Sosilawati murders: Forensics officer ignorant of samples tests results

SHAH ALAM, Sept 29 The High Court here was told that a forensics officer never found out what came of the tests concerning the items his team including DNA samples collected, at the Sosilawati Lawiya murder trial today.

Royal Malaysia Police Forensic Laboratory deputy chief ACP Hussin Omar Khan, 41, a senior officer of the polices forensics department said he did enquire later to the relevant persons about the items gathered at Banting locations, but received no reply.

He was being cross-examined by N.Patmanabhans counsel Manjeet Singh Dillon, and was the prosecutions 51st witness. He was replying to the question whether he bothered about the more than 400 objects retrieved by the forensics team, Bernama Online reported.

N.Pathmanabhan, 41, a former lawyer and his three farm hands, T.Thilaiyalagan, 19, R.Matan, 20, and R.Khatavarayan, 30, are accused of murdering Sosilawati (picture), 47, bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, and Sosilawatis driver Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44, at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting, between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on August 30, 2010.

Charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code read with Section 34 of the Penal Code, all four face the death penalty is found guilty.

Amer Hamzah Arshad, representing second accused Matan, told the court the marine divers were not using gloves when searching in the Kanchong Laut river in Kg Endah Banting on September 14 last year.

Hussin replied that they had no gloves because the ones they had burst and were lost at sea. He added the murky waters forced them to use bare hands to shift through the riverbank and the deeper ends, despite the risk of contaminating any potential evidence.

In re-examination by deputy public prosecutor Idham Abdul Ghani, Husin clarified that the sam method has been used before and not b! een ques tioned.

Idham asked why the bone samples discovered on September 15, 2010 not weighed. Husn said the weighing was to be done by the hospital they sent the samples to.

Amer in his cross-examination asserted since the forensics team did not gauge Panchau Rivers current levels and the bone samples weight, they are not in a position to determine why the bones did not drift to sea. Hussin disagreed with the assertion.

Hussin during re-examination said the marks on the bones may remain even after washing, depending on the washing technique.

Manjeet suggested the area the forensics team dug for evidence at the Gadong farm is contaminated by animal faeces (dogs or cows). The prosecution is asserting this was where the victims were killed.

Manjeet said this might explain why the initial test done by Hussins team at the site using the hemocculet sensor card on 58 soil samples tested positive for blood, but later the Chemistry Departments test showed negative.

He suggested the cows and dogs faeces may contain blood, if the said animals had intestinal problems, and absorbed to the ground through rain water.

He suggested that animals such as cows and dogs experienced intestinal problems as humans and their faeces could possibly contain blood, which could be absorbed into the ground when it rained.

Hussin agreed to this assessment.

The hearing continues tomorrow before Justice Datuk Akhtar Tahir.