The High Court was told today that three fire origins were detected at Cradle Fund chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan’s home, which was damaged by fire about two years ago.
Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department director (Fire Safety) Edwin Galan Teruki, who is the 20th prosecution witness, said based on the investigation, the fire origins were on Nazrin’s head, the right side of the mattress he was sleeping on, and the headboard of his bed.
“At the first fire origin, firefighters found mass loss of material on the fabric and a trace of soot on the victim’s head and floor. In the second fire origin, mass loss of material was found on the right side of the mattress indicating it was exposed to a very strong fire.
“While at the third cause of the fire at the head of the bed, a deep soot effect of 0.7 millimetres was found, compared to 0.3 mm that was found in other areas,” he said when reading out his witness statement before judge Ab Karim Ab Rahman today.
Edwin said that analysis of fire samples also found the effects of flammable liquid such as petrol.
In fact, scanning was conducted on a Blackberry handphone claimed to be the cause of the fire, and it was found that the structure was not damaged, but only a slight loss of material of the telephone casing was observed.
He said based on the findings of the investigation and discussions with investigating officer at the Fire and Rescue Department Abdul Halim Zulkefeli and several other officials, they agreed that the fire was deliberate.
Following which, he said, further investigations were conducted, during which several analyses were made, and included the reconstruction of the fire and interviews of witnesses.
A report on the investigation was submitted to the Petaling Jaya district police chief, he added.
On March 12 last year, Samirah Muzaffar, 45, who is a former senior executive at the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO), and two teenagers aged 17 and 14, were charged, along with Indonesian citizen, Eka Wahyu Lestari, who is still at large, with Nazrin’s murder.
They are alleged to have committed the offence at a house in Mutiara Homes, Mutiara Damansara, between 11.30pm on June 13, 2018, and 4am on June 14, 2018.
They are charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, and face the mandatory death sentence if found guilty.
The hearing continues on May 22.
Earlier reports:
Feb 15, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Sibling Aware of Death Threat Against Nazrin
Dec 31, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Widow Refused to Allow Insurance to Pay Deceased’s Debts
Dec 28, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Brother Gets Info on Post-Mortem from Health DG
Dec 27, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Blog Allegedly Penned by Nazrin About Brother
Dec 24, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Witness Never Heard of Fire from Exploding BlackBerry
Dec 17, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Tense Atmosphere
Dec 3, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Fire Originated in Two Places
Nov 29, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Another Witness Accused of Lying
Nov 15, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Heated Exchange Between Witness and Lawyer Shafee
Nov 8, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Nazrin’s Body Not Typical of Fire Victim
Oct 3, Fireman: Cradle Fund CEO Had Holes on Head, Fireworks Found in Victim’s Room
Oct 3, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Samirah’s Son Filed Police Report of Cops Lying to Him
Oct 2, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Fireman Says Widow Didn’t Seem Sad at His Death
Sept 28, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Cop Saw Head and Face Injuries on Deceased
Sept 20, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Public Entered House After Fire
Sept 20, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Cop Who Received Call on Fire, Photographer Testify
Sept 13, Cradle Fund CEO Murder Trial: Guard Tried to Break Down Bedroom Door
Sept 6, Prosecution to Prove Widow. Stepsons Killed Cradle Fund CEO