5 Victims Were Poisoned: Pathologist
The five victims who were killed in the Nausori Highlands more than two years ago were poisoned, the High Court in Lautoka heard yesterday.
This was revealed by the forensic pathologist in the case, Dr James Kalougivaki, during the trial of Muhammed Raheesh Isoof before judge Justice Thushara Rajasinghe.
Isoof is alleged to have murdered Nirmal Kumar, 63, his wife Usha Devi, 54, their daughter Nileshni Kajal, 34, and Ms Kajal’s daughters Sanah Singh, 11, Samarah Singh, eight at Nausori Highlands in August, 2019. He is also charged with one count of attempted murder of Samaira Kumar.
TRIAL DAY 10 (CONTINUATION): Prosecution Witness 45: Assistant Geospatial Officer Tevita Nasova
Mr Nasova told the court that he was approached by an investigating Police officer to compile a 3D modelling video of the Nausori Highlands. He said the shoot of Nausori Highlands was done on September 17, 2019.
He took the images using a drone which included around 763 images which enabled him to create a 3D modelling video of the crime scene.
Mr Nasova said after he had taken the photographs, he downloaded it on a software which stitched and modelled the photographs in order to make a 3D video.
Prosecution Witness 46: Dr James Kalougivaki
Dr Kalougivaki is a forensic pathologist with more than 10 years of experience in conducting postmortems has conducted more than 2000 autopsies for people who died from an unnatural death.
He had conducted the post-mortem of the deceased family and made a report which was tendered in court as the prosecution’s evidence. The post-mortem reports of Nirmal, Usha, Nileshni, Sanah, and Samarah, Dr Kalougivaki said Nirmal’s post-mortem was conducted on August 29, 2019, at the Lautoka Hospital Mortuary.
He said he examined the bodies internally and externally and noted his findings in his report.
For the external findings, Dr Kalougivaki said the bodies showed areas that had been nibbled by the insects and also animals.
He told the court that the victims were sunburnt over the sunexposed areas of the bodies and the presence of the fullness of blood supply over the face and eyes which was one of the signs that they were struggling to breathe or had a reaction to something toxic.
For the internal findings, Dr Kalougivaki said there were a few areas of bleeding under the second covering of the brain and the brain was swollen due to a lack to oxygen that went to the brain which could be a reaction from toxins or poison.
He said this was generally caused when there was the presence of poison, the person struggled to breathe or could also have fits or full-body shaking in a vigorous manner.
He added that there was an underline cause of poison causing the tearing of blood vessels.
He further told the court that due to 90 per cent of blockages in the arteries, there was severe narrowing of blood supply to the heart through the blood vessels. He also told the court that the deceased persons’ lungs were noted to be filled with fluid and congested due to the presence of poison which was one of the underlined causes.
He further said that the stomach’s inner wall was eroded or worn out and bleeding in the stomach which contained a yellowish fluid was noted during the autopsy.
Dr Kalougivaki said the same was also noted for the intestine of the deceased persons and there was the presence of fluid in the liver.
In the cause of the death, Dr Kalougivaki noted that the deceased persons passed away in fatal acute pesticide poisoning, the fullness of fluid within the lungs resulting from the presence of pesticides causing poisoning, and the quickness of death was due to the blockage of the heart.
State prosecutor Semi Babitu asked the witness whether he knew how fast the victims would have died from the pesticide substance. Dr Kalougivaki said that it would be difficult to tell because they did not know the volume of pesticide that was ingested, however, they could have died within hours.
Cross-Examination:
Defence lawyer Iqbal Khan questioned the witness whether if someone consumed pesticide, would there be no injury on the lips and mouth.
Dr Kalougivaki said no injuries were noted on the mouth. Mr Khan then asked the witness whether, in his opinion, the pesticide was not consumed through the mouth.
Dr Kalougivaki said it did not mean it was not taken through the mouth if there were no injuries in the mouth because it would have not settled in the mouth and travelled straight to the stomach.
Mr Khan questioned the witness whether he had taken notes of the findings during the examination.
Dr Kalougivaki said his findings were noted in the Investigating Officer’s autopsy forms.
Mr Khan asked the witness whether he could tell the time of the death of the deceased family.
Dr Kalougivaki said as per his report and the witness, the time of the death was when the deceased was found was 11.40 am on August 26, 2019. He said the deceased persons were of fresh bodies and highly likely they died within 24 hours of when they were found.
Prosecution Witness 47: WPC Anne Maria Meredani
Constable Meredani was instructed to be a photographer and part of the crime scene investigations team delegated to Nirmal’s residence at Legalega in Nadi on August 30, 2019. She told the court that she had prepared a detailed photographic booklet and took photos of the deceased’s house amounting to 26 photos. She told the court that she took photos on top of the cliff and at the bottom of the cliff.
She said she along with Inspector Sakiusa Jitoko and others went to the bottom of the cliff as part of their investigations to conduct a search. Under cross-examination, Mr Khan asked the witness whether she was present when the photos of dead bodies were taken. She said no.
TRIAL DAY 11: Prosecution Witness 48: Detective Woman Constable Ilisepeci Ratusaki
Constable Ratusaki told the court that she had received instructions from Inspector Sakiusa Jitoko to conduct a buckle swab of Isoof to be examined for DNA.
She said she had informed Isoof that the DNA swab was being taken in regards to the case as there were items uplifted from the crime scene and that he would have to sign a consent form before the swab was taken.
She further told the court that on August 31, 2019, Isoof was brought to her at Namaka Crime Branch at Namaka Police Station by the Investigating Officer. She said after she had informed Isoof of the DNA swab collection, he had nodded his head and agreed to the swab.
Constable Ratusaki told the court that after Isoof read the form and signed it, she took out the swab and inserted it into Isoof ’s mouth, and Isoof used the swab to gain the saliva. Under cross-exmination, Mr Khan put to the witness that Isoof was forced to give his consent for the DNA sample. She replied no.
Prosecution Witness 49: Senior Scientific Officer Naomi Tuitoga
Ms Tuitoga is a Fiji Police Force senior scientific officer based at the Forensic Bio and DNA Lab at the Police Academy in Nasova, Suva. During the investigation of this case, Ms Tuitoga had overseen the analysis of forensic exhibits and the DNA samples that were submitted for examination.
She testified in the court that she had compiled the forensic exhibits submitted and compiled a DNA report of the exhibits. She said that DNA was a building block of genetic information of a person or genetic fingerprint that was unique to a person.
She said it was a genetic material that was inside a cell that made up a person and was not visible through the naked eyes. She further told the court that the DNA was located in the cells found in the bodily fluids or tissues.
She said if a person came in contact with an object, the DNA could be transferred as skin cells contained DNA of a person.
Ms Tuitoga told the court that she had examined and extracted DNA from the prayer items that were found at the crime scene.