But on 15 September last year the body of the former Victoria College student was discovered on Sairee Beach on the Thai island of Koh Tao. He was found alongside 23-year-old Hannah Witheridge from Norfolk. The pair had allegedly been beaten to death with what police say was a tool resembling a garden hoe.
The investigation has been shrouded in controversy with allegations of police cover-ups, gang involvement and claims that the suspects – Burmese migrants Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo – had been tortured into confessing to the crime.
After nine months of controversy, the trial is finally due to start on Wednesday.
During a preliminary case hearing at Koh Samui Court in December, the prosecution team and defence agreed to 18 days of witness hearings for the trial that will run between July and September.
The prosecution will have 12 days to call on their witnesses starting tomorrow and initially ending on Friday. After that, prosecution witnesses will be called on 22 July to 24 July, 18 to 21 August and 27 to 28 August.
Defence witness hearings, which are due to last six days, are expected to begin on 1 and 2 September and continue on 22 to 25 September.
The verdict is expected to be announced within 30 days of the final witness testimony. If found guilty of murder, the defendants could be sentenced to death by injection.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office declined to comment on whether the families of the victims would be travelling to Thailand for the case.
In a short statement, they said: ‘Consular offices have provided support and assistance to the families of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller since their tragic deaths in September 2014. This will continue during the trial.
‘We want to see whoever committed these murders brought to justice through a fair and transparent process.’
David Miller
‘Dangerous’ or ‘Disco’ Dave to his friends, former Victoria College student David Miller was described as ‘a trusted friend’ by his brother Michael at the funeral, which was attended by hundreds of people at Trinity Church in October. The ‘blooming blue-eyed’ Islander, who was a talented artist, had been travelling in Asia with friends after spending the summer working in Australia. Mr Miller began his trip after graduating from a Leeds University Master’s-level civil engineering course. After his death, scores of friends and relatives paid tribute to the ‘one of a kind’ who was known for his humorous and friendly personality.
Hannah Witheridge
The gifted student (23) had travelled to Koh Tao with three friends. It is believed that she met Mr Miller on the island.
She had recently completed a BA in education studies at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, graduating in 2012 before moving to Colchester to study for an MA in speech therapy.
12 September 2014: David Miller, Hannah Witheridge and friends arrive at Koh Tao separately. They are staying at the Ocean View Bungalows, Sairee Beach.
14 – 15 September (early morning): Mr Miller and Miss Witheridge are captured on CCTV at Choppers Bar and then entering separately the AC Bar near Sairee Beach. Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo and a friend are seen on CCTV buying cigarettes on Sairee Beach, close to where the victims’ bodies were found.
15 September: The bodies are discovered near rocks on Sairee Beach close to Ocean View Bungalows. Post-mortem examinations carried out at a later date reveal that Mr Miller was killed by blows to the head and drowning, while Miss Witheridge died from head injuries and may have been raped.
15 September to 2 October: Investigations are carried out as Koh Tao becomes a hot-bed of international media. Police say DNA recovered from cigarettes found near the bodies and on Miss Witheridge will be crucial to finding those responsible. DNA samples are subsequently taken from hundreds of people at Koh Tao.
Jersey brothers Christopher and James Ware, who had been sharing a room with Mr Miller in Koh Tao, voluntarily stay in Thailand to help the police with their inquires.
2 October: Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo are arrested. Zaw Lin is apprehended at Koh Tao and Wai Phyo at a ferry terminal in Muang district in the Surat Thani province on the mainland. Police then reveal that both men have confessed to the murders and that DNA evidence links them to the crime scene and DNA found on Miss Witheridge’s body.
3 October: Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo are made to publicly re-enact the alleged crime on Sairee Beach. The re-enactment is observed by the international media.
7 October: The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand visit Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo in Koh Samui prison. They report to the media that the defendants both confessed to the crimes because they had been tortured, reportedly by being given electric shocks.
14 October: Koh Samui Court holds a preliminary witness hearing for three Burmese prosecution witnesses. They testify that the defendants were on Sairee Beach the night of the murder and Wai Phyo had found a mobile phone which may have belonged to Mr Miller but had passed it onto his unidentified friend.
October 20 to 23: The UK Foreign Office announce that British detectives will travel to Thailand to oversee the investigation following an intervention from Prime Minister David Cameron as controversy surrounding the Thai police’s handling of the case grows.
21 October: Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo retract their confessions to lawyers. Both allege they were beaten and tortured into confessing.
6 November: The defendants formally retract their confessions to case investigators.
8 December: The pair are charged at Koh Samui Court with murder, rape, illegally entering the country and residing without documentation. They deny all the charges.
26 December: During a preliminary case hearing at Koh Samui Court, the prosecution and defence agree to an 18-day trial starting on 8 July.
22 to 30 April 2015: Defence submit a formal request for independent testing of the DNA profiles of the two accused. The presiding court judge indicates to the lawyers that he would consider ordering the re-examination of forensic evidence.
