[UPDATED] Cradle Fund CEO murder: Samirah, sons remain free as acquittal upheld

PUTRAJAYA – Samirah Muzaffar and her two sons can now breathe a sigh of relief as the Court of Appeal has upheld the high court’s decision to acquit and discharge her of the murder of former Cradle Fund chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan.

This ruling means that Samirah and her two sons remain free.

The three-member bench, led by Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli, today dismissed the prosecution’s appeal.

On June 21, 2022, the Shah Alam High Court acquitted and discharged the three after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against them.

Subsequently, on June 23 of the same year, the prosecution filed a notice of appeal against the trio’s acquittal and discharge. – February 8, 2024

In delivering the judgement, Vazeer said that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the respondents, citing circumstantial evidence.

He said that the prosecution’s reliance on the last-seen theory, given that Nazrin was last seen with the respondent before his death, was inapplicable due to their failure to establish the deceased’s time of death.

“In the absence of links in the chain of circumstantial evidence, it is not possible to convict the accused solely based on the last-seen theory; there must be something more establishing that connects the accused to the crime,” he said.

He also said that the prosecution had failed to obtain any evidence of motive from the three respondents in the killing of Nazrin, further noting that the evidence provided was vague.

“The alleged financial motive, the deceased’s alleged intention to divorce Samirah, and his alleged bad relationship with the stepsons were unclear and ambiguous.

“Contrary to the prosecution’s statements, there was evidence from the deceased’s sister, driver, personal assistant, and colleague regarding the positive relationship between Nazrin and Samirah,” he added.

Vazeer also added that there was no common intention among the three respondents, as well as their purportedly at-large maid, Eka Wahyu Lestari, to commit the murder of Nazrin.

He said that Eka had actually been in Kuching for some time, contrary to the authorities’ claims, noting that the police had made no attempts to arrest her.

Meanwhile, Vazeer said the high court also mistakenly found that the fire that broke out in Nazrin’s room was deliberately started.

The panel found that the analysis of petroleum within the scene was inaccurate and done in a rush, while there were no elements of murder in the case as the deceased had suffered from wounds in line with blasts from an accidental fire.

During a press conference, lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who represented Samirah and her two sons, said the trio’s explanation of the incident had been consistent.

On October 23, last year, a three-member panel deferred the decision after hearing submissions from both parties.

Shafee completed his submission on October 23 last year, while the prosecution led by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Yusaini Amer Abdul Karim completed their submission on October 17.

The trio and Eka were charged with killing Nazrin, 45, at his house in Mutiara Damansara between 11.30pm on June 13, 2018, and 4am the following day.

On June 30, 2022, Samirah and the teenagers filed an appeal to challenge certain findings of fact by the high court, including the finding that the fire that broke out in Nazrin’s room was “done deliberately”. 

The three of them and an Indonesian woman, Eka Wahyu Lestari, were charged with killing Nazrin, 45, at his house in Mutiara Damansara between 11.30pm on June 13, 2018, and 4am the following day. – February 8, 2024