Investigators today interrogated Montriwat Toovichien, a 45-year-old bartender at AC Bar on Koh Tao who identified as the man seen in closed-circuit video footage in the hours before the September 15 bludgeoning deaths of Britons David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23.
Mr Montriwat, a brother of Koh Tao subdistrict village chief Voraphan Toovichien, was interrogated for almost three hours. He submitted to a DNA test before he was allowed to leave at 1.50pm.
Mr Voraphan arrived at police headquarters shortly after his brother began to talk to police. He too submitted a DNA sample for testing.
Pol Lt Gen Panya said a second suspect, who fled the resort island to Bangkok, will likely be taken into custody today.
Police say they have identified all the suspects and are linking them to the evidence on hand, he said.
"Please have confidence in our work. There will be no scapegoats," Lt Gen Panya said said. "The case is being closely watched worldwide and we're working hard to make the case as airtight as possible."
The officer also disclosed that previous suspects, both speedboat operators, have been cleared after DNA tests showed no match samples found at the crime scene.
Today's development come after 25-year-old Sean McAnna of Scotland - and AC Bar barman - posted photos on Facebook of two men who allegedly molested Witheridge before she was killed.
He then made frantic calls to police and the British embassy claiming Koh Tao criminals planned to kill him and make it look like a suicide.
He left the island late Monday (September 22), escorted by British media and embassy officials.
"I think they needed a scapegoat. I think they might know who it was. They need a scapegoat and they don't want it to be locals," Mr McAnna told The Telegraph yesterday. "They want it to be a westerner. So if I kill myself here, if I hang myself here, then it is easy to say: 'See, it was him.'"
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