Sosilawati killing: DPP to rely on DNA, cricket bat and zinc sheets

The prosecution will also be calling two plantation workers, U Suresh and T Sarawanan, to tell the court how the murders were planned and executed.

SHAH ALAM: The prosecution in the murder trial of cosmetic millionairess Sosilawati Lawiya and three others will submit evidence to prove that N Pathmanabhan and his three workers committed the murders.

Deputy public prosecutor Ishak Mohd Yusoff, in his opening speech, said the evidence was based on the findings of the victims’ DNA on the exhibits that had been tendered, like cricket bat and the zinc sheets used for burning the victims’ bodies.

Pathmanabhan, a former lawyer, and three plantation workers, T Thilaiyagan, R Matan and R Khatavarayan, pleaded not guilty to murdering Sosilawati, 47, bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, and Sosilawati’s driver, Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44.

They are alleged to have committed the murders at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjung Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting, on Aug 30 last year.

The charge, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
The victims were first reported missing on Aug 30 after informing their families that they were going to Banting over a land deal.

Ishak told judge Akhtar Tahir that the prosecution would be calling two plantation workers, U Suresh and T Sarawanan, to tell the court how the murders were planned and executed.

Suresh and Sarawanan are now undergoing a 20-year jail sentence, handed down by the High Court early this year, for disposing the bodies of the four victims.

“The witnesses will also confirmed that Sosilawati had business dealings in Penang with the first accused (Pathmanabhan), who handled the land sale from Southern Symphony to Ample Quality where RM2.9 million, which was 10 per cent of the land price of RM29 million, had been paid,” added Ishak.

Missing persons reports

Ishak, who is leading the prosecution team, said he would also call witnesses at the scene who saw the bonfire from their homes, as well as witnesses who would confirm the exhibits, like watches and mobile phones, belonged to the murdered victims.

He said that Sosilawati’s ex-husband, Buhari Mohamed, contacted Pathmanabhan to ask whether his former wife had met him (Pathmanabhan) on Aug 30, 2010, to which Pathmanaban said that Sosilawati did contact him on that day, but that he was not free and asked Sosilawati to see him on Sept 2, 2010.

He said Sosilawati’s daughter, Erni Erinawati Sofia Buhari, lodged a police report on her mother’s disappearance at the Dang Wangi police station on Aug 31, 2010 and again on Sept 2, 2010, after suspecting that her mother had been threatened, abducted and confined by the individuals concerned.

Ishak said that on Sept 3, 2010, Ahmad Kamil’s wife, Sabrina Adnan, lodged a report on her husband’s disappearance at the Brickfields police station, while Noorhisham’s wife, Suzana Radin Pangit, did so on the same day at the Dang Wangi police station.

“Kamaruddin’s sister, Zaidah Shamsuddin, also lodged a report at the Kuantan police station in Pahang on Sept 6, 2010, on her brother’s disappearance,” he added.

Ishak said a sales assistant would also be called to testify that Sosilawati and a man went to her shop on Aug 30, 2010 and bought Raya cookies, worth more than RM200, before leaving in a black BMW X5 at 5.20pm.

Besides Ishak, others in the prosecution team are deputy public prosecutors Saiful Edris Zainuddin and Idham Abd Ghani.

Pathmanabhan is represented by lawyers Manjeet Singh Dhillon and Pushpa Ratnam, Thilaiyalagan by lawyer Gurbachan Singh, Matan by lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad and Kathavarayan by lawyers Ravi Nekoo and Datuk Ng See Teong.

Police witnesses

Meanwhile, for police photographers testified during the first day of trial where 618 photographs which they took at several locations, including at the crime scene and at Sungai Panchau, Jalan Morib, Banting, were tendered as exhibits.

The photographers are Detective Corporal Mokhtar Hussain, from the Selangor forensic unit; Lance Corporal Abdul Aziz Ahmad and Detective Sergeant Mhd Rasdi Mhd Safien, both from the Kuala Langat district police, and Detective Corporal K.Velamal, from the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department.

The hearing continues tomorrow.
- Bernama