THE Kuala Lumpur High Court today set July 10 for a decision on the six accused of the murder deputy public prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais, whose body was found in a barrel filled with concrete five years ago.

Judge Azman Abdullah fixed the date after the submissions by both parties at the end of the defence case.

The trial began on April 6, 2016, with 84 witnesses, including 14 from the defence, called to testify.

Lawyer N. Sivananthan, representing pathologist Dr R. Kunaseegaran, 57, who is the first accused, in his submission, said that the evidence presented by the prosecution was insufficient to convict his client with the murder charge and that the motive raised by the prosecution did not prove his client was guilty.

“The motive raised by the prosecution is that the first accused (Kunaseegaran) allegedly held a grudge against the deceased and had planned and carried out the assassination of the deceased is fictitious and an assumption. 

“In fact, the first accused testified during the defence that the deceased had actually helped him (in another case in the Shah Alam Court,” he added.

He said even prosecution witnesses never claimed that his client had quarrelled with or uttered abusive remarks at Morais, and that the investigating officer himself had confirmed that there was no evidence in the case to show any dispute between his client and the victim.

The lawyer said that there was no evidence provided by the prosecution to support the use of Section 34 of the Penal Code, because in proving that section, the prosecution had to show a joint intention among all the accused to commit the offence.

“It is an undisputed fact that the first accused was nowhere to be found in connection with the murder and disposal of the deceased Kevin Morais on September 3, 2015 and September 4, 2015, in addition to the record of the first accused proving that he was in the Klang area on the day of the incident (September 4, 2015) and the phone records show that the first accused had never communicated with any other accused during the assassination and at any time, “he added.

Lawyer Sheelan Arjunan, who represented the other five accused R. Dinishwaran, A. K. Thinesh Kumar, M. Vishwanath, S. Nimalan and S. Ravi Chandaran raised the question of the existence of unknown DNA derived from a wire used to bind a gun to Morais’ body.

“According to the testimony of the chemist, he claimed to have tested the DNA with 11 detainees including the DNA of all the accused. This is the question of who’s DNA is on the wire? There is a possibility that the DNA is that of the actual killer, and if the accused had indeed killed the victim, their DNA would be on the wire. The DNA of the unknown person shows that there is another individual involved.

“Until today, the prosecution has failed to show where the victim was killed or who killed. There is no evidence to link the accused with the murder and there is no evidence that the accused killed the victim,” he added.

Deputy public prosecutor Saiful Edris Zainuddin, who is prosecuting in the case with deputy public prosecutor  Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, said although Kunaseegaran did not have an apparent  connection to the murder case, the witness’ testimony showed he had motive to kill.

He said the accused men should have been united in their denial of the charges but they had instead blamed one another when giving evidence.

“The fact is that the prosecution’s ‘ammunition’ cannot be rebutted and there was no conclusion unless the prosecution succeeded in proving the case under Section 302 of the Penal Code,” he added.

On the existence of the DNA of an unknown person, Wan Shaharuddin argued that the court cannot ignore other evidence that had been adduced in court.

“The chemist testified that many people handled the sack, among them the police, Civil Defence Department, where some of them wore gloves and some did not. The wire did not kill the victim, it only existed after the incident (murder).

“As such, it is safe to prosecute all the accused because all the evidence does not favour them and the testimony of all the accused is merely a denial and an afterthought,” he added.

Kunaseegaran, 57, Ravi Chandran, 49,  Dinishwaran, 28; Thinesh Kumar, 27; Vishwanath, 30; and Nimalan, 27, are charged with murdering Morais somewhere along Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul and No. 1, Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya, between 7am and 8pm on September 4, 2015.

They are charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34, and face the mandatory death sentence if convicted. – Bernama, June 12, 2020.