The High Court hearing the murders of cosmetic millionaire Sosilawati Lawiya and three others was today told that an unidentified person had contacted a former colleague of one of the victims, bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, on the night of the incident using the victim’s handphone.

Kampung Baru branch CIMB Bank personal financial consultant, Lyly Zanariyah Manaf, 32, said she received the call about 9.50pm on Aug 30 last year while she was at a restaurant in Ampang with friends.

The 62nd prosecution witness said the caller asked whether she could meet him the following day (Aug 31, 2010) and she responded by telling him that it was a public holiday in conjunction with Merdeka Day.

“The caller was shocked and then said to have the meeting the following day. I asked him where and he said at the office. I said the office is closed on a public holiday.

“Prior to that, the caller mentioned his name, but not Hisham, and when I asked where Hisham was, he sounded surprised and I heard him saying ‘ha?’ before hanging up,” she said during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Ishak Mohd Yusoff.

    

Lyly was testifying on the 44th day of trial of former lawyer, K Pathmanabhan, and three farm workers, T Thilaiyalagan, R Matan and R Khatavarayan, who are charged with murdering Sosilawati, 47, Noorhisham, 38, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, and Sosilawati’s driver, Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44, at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting, between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Aug 30 last year.

Pathmanabhan, 42; Thilaiyalagan, 20; Matan, 21; and Kathavarayan, 31, are charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34, which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

Lyly said she could not hear clearly when the caller mentioned his name because the restaurant was noisy.

She said after the called hanged up, she tried calling Noorhisham twice, but the calls went to the voice mail box.

Ishak: After Aug 30, 2010, did you try to contact Noorhisham again?

    

Lyly: No.

Ishak: How was the tone of the caller’s voice and the background when he called you?

Lyly: The surroundings around him were quiet and the caller spoke softly and in a low tone.

‘Noorhisham invited bank officer to Banting’

Earlier, Lyly said Noorhisham contacted her on the morning of Aug 30, 2010 to say that he would be late to the office and that at the office, Noorhisham invited her to Banting to break fast with a lawyer, but she turned down the invitation because she had a prior engagement with her friends.

Questioned by Ishak on the name of the lawyer referred to by Noorhisham, Lyly said Noorhisham did not mention the name.

She also said that she knew that Sosilawati was Noorhisham’s customer as he had told her about it.

Questioned by lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad, who represented Matan, whether she could recognise the voice of the caller, Lyly said “no”.

Meanwhile, a forensic expert at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Dr Nurliza Abdullah, who is the 63rd prosecution witness, testified that on Sept 13 last year, she received instructions from investigating officer ASP Ishak Yaakob to examine the exhibits.

Justice Akhtar Tahir postponed hearing to tomorrow when she did not bring the report of her investigation to the court today.

- Bernama