The 50th day of trial for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu today saw the prosecution adducing new exhibits including a newspaper with traces of blood on it and a bullet shell.
Prosecution present exhibits in Altantuya murder trial recovered from
Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar's (above) Suzuki sport utility vehicle. |
Chemistry division head of the police’s forensic laboratory in Cheras, Supt Soo Me Tong, 51, said he recovered the two case items when carrying out an investigation on Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar’s sport utility vehicle with seven other personnel on Nov 9, 2006.
Also retrieved were lumps of soil from the rims of Sirul’s car tyres and traces of sweat from the back seat handle.
Altogether, 13 case items were recovered and retrieved from the car for comparison with other evidence found at the murder scene, said the 42nd prosecution witness.
Sirul, 36, and another Special Action Squad operative C/Insp Azilah Hadri, 31, are alleged to have murdered Altantuya, 28, in a jungle in Mukim Bukit Raja here in October last year. Political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 47, is charged with abetting them.
Soo said the shell of a SME06 9mm bullet was found between the driver’s seat and door.
Among other items recovered from the front part of the passenger compartment were a black steering wheel cover, a smart tag gadget, a touch’n go card and a strand of hair, he said.
At the back, he said, a pair of rubber slippers with traces of blood was found in the leg room. Also found were four newspaper copies, he said.
He said Sirul’s Suzuki sport utility vehicle had only one back seat and next to it were newspapers, fishing equipment and a box containing fishing equipment.
In the goods compartment, there was a white box with “Planet T792” written on it, he said and added that the box contained several shirts while on it, there was fishing equipment.
Earlier, Soo told the court that investigating officer ASP Tonny Lunggan contacted him on Nov 8 last year asking him to inspect the vehicle but he carried out the investigation the next day because “the request was made at night”.
“Normally, an investigation is conducted during the day because it is more effective,” he said in reply to Deputy Public Prosecutor Hanim Rashid.
Soo, who has served with the police since 1979, did not refer to any notes during the examination-in-chief and spelt out the serial numbers of the exhihits without much difficulty.
When Justice Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yassin asked him how he could remember all these, Soo replied: “I reviewed the notes yesterday.”
The trial continues tomorrow.
