Nazrin’s stepson said mobile phone exploded, driver tells court

Cradle Fund CEO Nazrin Hassan’s widow, Samirah Muzaffar, is among four charged with murdering Nazrin on June 13, 2018.

SHAH ALAM: The 28th prosecution witness in the murder of Cradle Fund CEO Nazrin Hassan said he was told that the fire in the victim’s bedroom was caused by a mobile phone explosion.

Nazrin’s personal driver, Muhammad Nabil Faqih, 28, told the High Court here today it was his employer’s stepson who had informed him of the matter when they met on the day of the incident.

Nabil said he knew Nazrin had died when his employer’s secretary, Anisa, contacted him on June 14, 2018. On hearing the news, he had rushed to the victim’s house, accompanied by his wife.

“On June 14 (2018), I was given the day off (by Nazrin). I received a call (from Anisa) informing that Nazrin had passed away. When asked how, I was told there was a fire in his house.

“When I got to his (Nazrin) house, I met his stepson and asked how the fire had occurred.

“He said the mobile phone exploded and fragments from the blast had also hit him on the back,” he said when questioned by deputy public prosecutor Mohd Asnawi Abu Hanipah.

Earlier, Asnawi asked Nabil of his whereabouts on June 14, 2018 and how he knew his employer had died.

When asked what he understood by “on the back”, as told by Nazrin’s stepson, Nabil could not explain as he could not remember the details.

“I can’t remember much except that as I was leaving, Nazrin’s stepson said Nazrin may have been attacked or hit by someone as there was blood on his back, while pointing to the back of his head,” he said.

Asnawi: He (Nazrin’s stepson) said someone could have done it. Why did he say that? You didn’t ask?

Nabil : I didn’t.

Asnawi : What was your reaction on hearing this?

Nabil: For as long as I have known the stepson, he loves telling stories like children do, and I never took them seriously. He may have seen it from afar and thought so.

Asnawi: You know he talks a lot but you didn’t ask him further?

Nabil: No, I just listened.

Nazrin’s widow, Samirah Muzaffar, 45, a former senior executive at the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia, and two boys, aged 17 and 14, as well as an Indonesian woman, Eka Wahyu Lestari, who is still at large, have been charged with murdering Nazrin at a house in Mutiara Damansara, between 11.30pm on June 13, 2018 and 4am the following day.

The hearing before judge Ab Karim Ab Rahman continues on Sept 25. - FMT