Banting murders: Court visits four exhibit locations

All parties involved in the Sosilawati Lawiya murder trial today visited four places in Banting and Subang Jaya where evidence for the case was found.

It included the locations where two BMWs, which belonged to Sosilawati and her lawyer, Abdul Kamil Abdul Karim, were found.

Eighteen vehicles carrying Judge Akhtar Tahir, the prosecution and defence teams and media personnel arrived at the first location, a rubbish disposal site at Jalan Sungai Arak, Banting at 10.05am.

The four accused, former lawyer N Pathmanabhan, 42, and three farm workers – T Thilaiyalagan, 20, R Matan, 21, and R Khatavarayan, 31, – were also brought there, in a police truck.

Based on the testimony of the 32nd prosecution witness, Chief Inspector N Govindan, Thilaiyalagan had led police to the remnants of 14 pieces of burnt wood at this site on Sept 13, 2010.

After 25 minutes, the group proceeded to Angsana Flats, USJ 1, Subang Jaya where police had found the BMW X5 in which Sosilawati and her driver had travelled on Aug 30 last year when they were reported missing.

The next site was a drain about 100 metres away from where the BMW keys was found on Sept 14, 2010.

The last site visited by the group was the car park at Jalan SS12/1B, Subang Jaya, where Ahmad Kamil’s black BMW was found on Sept 6, 2010.

The court had earlier visited the same four sites as well as the crime scene in Ladang Gadong, Tanjung Sepat, Banting on July 13.

During yesterday’s proceedings Akhtar fixed tomorrow to resume the trial-within-a-trial after the defence informed the court it needed more time to subpoena witnesses.

The trial-within-a-trial is to determine Thilaiyalagan’s state of mind when he gave the statement which led to the recovery of the case exhibits.

Thilaiyalagan, Pathmanabhan Matan and Khatavarayan are charged with murdering Sosilawati, 47; bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38; lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, and Sosilawati’s driver, Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44,
at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting, between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Aug 30, 2010.

Pathmanabhan, Thilaiyalagan, Matan, and Khatavarayan are charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the death sentence upon conviction.

– Bernama