No drugs or pesticides detected in Nora Anne, inquest told

A chemist told the Coroner’s Court here that the drug analysis conducted on the three specimens obtained from the body of 15-year-old Franco-Irish teenager Nora Anne Quoirin, including her liver, on Aug 19 last year, found no trace of common drugs.

Suhana Ismail, 52, who works at the Toxicology Division, Centre of Analysis for Forensic Science, Chemistry Department, said she also performed a pesticide analysis – organophosphate and organochlorine – on the three specimens on the same date and did not find any trace of pesticide.

“Apart from the analysis on the liver specimen labelled ‘Nora Anne Quoirin’, I conducted tests on two other specimens – peritoneal fluid from the abdomen and psoas muscle found in the hips or buttocks.

“Organophosphate and organochlorine pesticides are commonly used in the agricultural industry,” said Suhana.

The seventh witness in the Nora Anne inquest was responding to a question from deputy public prosecutor, Nur’Atiqah Sapari, who is also the inquest coordinating officer, in yesterday’s proceeding before Coroner Maimoonah Aid.

To a question from the coroner on why she only analysed for drugs and pesticides, Suhana said this was because the division only analysed these two substances.

Maimoonah: You said the common drugs analysis results were negative, what do common drugs mean?

Suhana: It includes drugs that can be obtained over the counter such as paracetamol-type drugs prescribed by doctors or abused by the public such as Ecstasy and cannabis.

Maimoonah: How long does it take for a person who consistently takes medication and another person who takes the medication on and off to retain the drug in the body?

Suhana: Depending on the metabolic rate of an individual’s body and the lifespan of the drug.

Another chemist, Saiful Fazamil Mohd Ali, told the inquest that an analysis was carried out on two soil samples obtained from beneath and within Nora Anne’s body.

“I did an analysis by looking at the soil characteristics and comparing both samples. I believe that both are likely from the same source based on similar density distribution,” he said.

Asked by Maimoonah on why this was “likely”, the eighth witness said the Chemistry Department did not have nationwide land density data and the analysis was only conducted based on the two soil samples received from the police on Aug 16, 2019.

Nora Anne went missing on Aug 4 last year, a day after she and her family arrived in Malaysia for a holiday at a resort in Pantai here. Ten days after she went missing, her body was found near a creek in a ravine, about 2.5 km from the resort, following a massive search.

Preliminary surgical reports stated that the death of the teenager, who was a person with a disability, was caused by gastrointestinal bleeding due to prolonged hunger and stress. — Bernama