A DEEP wound, among other injuries, on the head of Cradle Fund’s Nazrin Hassan was visible to the first investigating officer dispatched to the house after he was found dead, but no foul play was suspected, the murder trial of the CEO heard today.

Inspector Anestassia Chin Fat told the Shah Alam High Court that based on her initial probe, she found no evidence of murder but confirmed the body was discovered with several injury marks.

“I was informed by a colleague that a body was found at the house after the fire department put out the fire. I went to the house and went up to the upper floor where a body was lying on the side of the bed.

“I inspected the body and I could see a deep wound on the left side of the head and also injury to the left side of the face as if it had been cut, and there was burn marks on the chest near to the shoulder,” she said.

“There was still blood and the body was found on the floor next to the bed and I did not suspect any foul play,” she said when asked by defence lawyer Shafee Abdullah.

Shafee asked Anestassia if she knew what could have caused such injuries to the body and if she had uncovered any weapon that could be used to cause a deep wound to the head.

“I am not sure (about the pattern of injuries) and I did not find any objects that could be the murder weapon,” she told the court before Justice Ab Karim Ab Rahman.

“I classified the case as sudden death and I informed my senior officer on that day that it was a sudden death incident, whereby he concurred.”

Shafee then asked Anestassia if she knew the case was reclassified as murder a few months later.

“I only knew the case was reclassified as murder in August,” she said.

After the case was reclassified, she also recorded statements from Nazrin’s wife, Samirah Muzaffar, several times. 

“I recorded her statement on several occasions,” she said.

The first post mortem result classified the case as “death caused by phone blast to the head” but the Fire and Rescue Department later discovered traces of petrol in the bedroom.

After the case was reclassified as murder, Nazrin’s siblings requested the body to be exhumed for a second post mortem.

In the second autopsy, pathologists concluded that Nazrin died due to blunt force trauma to the head.

On March 12, 2019, Samirah, a former senior executive at Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) and two teenagers aged 17 and 14, were jointly charged with an Indonesian, Eka Wahyu Lestari, who is still at large, with murdering Nazrin, 47.

The three claimed trial to committing the offence at a house at Mutiara Homes near Shah Alam, between 11.30pm on June 13, 2018 and 4am on June 14, 2018.

On March 27, the teens were released on RM50,000 bail each, with eight conditions.

Among others, they are not allowed to stay with family members who are witnesses in the case; they must be at home from 6pm until 6am daily; and they are barred from leaving the country, with their passports impounded by the court. 

Inspector Anestassia is the fifth witness of the case. Prior to her account, the court had heard from three police officers from the technical assistance division unit as well as a Nepali chief security guard from the Mutiara Homes. – September 27, 2019.