KOTA KINABALU: The trial of a senior police officer for murdering a single mother in Keningau two years ago was told that all the evidence concerning the case was destroyed in a fire incident nearly four months ago.
ASP Lee Nyuk Kim, the investigating officer in the case, told the High Court here that the evidence kept in a storeroom at the Keningau Police Station was completely destroyed when the storeroom caught fire on April 26 this year.
Lee, 38, who was testifying before Justice Chew Soo Ho in the trial of Inspector Ahmad Rizal Umar for murdering 27-year-old Sabahan, Kartini Borhan, said evidence of other cases kept in the storeroom was also destroyed.
During examination-in-chief by DPP Ahmad Nazneen, the 16th prosecution witness said the fire incident was subsequently investigated by Inspector Barry and the State Fire Department.
Ahmad Rizal, 33, from Perak, allegedly murdered Kartini in a house at Taman Adika, Keningau between 4am and 5am on September 29, 2011. He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which provides for the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
Lee told the court further that all the evidences were never placed anywhere else but within the mentioned evidence storeroom of the Keningau Police Staion.
To a question by Nazneen, he testified that all evidences of the case, however, had been recorded in a book which is handled by one Corporal Ahad, who is currently attached to the Keningau Police Station.
Razali Kayun, the 17th prosecution witness, who is the State Fire Department officer investigating the cause of the fire at the police station, testified that the fire incident was not a case of arson, but an accident.
From his investigations, he concluded that the fire at the police station’s evidence store room was from an electrical discharge due to faulty wiring which eventually sparked a fire.
“I have visited the scene of the fire on April 27 with my team to take photos of the place and to collect samples from the fire, for the purpose of verifying whether the incident was a case of arson,” Razali said.
According to him, the collected samples were sent to the Fire Department’s laboratory for analysis to check if there were any gas or oil substances attached to it.
Based on his findings, he safely concluded that there was no indication of human foul play in the fire incident.
The trial continues on August 29-30, and September 6. The prosecution led by DPP Ahmad Nazneen and Syaripuddin Abdul Rasa is expecting to call another seven more witnesses.