A Thai pathology expert told an inquest today that there was an 80% probability that Teoh Beng Hock's death was a homicide."From everything I have read and considered, there is only a 20% likelihood that his death was a suicide. The remaining possibility is that it was a homicide," Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand said.
Pornthip, the director-general of the Thai Ministry of Justice's Central Institute of Forensic Science, also said it was possible Teoh was unconscious when he fell to his death.
Teoh, the political secretary to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, had been summoned to the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) offices on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam to be questioned over irregularities in the disbursement of state funds on July 15. He was found dead on the fifth floor service corridor of the building the next day.
Pornthip said during questioning by counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, for the Selangor government, that Teoh could have been strangled unconscious before his fall, or he could have blacked out from the pain caused by other injuries inflicted on him before the fall.
"(Teoh's unconsciousness) could have possibly come from manual strangulation and, secondly, from the pain from the gluteal region from the buttocks," Pornthip, the Selangor government's expert witness, said.
In an earlier Power Point presentation, she had testified there were several injuries found on Teoh which were inconsistent with a fall from a height. They were:
- the anal injuries, which were of a "penetrating" nature;
- evidence of "handle bruises" which indicate physical strangulation on Teoh's neck; and
- the fracture found on Teoh's skull was more consistent with that of a blunt force impact than transverse force from the fall.
Asked about the fracture, Pornthip said her testimony differed from that of the two pathologists who performed the post-mortem on Teoh as a fracture caused by a transfer of force would appear differently on the skull.
"From the opinion of the doctors, they said that this fracture might have been caused by transferred force from the feet during landing on the ground," she said.
"But I found contusion over the fracture line. So the fracture was caused by blunt force injury directly on the skull. And for the transfer force of fall from height, there would just be a ring fracture."
In their post-mortem reports, pathologists Dr Khairul Ibrahim and Dr Prashant Samberkar concluded that the fracture on Teoh's skull came from the fall. Asked by Malik about the scratches found on Teoh's right shoe, Pornthip said the marks "looked as if Teoh had been dragged".
"In normal cases of a fall from a height, the shoes would not have left an abrasion mark like this," she said.
However, she said, such an abrasion would have been caused by a "hard and rough" surface, which Pornthip's team did not find on the 14th floor during their inspection in August.During questioning by Tan Hock Chuan, who is assisting coroner Azmil Munthapha Abas, she admitted that on closer inspection of the original photos it appeared if the scratch marks were formed when Teoh impacted the fifth floor walkway.
Pornthip also said she was at a "distinct disadvantage" in conducting her examination as she was unable to perform a post-mortem on Teoh as his family did not want her to.
She said she did not consult either Prashant or Khairul or receive all of the DNA or toxicology reports prepared by Dr Seah Lay Hong of the Chemistry Department.
However, she maintained that she was able to conduct a satisfactory analysis based on the photos and reports supplied to her, as she was not at a "100% disadvantage".
Asked about defensive wounds, Pornthip said such wounds would depend on the weapon used. "If there is a weapon, we should be able to find defensive wounds," she said.
Pornthip also disputed Prashant's earlier analysis that Teoh was not asphyxiated as there was no tongue-biting found on Teoh.
"Tongue bite means that there was protrusion of the tongue because of the obstruction of the trachea, and in a manual strangulation, the hand cannot compress the trachea. The absence of a tongue bite means nothing," she said.
Questioned by Gobind Singh Deo, counsel for the Teoh family, Pornthip said she would be willing to do a second post-mortem on Teoh's body if it was exhumed, despite it being three months since his death.
"Despite the limitations, doing a second post-mortem would not put me at a disadvantage. I can still conduct a post-mortem on the body," she said. The inquest continues on Nov 9.
source:theSun
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Can our court admit statements by the foreign forensic expert? Remember,this is UMNO's court and UMNO need MACC to do their dirty job for them.Pokoknya, MACC, Police, pata doktor dari Klang and UHKL sama bersubahat untuk menutup kes TBH ini bagi pihak MACC dan gomen.
By the end of the day,the court will say......"kerana bukti tak cukup,maka semua pegawai MACC yang dipersoalkan adalah bebas daripada segala tuduhan, bagi mendiang TBH, dia mati kerana membunuh diri".
Are you not ashamed of our kangaroo court...............
cheers.
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