Nora Anne's inquest: I heard muffled noise in chalet - father

 

The father of French-Irish teenager Nora Anne Quoirin (photo, above) told the Coroner's Court in Seremban today that he heard some muffled noise inside the chalet the family had checked into, late into the first night of their stay at The Dusun Resort on Aug 3, 2019.

Sebastien Quoirin, 48, who is a Technology Sales Executive based in London, said, however, he could not describe the noise in detail as he was in a semi-conscious state after falling asleep following 19 hours of travel from London to Malaysia.

“I fell asleep immediately and a few hours (later), after three or four hours of heavy sleep, I was woken up in the early part of the night by some noise outside, which I believe came from a nearby chalet where they seemed to be having a party.

“Later in the night, I heard a muffled noise. I cannot describe what the noise is, because I was in a semi-conscious state,” he said.

Sebastien, who is the 36th witness in the inquest proceedings to determine the cause of Nora Anne's death, said this when testifying on the 16th day of the proceedings before Coroner Maimoonah Aid. The proceeding today was held online due to the conditional movement control order (CMCO).

Asked by his counsel Louise Azmi if he knew where the noise came from, the father of three said he could feel it was close. However, he could not describe exactly from where, and what the nature of the noise was.

Sebastien said he then woke up at around 7am to 8am the next morning (Aug 4) to check on Nora Anne and her two siblings Innes Julia, 13, and Maurice Arthure, 9, but noticed his French-Irish teenager was not in her bed.

In the three-hour proceeding, Sebastien also said he noticed Nora Anne’s feet were uninjured during the identification process, even though the family was told that his daughter was continuously on the move in the jungle while the search and rescue (SAR) operation was being conducted.

“I was informed by Nik (ACP Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal, the liaison officer to the family) about a body discovered within two kilometres of the resort and it was very likely it could be Nora. He then asked me to ask for Maebh (Jaseprine Quoirin) and I called and informed her about the discovery.

“Subsequently, a police officer came to the chalet and requested our assistance in identifying the body, and by evening, they escorted us to the hospital and identify the body. We actually did this identification twice to confirm it was Nora, and to give authorisation for the pathologist to perform an autopsy.

“As we did (the identification), we saw Nora’s feet and we noticed that Nora’s feet didn’t seem to be particularly damaged, in fact, (they looked) the same, just dirty. And as I‘d like to think how it's possible, since the police told us Nora had been on the move for seven days, and they couldn’t find (her).

“How it is possible, compatible with the state of Nora’s feet,” he said and adding that the speculation that Nora Anne was able to open the window and climb out herself was not plausible, considering his daughter's condition.

The proceedings then continued at 2.30pm to call Nora Anne’s siblings Innes and Maurice to testify, as the 37th and 38th witnesses.

However, Coroner Maimoonah ruled that their statements would be recorded in private.

Nora Anne, 15, went missing on Aug 4 last year, a day after she and her family arrived in Malaysia for a two-week holiday at a resort in Pantai, Seremban, about 60km south of Kuala Lumpur.

Nora Anne’s body was found nine days later on Aug 13, near a stream in a hilly area, about 2.5km from the resort, following a massive search operation.

A preliminary post-mortem report revealed there were no criminal elements in Nora Anne’s death and that the teenager had died of gastrointestinal bleeding, due to prolonged stress and hunger.

The court proceedings have been adjourned until Nov 18.

- Bernama