A mystery shoe print has cast doubt over the evidence collected at the 14th floor window of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission's (MACC) office in Plaza Masalam.

Evidence of the shoe print emerged today during the testimony of forensics officer DSP Shahrul Othman, contradicting an earlier testimony by his colleague, chief inspector Mazli Jusoh Che Kob who said he found no such prints.

Shahrul told the Royal Commission of Inquiry into political aide Teoh Beng Hock's death that he found the shoe print at the bottom of the window frame, from which Teoh is said to have fallen to his death on July 16, 2009.

He said he found the print after running an ultraviolet "crime light" over the window frame.

"I did not lift the print as it was only partial, but I did measure it and take pictures," Shahrul said during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Kwan Li Sa, who is acting as conducting officer.

Shahrul was ordered to lead a forensics team to conduct a second round of investigations at the scene on July 19, three days after the area was processed by Mazli and his team on July 16.

Except for the 14th floor window however, Shahrul pointed out that his team mostly covered different areas than those handled by Mazli's team.

When asked during cross-examination by Chris Leong, acting for the Bar Council, Shahrul pointed out that it is common practice for the police top-brass to order more than one forensics investigation, especially if they are not satisfied with the results of the initial probe.

RCI chairperson James Foong questioned the reason given by Shahrul, stressing that if his superiors were unsatisfied they would surely expect a more thorough investigation of the same areas.

To this, Shahrul explained that he had initially suggested against having a second team going through the scene three days later.

He pointed out that there is a possibility that the crime scene, especially the 14th floor window area, had been contaminated as there was no police cordon to keep people out since the last forensic investigation.

'No signs' that someone jumped out

However, Mazli Jusoh in his testimony earlier said he did not find any marks on the window or window frame, other than several partial fingerprints on the frame and an oily smudge on the glass.

azlan When called again before recess, and after Shahrul's testimony, Mazli repeated that he did not find any other mark, other than the partial fingerprints.

Answering questions from Chris Leong, acting for the Bar Council, Mazli affirmed that he did not find any shoe mark anywhere on the window frame.

During his testimony in the morning, Mazli said he found no evidence to indicate that Teoh had jumped out of the MACC office.

He said he found no mark on the window frame to show that a person had climbed out of the window.

Cross-examined by Leong, Mazli agreed it was possible for a person intending to climb out of the window to have to either grab on to the sides of the window frame or sit on the sill - which would likely leave some marks there.

Teoh's phone tampered with?

Later, when the inquiry's eighth witness Inspector Mohd Zaidi Abu Hassan, was called to the stand, Leong raised the possibility that someone had tampered with Teoh's handphone.

Going through the data report extracted from Teoh's Sony Ericsson phone, Zaidi, attached to the forensics department's computer crimes division, agreed with the possibility that someone had switched on the political aide's phone and gone through some of the messages.

Leong, who was cross-examining the witness, noted that the data report showed several text messages that were accessed on July 17, a day after Teoh was found dead.

Earlier during examination-in-chief, Kwan earned a lashing from Foong who expressed his surprise over her brief line of questioning of Zaidi.

Foong pointed out to her that the data report is an important piece of evidence that raises many questions.

In her defence, Kwan said she was not sure if Zaidi was in a position to answer more probing questions, to which Foong said the officer is the right person to ask as it was Zaidi who prepared the report.

"How is it that you don't have anything to ask? He is the one who prepared the report, so continue asking him questions," he said.

The RCI was formed late last month after an 18-month inquest into Teoh's death returned an open verdict.

The inquiry resumes tomorrow morning, with Zaidi returning to the stand.