A Thai court handed two Thai hill tribesmen the death...

A Thai court handed two Thai hill tribesmen the death sentences after finding them guilty of murdering an Australian tourist and raping his female companion in early 2000.
A court official in the northern Thai town of Chiang Mai said the two men - identified as Chingyong Sae Yang, 19, and Inthorn Sae Jong, 20, - were found guilty of the murder of Kelvin Bourke, 23, and the assault and rape of Sheri MacFarlane, 25, also an Australian, in 2000.
The two hill tribesmen maintained their innocence throughout the trial. The murder and rape took place in a national park near the notorious opium growing region known as the Golden Triangle that straddles the Thai, Myanmar (Burma) and Lao borders.
Relatives of the two men said the pair would appeal the court decision within one month.
A state prosecutor told the court during the trial that MacFarlane had identified the sentenced men as her assailants in a line-up arranged by Thai police.
He said the Australian tourists had been camping in an isolated section of the park, 850 km (532 miles) north of Bangkok, when the two men shot Bourke dead and robbed and raped MacFarlane before she managed to escape.