KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — Customs officer Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed did not jump to his death nor was he pushed from the KL anti-graft office, a forensic investigator told the inquest into his death today.
DSP Sharul Othman Mansor said based on his observations made at the crime scene, the victim had tried to jump over to the roof of the badminton court, but missed and fell to his death instead.
Ahmad Sarbaini, the Selangor Customs assistant director, was found dead after he was believed to have fallen from the pantry on the third floor of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office in Jalan Cochrane here on April 6 and landed on the badminton court on the first floor.
Sharul, a federal crime scene investigator, who was the second witness for the inquest, told the court today that from the way Sarbaini’s body was found, he was facing the window with his back towards the pantry, thus ruling out the possibility that he was pushed.
On July 4, the first day of the inquest, the coroner’s court was told that Sarbaini was discovered lying on the badminton court with with his right leg bent at the knee over the left.
Sharul also told the inquest his team discovered several friction marks and shoe prints on the walls both inside the third-floor pantry and the surrounding rooms as well as outside the pantry.
He also found fingerprints and a palm print on a window left ajar on the pantry.
Sharul said there were no signs of struggle.
“If there had been a struggle, there will be more dirt marks in the pantry, shoe marks and fingerprints.
“There should also be more dirt marks on the victim’s body as well as tears on his clothing,” he said.
Sharul said Sarbaini seemed to have taken his time to climb out the window because he had been to the office before and was possibly familiar with his surroundings.
He also said there seems to be an optical illusion which made the roof seemed like it was parallel to the corner of the window.
“It looks near but in fact it was nine feet from the corner of the window,” he said.
Sharul also said he found traces of white paint on Ahmad Sarbaini’s belt buckle and pants.
He repeated his conclusion said in court on July 4 that Ahmad Sarbaini had attempted to jump out the window towards the roof, but ended up falling to his death on the badminton court.
Sharul agreed with MACC lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s interpretation of his testimony that this was not a suicide nor a homicide case.
Chemist Dr Mohd Sukri Hassan,49, told the court that there was no significant level of alcohol detected, no traces of pesticide or common drugs found in the blood, stomach content and urine.
Saiful Fazamil Mohd Ali, 36, also a chemist, said he was given two exhibits to test.
They contained identical remnants of white paint, which he suspects was from the same source.
The inquest was adjourned to August 2.
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