‘I did not want to taint DNA on rubber gloves’

TESTIMONY: Items found under driver’s seat of 4WD, says forensic investigator

APOLICE forensic investigator yesterday told the High Court that he did not mark the two pairs of rubber gloves that were found in a Mitsubishi Triton at a house in Kulim because he did not want to taint the DNA.

Sergeant Azmi Shaari from the Kedah police headquarters, who was testifying at a trial over the murder of deputy public prosecutor Datuk Anthony Kevin Morais, said the two gloves were found under the driver’s seat of the four-wheel drive vehicle bearing the registration number PEP 1135. He placed the gloves in a plastic bag and later put them in envelopes.

At this juncture, deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin informed Azmi that a chemist had earlier testified that Morais’s DNA was found on the gloves.

Azmi, during examination-in-chief, said he sealed and signed the two envelopes and passed them to Superintendent Shazeli Kahar of Bukit Aman’s Special Task Force on Organised Crime, who was at the crime scene with his officers.

“When I arrived at the semi-detached house in Taman Bayam in Lunas, Kulim, at 10.45pm on Sept 15 last year, Shazeli was already there with his men.

“He handed me the vehicle’s keys for me to open the doors to search for exhibits and also for swabbing.

“I did 12 swabs at the crime scene.”

Azmi said also present at the crime scene were the house owner and seamstress S. Yogeswari, the owner of the Mitsubishi Triton, who gave the vehicle’s keys to Shazeli.

Yogeswari, 37, was the 37th prosecution witness at the trial.

Six men — G. Gunasekaran, 43; R. Dinishwaran, 23; A. Thinesh Kumar, 22; M. Vishwanath, 25; S. Nimalan, 22; and, S. Ravichandaran, 34 — are jointly charged with murdering Morais, 55, between 7am and 8pm on Sept last year while the victim was on his way from Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul to No. 1 Jalan USJ1/6D, Subang Jaya.

Pathologist Colonel Dr R. Kunaseegaran, 52, was charged with abetting the murder of Morais.

The accused are represented by counsels Datuk N. Sivananthan, Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent, Ramesh Sivakumar, M. Manoharan, V. Rajehgopal and P. Subramaniam, while Datuk Simon Sabapathy is holding a watching brief for Datuk Richard Morais, the brother of Morais.

The prosecution — comprising deputy public prosecutors Wan Shaharuddin, Izzat Fauzan and Nurfaida Mohd Rashidee — is led by Saiful Edris Zainuddin.

Another prosecution witness, Lance Corporal Hillary Aji Anthony, a photographer at the Kulim district police headquarters, testified that he took 23 pictures of the crime scene after arriving there at 10.30pm on Sept 15 last year.

“When I arrived at the crime scene, I was instructed to take pictures of the four-wheeldrive vehicle,” he said.

To a question by Nurfaida, Hillary said his Canon 110D digital camera was in good condition, and that the pictures he took were downloaded onto a disc.

Hearing before judge Datuk Paduka Azman Abdullah continues.