THE third witness in the murder trial of Cradle Fund chief executive Nazrin Hassan told the Shah Alam High court this afternoon that a police report was lodged in 2015 by the deceased after his home was broken into and vandalised.

Corporal Jumardi Musalim from the Petaling Jaya district police station told the court that Nazrin’s laptop was smashed during the break-in and several clothes were “sliced” or cut up using a sharp object.

“A pillow was sliced, a blanket was sliced, several clothes were sliced too. A laptop was smashed.

“The suspects used lipstick to vandalise the home but no words were written on the wall,” said the police photographer from the D6 unit.

Asked by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah about fingerprints lifted from the house, Jumardi said that he had no knowledge about this matter.

“That is the job of the investigation officer,” he replied before Justice Ab Karim Ab Rahman.

The first day of the Nazrin’s murder trial this morning opened with the prosecution, led by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Raja Rozela Raja Toran, saying in her opening statement that the prosecution will prove that the former Cradle Fund chief was murdered and his body set on fire by his own family to conceal their crime.

Raja Rozela said the deceased was living with the first accused, his wife Samirah Muzaffar, her two sons from another marriage and a live-in Indonesian maid.

She said the first post-mortem report stated the cause of death was from complications from a blast to the head, and a second post-mortem three months later showed multiple blunt injuries to the head.

The second post-mortem was requested by the victim’s brother. The blast mentioned refers to the family’s claim at the onset that a charged handphone next to Nazrin’s head had exploded.

This morning, the court also heard from two police witnesses from the Criminal Investigation Department technical assistance division, Lance Corporal Nazrin Zakaria and Corporal Mahadin Bakar, who told the court of the blood stains and burnt marks in the master bedroom where the Cradle Fund CEO died.

His wife Samirah, with her two sons aged 14 and 16, have been charged with killing Nazrin between June 13 and 14, 2018 at their home in Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya.

Nazrin’s family had from the onset said he died after a handphone charging next to him exploded, causing the fire. Cradle Fund had also issued a statement attributing its CEO’s death to blast injuries from an exploding handphone.

It was later discovered that Nazrin had injuries to his neck, believed to have been caused by an arrow. The two boys are said to practise archery.

Selangor police classified the case as murder after investigators found traces of petrol in the room.

Besides Raja Rozela, others on the prosecution team are DPPs Mohd Asnawi Abu Hanipah, Ashraf Ashyari, Noor Mawarni Halim and Wan Shahida Wan Omar.

The defence team comprises Shafee, L. S. Leonard, S. Suresh, Rahmat Hazlan, Savreena Kaur, Mardhiyah Siraj and Zahriah Eleena Redza.

Counsels Arif Zain Yusof Alia and Selvi Sandrasegaran are holding a watching brief for the family and the Indonesian embassy, respectively. – September 6, 2019.