drawn so many visitors here. The
(01:55):
case of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller is a clear
cut murder. But who is responsible for their deaths? This
will be the start of the most explosive case in
Catao's history. Here's Stephanie and Connor. We've seen a lot
(02:16):
of recordings in news clips regarding Hannah. Her family describes
her as beautiful and intelligent. She was a loving young
woman who brought so much joy into many people's lives.
In their statement, they said, quote, she was selfless in caring,
and she made every day a little bit more wonderful.
Our family are utterly devastated and shocked by what has
happened to our beautiful Hannah end quote. It's frankly an
(02:38):
unimaginable level of grief, and David Miller had just completed
a civil engineering course at the University of Leeds. His
family in Jersey said that break in Thailand was well deserved.
He was due to come home to complete a master's
for his degree, and in the statement that they released,
they said David was an artist by temperament, so talented.
He had a creative eye that he carried with him
(03:00):
throughout life, and in his degree he was hard working,
bright and conscientious with everything to look forward to. David
was very giving to his family and friends and we
all adored him. He will be sorely, sorely missed by
all accounts. They had their whole lives ahead of them.
So here's what we know. The details of what happened
in the moments prior to Hannah and David's murder there's
(03:22):
still a little bit sketchy, but here's what we know.
On August twenty five, twenty fourteen, Hannah and David arrived
to the island separately. Hannah was traveling with three friends
and David was with two others. And we know that
Hannah and David met for the first time on Kotau.
While staying at the same hotel on September fourteenth, twenty fourteen,
Hannah and David were seeing at the ac bar, partying
(03:45):
and drinking with each other and other friends. They left
the bar sometime around one am together on September fifteenth,
that's the Monday, twenty fourteen. Hannah and David's bodies were
then found around five am in the morning. As the
investigation started to take shape, very little reliable information was
coming from investigators when the news of Hannah and David's
(04:09):
murders broke. Jonathan Samuels was one of the first reporters
on the ground. So I was living in Sydney. I
was the Australia correspondent for Sky News and I got
the phone call from the Foreign desk saying that a
couple of backpackers have been murdered on this island of
katow and it was all looking very serious. They were British,
(04:31):
they were young, and could I get out there as
soon as possible. So I pretty much got the next
plane to Thailand and it's quite it's quite a convoluted
route actually to get to Coatous there's no airstrip, so
you have to get a boat, and that boat, even
the fastest one, takes three hours. But as you approach
you are stunned, really by the beauty of the place,
(04:52):
this sort of towering jungle in the middle, the beautiful
beaches around the edge, and that this crystal clear water,
the fishing boats that are bobbing away, and people in
and out of the sea. And we pulled up against
the pier and we got out, and I was struck
by the beauty of the place. But also straight away
we got a sense of the sadness because not far
(05:14):
from where the boat dropped us off was the crime
scene where Hannah and David's bodies had been found. It
was desperately sad, and I can remember it still now,
all those young backpackers from all around the world, all
sorts of nationalities, all still in a state of shock.
Now this was sort of thirty six forty eight hours
after the bodies had been discovered, and people were still
(05:36):
in tears, they were hugging each other. Words spread quickly
around the island, and police were trying to determine a
timeline of events. Can you just give an overview of
their deaths and then talk about the crime scene as
you understood it. They were on a bar. They left
very late. They walked together along Syree Beach. They were
(05:58):
walking along the beach, which just is effectively underneath their hotel.
If they had looked up that night, they probably would
have been able to see their own hotel rooms and
the safety of their own hotel. But at some point
they were jumped, and they were very aggressively attacked. Tomstone
(06:18):
produced and directed a documentary called Murder in Paradise about
the mysterious deaths Unktel Connor asked him to walk through
what happened. A cleaning crew had discovered Hnnah and David's
bodies in the morning. Their bodies are found on the beach.
One is floating in the sea in the shallows. David
Miller and Hannah Witheridge are violently attacked. Hannah is raped.
(06:42):
A garden home found at the scene covered in blood,
which is believed to be the murder weapon. The person
to raise the alarm is Monterey Watt to Wichia, a
local businessman owned a number of businesses. His family is
very well known on the island, and he raised the
alarm and I interviewed him and he taught me through
(07:03):
what he saw. He took me through his horror seeing
Hannah with Ridge and David Miller on the beach. Connor
also spoke with Soup Buchanan, and author who wrote a
book about the deaths on Katau called The Curse of
the Turtle, The True Story of Thailand's Backpacker Murders. She
(07:26):
was living on a nearby island when Hannah and David
were murdered, and so with Hannah and David, I mean,
tell us what you know about their deaths? And was
that really shocking when you heard about it? I wasn't
shocked about that. I was shocked they were found on
Syrie Beach because I'm like, well, who would dare murder
(07:47):
a British couple on Twitchyan territory? You have to be
madder than a bag of fish to leave that kind
of mess on a Matthew your own beach. Like, forget
the police. You can pay the police. You can't leave
that kind of mess on warpans. I mean, like, what
the fuck. Locals and expats refer to the handful of
families who control Katao as the mafia. The ta Vician
(08:08):
family is one of those families. Mantua Davician is the
brother of Warapan Davician, the chief of the island Mantua
controlled Sorry Beach and on the ac bar the police
where Hannah and David were last seen alive. He talked
as well about going to contact the local police. Sergeant
Apache Cherdouga was the first Tie officer on the scene
(08:31):
and spoke to the documentary filmmaker Tom Stone. The Royal
Tie Police opened a murder investigation. Here again Jonathan Samuel's
followed by Sue Buchanan. All. At that time there were
just six police officers on the island and it was
their job to then get to the bottom and investigate
(08:53):
what was a very brutal attack and murder. Can you
describe the crinian I've covered crime scenes all over the world,
a huge number in the UK and Europe and elsewhere
as well, and I've never seen a crime scene as
chaotic as this was. I mean from the start we
were all allowed so close. Now, normally with a crime
scene is a tape a long way away from where
(09:15):
the incident happened, and certainly the media aren't allowed anywhere near.
And yet there were photographers, there were camera crews, there
were journalists pretty much walking all over the site, which
didn't really seem to be even taped off any longer.
It may have been taped off in the initial few hours,
but when we got there, all that had pretty much
gone out of the window. People were trampling across the
sand where the bodies had been found, People were taking photographs,
(09:37):
People were taking selfies, which I thought was particularly distasteful.
And there wasn't really a police presence at all. I mean,
there may have been one or two police officers, but
they certainly weren't holding the crowds back, and straight away
that concerned me. All of the rescue groups in Thailand,
they have Facebook pages, right, they have Facebook groups, So
if you want to find out what's going on on
(09:59):
the island, just go onto one of these rescue groups,
because they just take photographs of whatever's happened, the most gruesome,
disgusting photographs you could possibly imagine. And all the rescue
teams do is put it on their Facebook page. So
to find the crime scene pictures was nothing more than
just tapping into the Coat and rescue and there's all
these photographs. The photos from the crime scene are graphic.
(10:22):
Hannah has hid several times in her head and face
and had a severe injury to her skull. David had
been hit by a blunt object and had deep gashes
across his skull. He's lying in very shallow water. He's
got complete death pallor, no coloration to his extremities, no
coloration to his lips, his hands sticking out of the
(10:44):
water like a flagpole is obviously in Rigga Mortis has
been there for a while, but the next picture shows
the rescue team carrying him out of the water where
he's not got Rigga Mortis. And the ocean is so
full of blood. The ocean's read well as a dive instructure.
I know how much blood you've got to put into
the water for it to show up. So I'm like,
this guy's gushing with blood. You know, dead people don't bleed.
(11:06):
In fairness to the Koteil police, the crime scene was
a tough location to secure. David was found in water
near the rocks, and Hannah was found on the shore
on Sorry Beach, a beach with tons of for traffic.
Let's say they did everything right. Let's say the police
were well trained and they immediately roped off and secured
(11:27):
the crime scene. Given its location. From what you saw,
it's rocky, there's the ocean, the tide comes up. It's
a party place where there's cigarette buds everywhere, but it's
a place where it's well trampled. Is it even a
place that could have been properly secured with great police anyways? Well,
there's no question it could have been done better because
it was a mess. There were people taking photographs of
(11:49):
the bodies, there were people wandering around all over the place.
They didn't have enough officers to properly secure the scene.
Could a more professional police force have done a better job.
I think so. Yes. I think that that would have
served the country of Thailand much better as well, Bearing
in mind that criticism they've taken. They simply did not
have the set of skills and experience to oversee something
(12:11):
is complicated as that. Undoubtedly ifuld have been done better,
I think that police officers on the mainland would tell
you it could have been done better. While it's important
to be even handed about the six officers who were
on the island at that time, Yes, it could have
been done better and they could have gathered better, more
credible evidence. I think the inability of the Thaire police
to secure the crime scene would be seen as one
(12:33):
of the many questionable acts the police made in the
investigation into Hannah and David's deaths. There's been a lot
of questions about the professionalism of the TIE authorities on
the island, the police specifically. Can you just talk a
little bit more, elaborate a little bit more on that. Well,
for example, there was a lot of talk about the
DNA evidence from Hannah and David's bodies, and it transpired
(12:55):
that the DNA evidence collection or the forensic collection of
particularly cack handed, and that even puts all the forensic
material into an old beer box to have it transported
back to Bangkok to the main laboratory for analysis. Now,
how anyone thought that was a good idea? I have
(13:16):
no idea. I mean, surely that isn't police procedure, you know,
just find the nearest cardboard box, shove everything in it
and hope for the best. So you know, that's just
one example I think of where the police on the
island were completely out of their debt. We want to
find out more about the autopsy and DNA evidence, which
Arthur Sue Buchanan is on a search for. We'll keep
(13:39):
you updated on progress. As an Unfaulds, the crime scene
was contaminated within seconds because it took the police quite
a long time to get there, and by then loads
of people, including montou Actuichi and have been trampling all
over it. They were comparing that DNA to DNA on
cigarette butts and a condom because like rapists always use condoms, right,
(14:00):
and a wine bottle, but then every morning the beach
is strewn with cigarette butts and bottles. And not only that,
they were also checking footprints because they found a suspicious
footprint in the sand next to Hannah's body. But Hannah's
feet are buried in the sand because the tide has
been in and gone out, so there wouldn't be any footprints.
(14:20):
It's like, what kind of Mickey Mouse show is this?
The fact that Mantua to vician was walking around the
crime scenes after reporting it to the police, was concerning
it was on his family's land where the crime occurred.
I think that in fairness to Mantuachi Witchi and what
he might have seen on the beach when he got
there that morning might have shocked him so badly that
(14:43):
he might necessarily have considered that this is now a
live crime scene that needs to be needs to be
kept clear. I think that he denied doing anything at all,
just to the crime scene at all. And besides, the
crime scene itself was pretty difficult to keep sanitized. You've
got you know, seawater obviously, got the tide coming in
and out, You've got waves. He always insisted that he
(15:05):
did his best. But this talks to me for a
broader point which I've already raised about infrastructure and services
that are offered on that island which just are not
in proportion with the activities that take place there and
the many people going there to have the time of
their lives. And it's unsurprising in many respects that you know,
(15:25):
occasionally things like this happening, that you know, the six
police officers that were on that island at the time
aren't really equipped for a complicated murder investigation. Jonathan echoes
this concern that the local type police for us, Uncle
Tao weren't trained for this kind of crime. We did
go along to the local police station, and I mean
(15:47):
I say police station, it was more of a sort
of rickety hut. It was like a beach hut really,
and there was an officer inside there and we interviewed
him and he did his best to sort of say
that everything was under control and they'd find the person
responsible pretty quickly. Although for me, judging by what I'd
seen at the crime scene, I was like, well, uncle,
I know how you're going to do this, because from
(16:09):
the limited A Mountain knowledge I've got, this seems to
be chaos. Let's stop here for a break. We'll be
back in a moment. Police asked two British brothers, Christopher
(16:33):
and James, not to leave Thailand. They were told they
were under watch because they had spent time with Hanna
and David prior to their deaths. The brothers willingly gave
DNA samples to tie authorities and ultimately returned to their
homeland of the UK. At this point, the Thai police
didn't have any additional leads, but you did set out
(16:58):
pretty quickly, I think, to search for a CCTV, right,
Can you explain that? Yeah, So we've been there two
or three days, and it was clear that the police
were really struggling with the investigation, that there hadn't got
any leads, there'd been no sort of formal press conference,
there'd been no decent press release, there'd been no witnesses
come forward. There was really nothing, and I was beginning
(17:20):
to struggle a little bit to know what to say
in my reports because there was no development. So I
went and started to do a bit of digging of
my own, and I thought somehow there must be CCTV
footage of Hannah and David, because we knew that there'd
been out the night before. I went into one or
two of the bars that we knew they'd been into,
but straightaway was told in no one certain terms that
(17:43):
there was no CCTV and I shouldn't be asking questions.
But then I went into one of the shops along
the seafront and it was actually a diving school Bands
diving school, which is pretty prominent in the middle of
the resort, and I got chatting to a woman in
there who spoke very good English, and in fact it
turned out she'd been doing a bit of translation for
the police when they've been doing their investigations and questioning people.
(18:07):
I said, look, if you've got any CCTV, I see
the camera on the outside, could we have a look through?
And she was like, yeah, sure, happy to help. So
we spent a couple of hours trawling through the CCTV
and eventually we found picture of David walking just a
few hours before he was murdered. And then we found
picture of Hannah doing the same thing, and not together.
(18:30):
They were separate, but without any doubt it, but it
was certainly both of them. And this was amazing. It
was fantastic in the sense that we had the probably
the last footage of this couple alive. But also it
was shocking for me because here was me, fresh off
(18:50):
the fresh off the boat, finding video evidence that the
police hadn't already got. I mean, surely it's the first
thing you do as a police officer and get CCTV
to try and get a timeline of exactly who was
where and at what time. Anyway, we all cast out
footage and we hope that maybe it would prompt people
to come forward and offer any information that they might have.
(19:12):
But it gave me a real sense of just how
incompetent the police were. I want to get back to
the CCTV because you guys find that some of the
last pictures of Hannah and David, and then immediately the
police released their own sort of video right so after
what had been a sort of a deafening silence. Really,
the police did suddenly issue some CCTV. In fact, it
(19:34):
wasn't footage, it was just a still and it was
of a couple the night that Hannah and David had
been murdered, and they said that this couple was Hannah
and David and that anyone who recognized them or whatever
should come forward and give them any information. But it
was quite clear, I mean, it was patently obvious looking
at this still that it wasn't take I mean, there's
(19:56):
no way it was David and Hannah. For a start,
we know from my CCTV footage that David was wearing
a T shirt on the night he died. The guy
in this photo was wearing a vest. But what's more,
the woman he was with was clearly Asian. She had
dark hair, she had dark skin, and Hannah was as
blond as you can be. So straight away everyone was
(20:17):
like scratching their chins, thinking, well, what on earth are
the police doing. I mean, there must be so desperate
to have some sort of lead that they just grabbed
any old photo and put it out there. And it
just added to that sort of sense that they were
completely at seat. We are not the best police in
the world, but we tried to do our best. We
(20:40):
try to bring the guestice to the victim's family. The
local police missteps were building and pressure was mounting internationally
and domestically to find the corporate or corporates told us
that an alibi and fear be it, the perpetrator is
(21:00):
still out there and that the tourist industry has suffered
irreparable damage. During that week or ten days that I
was there, certainly, I think the police did realize pretty
quickly that they were under a lot of criticism, and
that's when the second in command from the National Police
Force flew onto the island. He came onto the land
in a helicopter and took control. Like the families of
(21:20):
the victims, local people here desperately want this crying to
be solved from the cloud, to be lifted from their island.
But after four days of false leads and frankly lacks investigation,
the police admits they're nowhere near naming a suspect, let's
alone finding the culprit again. Connor and Stephanie. The brutality
(21:41):
of Hannah and David's death caused an international sensation. This
came as Thailand was still reeling from a military coups
earlier in the summer that saw a massive crackdown on
free speech and public descent. Let's face it, tourism is
a hugely important, big part of Thailand. The last thing
the TAG government wants this word spreading of these stories,
whether that's spreading locally or even worse around the world.
(22:04):
Financially speaking, that affects their bottom line. Yeah, and the
time military was in no mood to deal with an
international firestorm, especially one that would make TIES look bad
and risk losing tourism revenue, which at the time account
for about fifteen percent of their total economy. The TIE
authorities were putting a ton of work into solving these cases,
but in some ways it almost felt as though they
(22:25):
were being performative, almost as if they were putting on
a show, just to assure tourists that everything was safe
and that they were solving this case. Within days, more
than sixty police were sent to Kotel, including Police Lieutenant
General Panya Mayman, who was sent from the mainland and
was brought in to oversee the investigation. It was a
real show of force. Here's Connor continuing his conversation with
(22:50):
Jonathan Samuel's can you talk about what the police, particularly
the commander who came down from Bangkok, what they were
sort of putting out there, what they were telling you
guys privately, what they were indicating publicly. So the number
two came from Bangkok and he wanted to sort of
give this air that everything was in control now he
had landed and he'd get to the bottom of it.
(23:11):
And I remember actually sort of door stepping him. You know,
that's when a journalist sort of approaches somebody without a
formal sort of interview. And I said, now, thing's going
if you got anywhere, and he said, yeah, the investigation is,
but it's proceeding well. And I said, are you close
to an arrest? And he sort of gave me this
strange smile, stared at me, and then walked off. It
(23:31):
was almost like I was being impertinent, you know, asking
a question that everybody wanted to know. They did then
release some more CCTV, and this time it was footage,
and this time it really did feel like progress was
being made because it was of a young Asian man,
a scrawny looking guy, and he was running down the
(23:52):
road away from the murder scene. He was top pless,
he was wearing shorts. He was clearly agitated when he
became nicknamed the running Man, and I think we all
felt at that stage, you know, finally real progress. This
could be the man. This is now the prime suspect,
and the internet just went wild. Here again, Stephanie and Connor.
(24:17):
Now the running Man video is an important piece of evidence.
It shows a man wearing only shorts, calmly walking towards
the InTouch Bungalows around three forty five in the morning.
This is the same hotel where David and Hannah were staying.
CCTV footage was filming less than two hundred meters from
the AC Bar, where Hannah and David were drinking that
night and where they would be murdered at four forty
(24:39):
eight am. Video shows the same man running in the
opposite direction of the Inch bungalows and back towards the Acbar.
This was just a few minutes before the bodies were
discovered by a beach cleaning crew. So what was this
running Man up to? X Pats and locals on social
media went wild about who the identity of this running
(25:01):
man was, which is pretty major kind of just the
idea of their being actual video of a potential assailant.
That's a huge piece of evidence, unlike many of the
other cases that don't have that. I mean, the other
thing to remember or about all of this is that
there's a huge expact community in Thailand who've been there
a long time. Some are there because they're escaping all
(25:23):
sorts of stuff at home. Others are there just because
they love the lifestyle. And there was a huge amount
of rumor and speculation on social media sites on the internet,
and we were sort of keeping an eye on that,
but also we were clearly wary that this was from
people who weren't journalists, who may have their own motives
for posting stuff. One of the questions that arose during
(25:49):
the online discussions was about the weapon or weapons used
in the slayings. Remember, Thai police originally reported that only
a garden hall was used to murder Hannah and David.
And the other crazy thing is they said, you know
there's one murder weapon. Well, Anna's injuries bear absolutely no
(26:09):
resemblance to David's injuries whatsoever. He's got tiny little little
stab wounds like a punch knife. Well, unless they'd literally
held him down and taken the corner of the hoe
and just kind of like push it through his face.
There's no freaking way on God's sunny Earth they'd use
the same murder weapon. I mean, it's just not possible.
It's completely different murder weapons. Let's stop here for another break.
(26:45):
Could the difference in wounds on Hannah and David prove
that more than a garden hole was used in their attack?
Connor spoke with the man we're calling David a a
tie anti corruption activist who lives in the US. He
led a crowdsource web effort to exposed high corruption, investigated
some of the murders on Katao. He had his doubts
about the alibi. Let's talk about the garden hole, because
(27:07):
do you think that was the likely cause of death,
that that was what police said was the sole instrument
of death. But you always I believe that is more
like users to space the crown scene and why is that?
I don't think it's a garden hole. I think the
garden hole was kind of not not strong enough. There
was some sort of und object behind hit the back
(27:27):
of his head. But we see a lot of sharp wound,
you know, on his neck, his shoulders and his face.
And what is it? You say, a sharp wound? Describe
what you think that is. So our our community believe
that it's kind of like a push knife, you know,
the one that the chap fin ring. So it's a
(27:48):
sharp fin ring something that is common among Thai people
on islands, or it's very common in the south. You
know those gangster those the street gang they like to
use those kind of thing. And was anyone within Namsets
group known to have a shark tooth ring or a
pushpen knife? Was one big guy a norm Suck gang.
He's kind of big, like he was wearing that kind
(28:08):
of ring. And his nam Set have a history of violence,
not norm Suck himself, but his gang, his AC bar,
his the DJs, the people who look at a bar,
his friends, yes, those people are and then his uncle. Yeah,
they have the history of violence. Yes. One news report
stated that there was a fight between David and another
man at the AC bar. There was another report that
(28:31):
suggested Hannah got into an altercation with an employee at
the AC bar. So I'm curious and a place like Kotao,
would there be a lot of CCTV video, a lot
a lot of CCTV videos and yes there's no real
video of the beach, which is one of the main areas.
(28:52):
That's that's always what happened in Thailand, right when something's
going on and something fishy, the CCTV always broken. That's
why the Thai peo always know it's funny, right like, yeah,
that leader c suddenly disappear, are broken. And actually the
people who worked at the c bar told me that
(29:13):
next morning he was taught to go there to take
after CCTV. CCTV would have incriminated, Yeah, somebody in that bar.
When Jonathan Samuel was in Katau investigating, he noticed that
some people on the island didn't seem to want him
asking questions. Didn't an you long before I realized that
(29:34):
there was a pretty nasty undercurrent underneath a sort of
holiday sheen. If if you scratch a little bit under
the surface, you do find this rather dark place. And
very quickly after arriving on Katau, I realized that journalists
word wanted, people asking questions were not liked. We were intimidated,
(29:55):
I think is the right word, quite often by local people.
If I sat with the other list and we were
in a cafe or in a bar or having a
meal or whatever. Other people would sit very close to
us and stare at us in a very intimidating fashion.
When we asked too many questions, we were told to leave.
We weren't given any reasons why. We were just told,
forcibly that we weren't welcome. And I think as a
(30:18):
journalist it was very frustrating because people didn't want to
talk to you. People did sort of lead you down
the wrong path to try and get you off the scent,
and there was a lot of fog, if you like.
There was a lot of fog in terms of getting
to to what really happened. And one or two the
expats who live on the island had sort of subtly said, look,
things go on on this island that we people don't
(30:40):
like to talk about the stuff that happens, and it's
better not to dig too far. And I'm like, well,
I'm a journalist, you know, it's my job. And I
suppose perhaps I was a bit naive at the time.
I don't know, but I've never really come across that before.
And people talk about the mafia on the island and
it is I mean, it's a good word it is
a good word because the island is run a bit
in mafia, and you don't double cross the mafia. More
(31:03):
on that next time. If you have any information about
Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, please contact us at producers
at Katie dash Studios dot com. For more information and
relevant photos, follow us on Instagram at Katie Underscores Studios.
Death Island is produced by Stephanie Lydecker, Connor Powell, Andrew Arnow,
(31:28):
Jeff Shane, Chris Cacaro, Gabriel Castillo and me Courtney Armstrong.
Editing and sound designed by Jeff Tis. Music by Vanacore Music.
Death Island is a production of iHeartRadio and kat Studios.
For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
On September fourteenth, twenty fourteen, twenty three year old Hannah
Witherige and twenty four year old David Miller, who'd only
just met by chance on Catou, were talking at the
ac Bar. The pair, both from the UK, left the
bar together around one am. It was the last time
either of them was seen alive. Early the next morning,
(00:25):
on September fifteenth, a beach cleaner found their partially clad bodies.
David was floating in the water, Hannah was found on
the sand, the waves lapping over her. Near the crime
scene was a pile of clothes, cigarette butts, and a
used condom. Detectives discovered a garden hoe covered in blood
(00:48):
near their bodies, and autopsy revealed that David had scratches
on his back and water in his lungs, indicating he'd drowned.
Hannah's body was covered in defensive wounds, bruising and scratches.
Their death sparked international outrage and questions about a lack
of justice on Katao. Welcome to Death Island, a production
(01:12):
of Katie Studios and iHeartRadio, Episode four, The Case of
Hannah Witheridge and David Miller. I'm Connor Powell, an investigative
journalist at Katie Studios with Stephanie Lydecker, Courtney Armstrong, Andrew
Arnow and Jeff Shane. Their bodies were found it early
(01:34):
this morning on the Popular Beach, not very far from
the Bungling where they're staying. They believe they were killed,
probably beaten to death sometime they last night. This is
an island in shock. Two breekle murders right on the
very beaches to have drawn so many visitors here. The
(01:55):
case of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller is a clear
cut murder. But who is responsible for their deaths? This
will be the start of the most explosive case in
Catao's history. Here's Stephanie and Connor. We've seen a lot
(02:16):
of recordings in news clips regarding Hannah. Her family describes
her as beautiful and intelligent. She was a loving young
woman who brought so much joy into many people's lives.
In their statement, they said, quote, she was selfless in caring,
and she made every day a little bit more wonderful.
Our family are utterly devastated and shocked by what has
happened to our beautiful Hannah end quote. It's frankly an
(02:38):
unimaginable level of grief, and David Miller had just completed
a civil engineering course at the University of Leeds. His
family in Jersey said that break in Thailand was well deserved.
He was due to come home to complete a master's
for his degree, and in the statement that they released,
they said David was an artist by temperament, so talented.
He had a creative eye that he carried with him
(03:00):
throughout life, and in his degree he was hard working,
bright and conscientious with everything to look forward to. David
was very giving to his family and friends and we
all adored him. He will be sorely, sorely missed by
all accounts. They had their whole lives ahead of them.
So here's what we know. The details of what happened
in the moments prior to Hannah and David's murder there's
(03:22):
still a little bit sketchy, but here's what we know.
On August twenty five, twenty fourteen, Hannah and David arrived
to the island separately. Hannah was traveling with three friends
and David was with two others. And we know that
Hannah and David met for the first time on Kotau.
While staying at the same hotel on September fourteenth, twenty fourteen,
Hannah and David were seeing at the ac bar, partying
(03:45):
and drinking with each other and other friends. They left
the bar sometime around one am together on September fifteenth,
that's the Monday, twenty fourteen. Hannah and David's bodies were
then found around five am in the morning. As the
investigation started to take shape, very little reliable information was
coming from investigators when the news of Hannah and David's
(04:09):
murders broke. Jonathan Samuels was one of the first reporters
on the ground. So I was living in Sydney. I
was the Australia correspondent for Sky News and I got
the phone call from the Foreign desk saying that a
couple of backpackers have been murdered on this island of
katow and it was all looking very serious. They were British,
(04:31):
they were young, and could I get out there as
soon as possible. So I pretty much got the next
plane to Thailand and it's quite it's quite a convoluted
route actually to get to Coatous there's no airstrip, so
you have to get a boat, and that boat, even
the fastest one, takes three hours. But as you approach
you are stunned, really by the beauty of the place,
(04:52):
this sort of towering jungle in the middle, the beautiful
beaches around the edge, and that this crystal clear water,
the fishing boats that are bobbing away, and people in
and out of the sea. And we pulled up against
the pier and we got out, and I was struck
by the beauty of the place. But also straight away
we got a sense of the sadness because not far
(05:14):
from where the boat dropped us off was the crime
scene where Hannah and David's bodies had been found. It
was desperately sad, and I can remember it still now,
all those young backpackers from all around the world, all
sorts of nationalities, all still in a state of shock.
Now this was sort of thirty six forty eight hours
after the bodies had been discovered, and people were still
(05:36):
in tears, they were hugging each other. Words spread quickly
around the island, and police were trying to determine a
timeline of events. Can you just give an overview of
their deaths and then talk about the crime scene as
you understood it. They were on a bar. They left
very late. They walked together along Syree Beach. They were
(05:58):
walking along the beach, which just is effectively underneath their hotel.
If they had looked up that night, they probably would
have been able to see their own hotel rooms and
the safety of their own hotel. But at some point
they were jumped, and they were very aggressively attacked. Tomstone
(06:18):
produced and directed a documentary called Murder in Paradise about
the mysterious deaths Unktel Connor asked him to walk through
what happened. A cleaning crew had discovered Hnnah and David's
bodies in the morning. Their bodies are found on the beach.
One is floating in the sea in the shallows. David
Miller and Hannah Witheridge are violently attacked. Hannah is raped.
(06:42):
A garden home found at the scene covered in blood,
which is believed to be the murder weapon. The person
to raise the alarm is Monterey Watt to Wichia, a
local businessman owned a number of businesses. His family is
very well known on the island, and he raised the
alarm and I interviewed him and he taught me through
(07:03):
what he saw. He took me through his horror seeing
Hannah with Ridge and David Miller on the beach. Connor
also spoke with Soup Buchanan, and author who wrote a
book about the deaths on Katau called The Curse of
the Turtle, The True Story of Thailand's Backpacker Murders. She
(07:26):
was living on a nearby island when Hannah and David
were murdered, and so with Hannah and David, I mean,
tell us what you know about their deaths? And was
that really shocking when you heard about it? I wasn't
shocked about that. I was shocked they were found on
Syrie Beach because I'm like, well, who would dare murder
(07:47):
a British couple on Twitchyan territory? You have to be
madder than a bag of fish to leave that kind
of mess on a Matthew your own beach. Like, forget
the police. You can pay the police. You can't leave
that kind of mess on warpans. I mean, like, what
the fuck. Locals and expats refer to the handful of
families who control Katao as the mafia. The ta Vician
(08:08):
family is one of those families. Mantua Davician is the
brother of Warapan Davician, the chief of the island Mantua
controlled Sorry Beach and on the ac bar the police
where Hannah and David were last seen alive. He talked
as well about going to contact the local police. Sergeant
Apache Cherdouga was the first Tie officer on the scene
(08:31):
and spoke to the documentary filmmaker Tom Stone. The Royal
Tie Police opened a murder investigation. Here again Jonathan Samuel's
followed by Sue Buchanan. All. At that time there were
just six police officers on the island and it was
their job to then get to the bottom and investigate
(08:53):
what was a very brutal attack and murder. Can you
describe the crinian I've covered crime scenes all over the world,
a huge number in the UK and Europe and elsewhere
as well, and I've never seen a crime scene as
chaotic as this was. I mean from the start we
were all allowed so close. Now, normally with a crime
scene is a tape a long way away from where
(09:15):
the incident happened, and certainly the media aren't allowed anywhere near.
And yet there were photographers, there were camera crews, there
were journalists pretty much walking all over the site, which
didn't really seem to be even taped off any longer.
It may have been taped off in the initial few hours,
but when we got there, all that had pretty much
gone out of the window. People were trampling across the
sand where the bodies had been found, People were taking photographs,
(09:37):
People were taking selfies, which I thought was particularly distasteful.
And there wasn't really a police presence at all. I mean,
there may have been one or two police officers, but
they certainly weren't holding the crowds back, and straight away
that concerned me. All of the rescue groups in Thailand,
they have Facebook pages, right, they have Facebook groups, So
if you want to find out what's going on on
(09:59):
the island, just go onto one of these rescue groups,
because they just take photographs of whatever's happened, the most gruesome,
disgusting photographs you could possibly imagine. And all the rescue
teams do is put it on their Facebook page. So
to find the crime scene pictures was nothing more than
just tapping into the Coat and rescue and there's all
these photographs. The photos from the crime scene are graphic.
(10:22):
Hannah has hid several times in her head and face
and had a severe injury to her skull. David had
been hit by a blunt object and had deep gashes
across his skull. He's lying in very shallow water. He's
got complete death pallor, no coloration to his extremities, no
coloration to his lips, his hands sticking out of the
(10:44):
water like a flagpole is obviously in Rigga Mortis has
been there for a while, but the next picture shows
the rescue team carrying him out of the water where
he's not got Rigga Mortis. And the ocean is so
full of blood. The ocean's read well as a dive instructure.
I know how much blood you've got to put into
the water for it to show up. So I'm like,
this guy's gushing with blood. You know, dead people don't bleed.
(11:06):
In fairness to the Koteil police, the crime scene was
a tough location to secure. David was found in water
near the rocks, and Hannah was found on the shore
on Sorry Beach, a beach with tons of for traffic.
Let's say they did everything right. Let's say the police
were well trained and they immediately roped off and secured
(11:27):
the crime scene. Given its location. From what you saw,
it's rocky, there's the ocean, the tide comes up. It's
a party place where there's cigarette buds everywhere, but it's
a place where it's well trampled. Is it even a
place that could have been properly secured with great police anyways? Well,
there's no question it could have been done better because
it was a mess. There were people taking photographs of
(11:49):
the bodies, there were people wandering around all over the place.
They didn't have enough officers to properly secure the scene.
Could a more professional police force have done a better job.
I think so. Yes. I think that that would have
served the country of Thailand much better as well, Bearing
in mind that criticism they've taken. They simply did not
have the set of skills and experience to oversee something
(12:11):
is complicated as that. Undoubtedly ifuld have been done better,
I think that police officers on the mainland would tell
you it could have been done better. While it's important
to be even handed about the six officers who were
on the island at that time, Yes, it could have
been done better and they could have gathered better, more
credible evidence. I think the inability of the Thaire police
to secure the crime scene would be seen as one
(12:33):
of the many questionable acts the police made in the
investigation into Hannah and David's deaths. There's been a lot
of questions about the professionalism of the TIE authorities on
the island, the police specifically. Can you just talk a
little bit more, elaborate a little bit more on that. Well,
for example, there was a lot of talk about the
DNA evidence from Hannah and David's bodies, and it transpired
(12:55):
that the DNA evidence collection or the forensic collection of
particularly cack handed, and that even puts all the forensic
material into an old beer box to have it transported
back to Bangkok to the main laboratory for analysis. Now,
how anyone thought that was a good idea? I have
(13:16):
no idea. I mean, surely that isn't police procedure, you know,
just find the nearest cardboard box, shove everything in it
and hope for the best. So you know, that's just
one example I think of where the police on the
island were completely out of their debt. We want to
find out more about the autopsy and DNA evidence, which
Arthur Sue Buchanan is on a search for. We'll keep
(13:39):
you updated on progress. As an Unfaulds, the crime scene
was contaminated within seconds because it took the police quite
a long time to get there, and by then loads
of people, including montou Actuichi and have been trampling all
over it. They were comparing that DNA to DNA on
cigarette butts and a condom because like rapists always use condoms, right,
(14:00):
and a wine bottle, but then every morning the beach
is strewn with cigarette butts and bottles. And not only that,
they were also checking footprints because they found a suspicious
footprint in the sand next to Hannah's body. But Hannah's
feet are buried in the sand because the tide has
been in and gone out, so there wouldn't be any footprints.
(14:20):
It's like, what kind of Mickey Mouse show is this?
The fact that Mantua to vician was walking around the
crime scenes after reporting it to the police, was concerning
it was on his family's land where the crime occurred.
I think that in fairness to Mantuachi Witchi and what
he might have seen on the beach when he got
there that morning might have shocked him so badly that
(14:43):
he might necessarily have considered that this is now a
live crime scene that needs to be needs to be
kept clear. I think that he denied doing anything at all,
just to the crime scene at all. And besides, the
crime scene itself was pretty difficult to keep sanitized. You've
got you know, seawater obviously, got the tide coming in
and out, You've got waves. He always insisted that he
(15:05):
did his best. But this talks to me for a
broader point which I've already raised about infrastructure and services
that are offered on that island which just are not
in proportion with the activities that take place there and
the many people going there to have the time of
their lives. And it's unsurprising in many respects that you know,
(15:25):
occasionally things like this happening, that you know, the six
police officers that were on that island at the time
aren't really equipped for a complicated murder investigation. Jonathan echoes
this concern that the local type police for us, Uncle
Tao weren't trained for this kind of crime. We did
go along to the local police station, and I mean
(15:47):
I say police station, it was more of a sort
of rickety hut. It was like a beach hut really,
and there was an officer inside there and we interviewed
him and he did his best to sort of say
that everything was under control and they'd find the person
responsible pretty quickly. Although for me, judging by what I'd
seen at the crime scene, I was like, well, uncle,
I know how you're going to do this, because from
(16:09):
the limited A Mountain knowledge I've got, this seems to
be chaos. Let's stop here for a break. We'll be
back in a moment. Police asked two British brothers, Christopher
(16:33):
and James, not to leave Thailand. They were told they
were under watch because they had spent time with Hanna
and David prior to their deaths. The brothers willingly gave
DNA samples to tie authorities and ultimately returned to their
homeland of the UK. At this point, the Thai police
didn't have any additional leads, but you did set out
(16:58):
pretty quickly, I think, to search for a CCTV, right,
Can you explain that? Yeah, So we've been there two
or three days, and it was clear that the police
were really struggling with the investigation, that there hadn't got
any leads, there'd been no sort of formal press conference,
there'd been no decent press release, there'd been no witnesses
come forward. There was really nothing, and I was beginning
(17:20):
to struggle a little bit to know what to say
in my reports because there was no development. So I
went and started to do a bit of digging of
my own, and I thought somehow there must be CCTV
footage of Hannah and David, because we knew that there'd
been out the night before. I went into one or
two of the bars that we knew they'd been into,
but straightaway was told in no one certain terms that
(17:43):
there was no CCTV and I shouldn't be asking questions.
But then I went into one of the shops along
the seafront and it was actually a diving school Bands
diving school, which is pretty prominent in the middle of
the resort, and I got chatting to a woman in
there who spoke very good English, and in fact it
turned out she'd been doing a bit of translation for
the police when they've been doing their investigations and questioning people.
(18:07):
I said, look, if you've got any CCTV, I see
the camera on the outside, could we have a look through?
And she was like, yeah, sure, happy to help. So
we spent a couple of hours trawling through the CCTV
and eventually we found picture of David walking just a
few hours before he was murdered. And then we found
picture of Hannah doing the same thing, and not together.
(18:30):
They were separate, but without any doubt it, but it
was certainly both of them. And this was amazing. It
was fantastic in the sense that we had the probably
the last footage of this couple alive. But also it
was shocking for me because here was me, fresh off
(18:50):
the fresh off the boat, finding video evidence that the
police hadn't already got. I mean, surely it's the first
thing you do as a police officer and get CCTV
to try and get a timeline of exactly who was
where and at what time. Anyway, we all cast out
footage and we hope that maybe it would prompt people
to come forward and offer any information that they might have.
(19:12):
But it gave me a real sense of just how
incompetent the police were. I want to get back to
the CCTV because you guys find that some of the
last pictures of Hannah and David, and then immediately the
police released their own sort of video right so after
what had been a sort of a deafening silence. Really,
the police did suddenly issue some CCTV. In fact, it
(19:34):
wasn't footage, it was just a still and it was
of a couple the night that Hannah and David had
been murdered, and they said that this couple was Hannah
and David and that anyone who recognized them or whatever
should come forward and give them any information. But it
was quite clear, I mean, it was patently obvious looking
at this still that it wasn't take I mean, there's
(19:56):
no way it was David and Hannah. For a start,
we know from my CCTV footage that David was wearing
a T shirt on the night he died. The guy
in this photo was wearing a vest. But what's more,
the woman he was with was clearly Asian. She had
dark hair, she had dark skin, and Hannah was as
blond as you can be. So straight away everyone was
(20:17):
like scratching their chins, thinking, well, what on earth are
the police doing. I mean, there must be so desperate
to have some sort of lead that they just grabbed
any old photo and put it out there. And it
just added to that sort of sense that they were
completely at seat. We are not the best police in
the world, but we tried to do our best. We
(20:40):
try to bring the guestice to the victim's family. The
local police missteps were building and pressure was mounting internationally
and domestically to find the corporate or corporates told us
that an alibi and fear be it, the perpetrator is
(21:00):
still out there and that the tourist industry has suffered
irreparable damage. During that week or ten days that I
was there, certainly, I think the police did realize pretty
quickly that they were under a lot of criticism, and
that's when the second in command from the National Police
Force flew onto the island. He came onto the land
in a helicopter and took control. Like the families of
(21:20):
the victims, local people here desperately want this crying to
be solved from the cloud, to be lifted from their island.
But after four days of false leads and frankly lacks investigation,
the police admits they're nowhere near naming a suspect, let's
alone finding the culprit again. Connor and Stephanie. The brutality
(21:41):
of Hannah and David's death caused an international sensation. This
came as Thailand was still reeling from a military coups
earlier in the summer that saw a massive crackdown on
free speech and public descent. Let's face it, tourism is
a hugely important, big part of Thailand. The last thing
the TAG government wants this word spreading of these stories,
whether that's spreading locally or even worse around the world.
(22:04):
Financially speaking, that affects their bottom line. Yeah, and the
time military was in no mood to deal with an
international firestorm, especially one that would make TIES look bad
and risk losing tourism revenue, which at the time account
for about fifteen percent of their total economy. The TIE
authorities were putting a ton of work into solving these cases,
but in some ways it almost felt as though they
(22:25):
were being performative, almost as if they were putting on
a show, just to assure tourists that everything was safe
and that they were solving this case. Within days, more
than sixty police were sent to Kotel, including Police Lieutenant
General Panya Mayman, who was sent from the mainland and
was brought in to oversee the investigation. It was a
real show of force. Here's Connor continuing his conversation with
(22:50):
Jonathan Samuel's can you talk about what the police, particularly
the commander who came down from Bangkok, what they were
sort of putting out there, what they were telling you
guys privately, what they were indicating publicly. So the number
two came from Bangkok and he wanted to sort of
give this air that everything was in control now he
had landed and he'd get to the bottom of it.
(23:11):
And I remember actually sort of door stepping him. You know,
that's when a journalist sort of approaches somebody without a
formal sort of interview. And I said, now, thing's going
if you got anywhere, and he said, yeah, the investigation is,
but it's proceeding well. And I said, are you close
to an arrest? And he sort of gave me this
strange smile, stared at me, and then walked off. It
(23:31):
was almost like I was being impertinent, you know, asking
a question that everybody wanted to know. They did then
release some more CCTV, and this time it was footage,
and this time it really did feel like progress was
being made because it was of a young Asian man,
a scrawny looking guy, and he was running down the
(23:52):
road away from the murder scene. He was top pless,
he was wearing shorts. He was clearly agitated when he
became nicknamed the running Man, and I think we all
felt at that stage, you know, finally real progress. This
could be the man. This is now the prime suspect,
and the internet just went wild. Here again, Stephanie and Connor.
(24:17):
Now the running Man video is an important piece of evidence.
It shows a man wearing only shorts, calmly walking towards
the InTouch Bungalows around three forty five in the morning.
This is the same hotel where David and Hannah were staying.
CCTV footage was filming less than two hundred meters from
the AC Bar, where Hannah and David were drinking that
night and where they would be murdered at four forty
(24:39):
eight am. Video shows the same man running in the
opposite direction of the Inch bungalows and back towards the Acbar.
This was just a few minutes before the bodies were
discovered by a beach cleaning crew. So what was this
running Man up to? X Pats and locals on social
media went wild about who the identity of this running
(25:01):
man was, which is pretty major kind of just the
idea of their being actual video of a potential assailant.
That's a huge piece of evidence, unlike many of the
other cases that don't have that. I mean, the other
thing to remember or about all of this is that
there's a huge expact community in Thailand who've been there
a long time. Some are there because they're escaping all
(25:23):
sorts of stuff at home. Others are there just because
they love the lifestyle. And there was a huge amount
of rumor and speculation on social media sites on the internet,
and we were sort of keeping an eye on that,
but also we were clearly wary that this was from
people who weren't journalists, who may have their own motives
for posting stuff. One of the questions that arose during
(25:49):
the online discussions was about the weapon or weapons used
in the slayings. Remember, Thai police originally reported that only
a garden hall was used to murder Hannah and David.
And the other crazy thing is they said, you know
there's one murder weapon. Well, Anna's injuries bear absolutely no
(26:09):
resemblance to David's injuries whatsoever. He's got tiny little little
stab wounds like a punch knife. Well, unless they'd literally
held him down and taken the corner of the hoe
and just kind of like push it through his face.
There's no freaking way on God's sunny Earth they'd use
the same murder weapon. I mean, it's just not possible.
It's completely different murder weapons. Let's stop here for another break.
(26:45):
Could the difference in wounds on Hannah and David prove
that more than a garden hole was used in their attack?
Connor spoke with the man we're calling David a a
tie anti corruption activist who lives in the US. He
led a crowdsource web effort to exposed high corruption, investigated
some of the murders on Katao. He had his doubts
about the alibi. Let's talk about the garden hole, because
(27:07):
do you think that was the likely cause of death,
that that was what police said was the sole instrument
of death. But you always I believe that is more
like users to space the crown scene and why is that?
I don't think it's a garden hole. I think the
garden hole was kind of not not strong enough. There
was some sort of und object behind hit the back
(27:27):
of his head. But we see a lot of sharp wound,
you know, on his neck, his shoulders and his face.
And what is it? You say, a sharp wound? Describe
what you think that is. So our our community believe
that it's kind of like a push knife, you know,
the one that the chap fin ring. So it's a
(27:48):
sharp fin ring something that is common among Thai people
on islands, or it's very common in the south. You
know those gangster those the street gang they like to
use those kind of thing. And was anyone within Namsets
group known to have a shark tooth ring or a
pushpen knife? Was one big guy a norm Suck gang.
He's kind of big, like he was wearing that kind
(28:08):
of ring. And his nam Set have a history of violence,
not norm Suck himself, but his gang, his AC bar,
his the DJs, the people who look at a bar,
his friends, yes, those people are and then his uncle. Yeah,
they have the history of violence. Yes. One news report
stated that there was a fight between David and another
man at the AC bar. There was another report that
(28:31):
suggested Hannah got into an altercation with an employee at
the AC bar. So I'm curious and a place like Kotao,
would there be a lot of CCTV video, a lot
a lot of CCTV videos and yes there's no real
video of the beach, which is one of the main areas.
(28:52):
That's that's always what happened in Thailand, right when something's
going on and something fishy, the CCTV always broken. That's
why the Thai peo always know it's funny, right like, yeah,
that leader c suddenly disappear, are broken. And actually the
people who worked at the c bar told me that
(29:13):
next morning he was taught to go there to take
after CCTV. CCTV would have incriminated, Yeah, somebody in that bar.
When Jonathan Samuel was in Katau investigating, he noticed that
some people on the island didn't seem to want him
asking questions. Didn't an you long before I realized that
(29:34):
there was a pretty nasty undercurrent underneath a sort of
holiday sheen. If if you scratch a little bit under
the surface, you do find this rather dark place. And
very quickly after arriving on Katau, I realized that journalists
word wanted, people asking questions were not liked. We were intimidated,
(29:55):
I think is the right word, quite often by local people.
If I sat with the other list and we were
in a cafe or in a bar or having a
meal or whatever. Other people would sit very close to
us and stare at us in a very intimidating fashion.
When we asked too many questions, we were told to leave.
We weren't given any reasons why. We were just told,
forcibly that we weren't welcome. And I think as a
(30:18):
journalist it was very frustrating because people didn't want to
talk to you. People did sort of lead you down
the wrong path to try and get you off the scent,
and there was a lot of fog, if you like.
There was a lot of fog in terms of getting
to to what really happened. And one or two the
expats who live on the island had sort of subtly said, look,
things go on on this island that we people don't
(30:40):
like to talk about the stuff that happens, and it's
better not to dig too far. And I'm like, well,
I'm a journalist, you know, it's my job. And I
suppose perhaps I was a bit naive at the time.
I don't know, but I've never really come across that before.
And people talk about the mafia on the island and
it is I mean, it's a good word it is
a good word because the island is run a bit
in mafia, and you don't double cross the mafia. More
(31:03):
on that next time. If you have any information about
Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, please contact us at producers
at Katie dash Studios dot com. For more information and
relevant photos, follow us on Instagram at Katie Underscores Studios.
Death Island is produced by Stephanie Lydecker, Connor Powell, Andrew Arnow,
(31:28):
Jeff Shane, Chris Cacaro, Gabriel Castillo and me Courtney Armstrong.
Editing and sound designed by Jeff Tis. Music by Vanacore Music.
Death Island is a production of iHeartRadio and kat Studios.
For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Stephanie Lydecker
Courtney Armstrong
Jeff Shane
Conor Powell
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