Widow, two teens and one at large charged with murder of Cradle Fund CEO
PETALING JAYA: The widow of Cradle Fund CEO Nazrin Hassan, two teenage boys and one person still at large were charged with his murder at the magistrates’ court here yesterday.
Samirah Muzaffar, 44, a former senior executive at Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia ( MyIPO), and the two boys, aged 13 and 16, nodded to indicate they understood the charge that was read out to them before Magistrate Mohamad Ikhwan Mohd Nasir.
Samirah, in a black baju kurung, and the teenagers, in their school uniform, were present in court at 12.45pm.
No plea was recorded from the accused as the case comes under the jurisdiction of the High Court.
Also present in the public gallery were many family members of the three accused, including wheelchair- bound political analyst and social activist Dr Chandra Muzaffar.
Samirah, the two teenagers and Eka Wahyu Lestari, who is still at large, were charged with the murder of Nazrin, 47, at a house in Mutiara Homes, here, between 11.30pm on June 13, 2018, and 4 am on June 14, 2018.
The charge, under Section 302 of the Penal Code and read in conjunction with Section 34 of the same code, provides for the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
However, the two boys, as they are under the age of 18, will not be subject to the death penalty under Section 97 (1) of the Child Act 2001, but may be liable to imprisonment at the pleasure of the Yang diPertuan Agong.
DPPs Datuk Jamil Aripin and Mohd Zain Ibrahim prosecuted while the three accused were represented by counsel LS Leonard.
The court allowed Jamil’s application for the case to be immediately transferred to the Shah Alam High Court.
Mohamad Ikhwan also allowed Jamil’s application for a gag order on the media not to publish the names, photographs and other details that could expose the identities of the minors in any electronic or print media platform.
In a statement yesterday morning, Selangor Criminal Investigation Department chief SAC Fadzil Ahmat said Samirah and the two teenagers were arrested at home at 6.45am.
On Sept 4 last year, Samirah was remanded for seven days to assist in the investigation into the murder while the teenagers were remanded on Sept 9. However, all of them were released after their remand order ended.
The magistrates’ court here, on Oct 1, 2018, allowed the police to exhume Nazrin’s remains to allow for a second post-mortem to assist the police investigation into his death.
On Aug 3 last year, Nazrin’s death was reclassified as murder after an investigation by the Fire and Rescue Department found traces of petrol at the scene of the fire which killed Nazrin, 45, at his house on June 14. It was initially reported that he had died in a fire caused by an explosion of his mobile phone.
The second autopsy report stated that Nazrin died from head injuries and not from the cell phone explosion. — Bernama