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Federal Court stands firm on death sentences for cosmetic billionaire Sosilawati’s killers
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 — The Federal Court has dismissed the death sentence review application by former lawyer N. Pathmanabhan and a plantation worker, T. Thilaiyalagan, who were sentenced to death for the murder of cosmetic billionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya and three of her associates.
According to national daily Utusan Malaysia, another applicant, R. Kathavarayan, who initially filed the same review application, withdrew it this morning.
A panel of three judges led by the Chief Justice, Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Man, sitting alongside Federal Court Judges Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Abu Bakar Jais, unanimously decided this after hearing the application.
“Exercising our discretion and referring to the facts of the case, we reject this review application, and the death sentence is upheld,” Justice Tengku Maimun was quoted as saying.
All appellants were sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court on May 23, 2013, after being found guilty of murdering Sosilawati, 47; bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38; lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32; and Sosilawati’s assistant, Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44.
They were found guilty of committing the crime at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat, in Banting between 8:30pm and 9:45pm on August 30, 2010.
Pathmanabhan, Matan, Thilaiyalagan, and Kathavarayan failed in their appeal at the Court of Appeal on December 4, 2015.
On March 16, 2017, the Federal Court upheld the conviction and death sentence against Pathmanabhan, Thilaiyalagan, and Kathavarayan, but acquitted Matan on the grounds that there was no evidence to convict him.
In his ruling, Shah Alam High Court Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir concluded that the motive for Sosilawati’s murder was related to a land transaction.
The three other men accompanying Sosilawati, who were trying to expedite the payment dates for two cheques issued by the law firm, were victims of circumstance, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
According to Judge Akhtar, based on information provided, particularly by Thilaiyalagan and Kathavarayan, police discovered burn marks at the back of the plantation, and upon digging in the burnt area, they found several bones, some of which were later confirmed by experts to be human remains that had been cremated, indicating they had been burned at extremely high temperatures.
One prosecution witness, a former maid of Pathmanabhan who lived on the plantation, Siti Hamidah, testified that she heard a woman screaming on August 30, 2010, at the plantation and saw flames rising as high as the palm trees.
She stated that further investigation at the plantation uncovered an area with bloodstains and a cricket bat with bloodstains, and chemical analysis showed that some of the blood matched Sosilawati and her friends.
Evidence also indicated that the DNA of bank officer Noorhisham was found on the walls and the cricket bat, while the DNA profile of Kamaruddin Ahmad Kamil was found on pieces of zinc.
