PETALING JAYA: In 2011, a French woman, Stephanie Foray, travelled to explore Asia, visiting India and Sri Lanka, with Malaysia next on her itinerary.
The 30-year-old former French civil servant arrived in Melaka in May. After a couple of days, she went to Pulau Tioman, off the east coast.
There she met her death. Her disappearance only came to light a couple of months later, in July, when a police report was made that she was missing.
The case was classified as a kidnapping. Then a week later, her body was found in a cave on the island and a local trader was charged with murder.
The case drew international media attention and Foray’s family members flew in after her disappearance and again for the trial, held in 2014.
The man accused of killing her was Asni Omar, who had rented his house to Foray. He was charged with killing her between May 8 and May 12, 2011, at a house in Kampung Tekek on the island.
High Court judge Mariana Yahya (now a judge in the Court of Appeal) found him guilty and sentenced him to death, after 44 witnesses testified for the prosecution.
Trader says he found a body
Investigating officer Wan Fauzi Wan Ishak told the court a tip-off had led him to Asni who had essentially “confessed” to him, though not explicitly, and led the authorities to Foray’s remains and to the discovery of the murder weapon.
Asni allegedly told him, “I want to tell you about a French woman found in Pulau Tioman.” He had also said that she had died and he had left her body in a cave behind his home in Kampung Tekek.
He had also led police to the recovery of some of her belongings buried in a hole near the house. Inside the house, police found the Frenchwoman’s bag and some items in a cupboard.
He showed the cops her French SIM card kept in his kitchen and led them to a landfill where a liquor bottle was found. It was believed to have been used to kill Foray.
What happened to her?
Dr Sri Marni Zainal Abidin, a pathologist from Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, told the court that the post-mortem on Foray’s body showed that her waist and feet had been bound with a green hose, while a piece of cloth was tied around her neck.
Sri Marni found cracks on the skull on the right eyebrow, right cheekbones and right jaw, and concluded that the cause of death was probably blunt force trauma to the head.
There were no drugs or alcohol in her body but she could not rule out rape, as semen was found in her vagina.
Asni’s story
Asni denied that he had killed Foray. He said that Foray had insisted on renting the house where he lived. They had gone for dinner that night but he left her alone in the restaurant when his girlfriend, known as Monaliza, phoned him.
He claimed that the following day he discovered Foray’s remains in the cave but ran away because he was “afraid”.
The judge’s verdict
The court held that Asni’s actions, such as leading police to discover the evidence, showed that he was involved in the woman’s death.
Mariana, who held that Asni’s defence was a bare denial, said: “His testimony is seen to be admitting to the (murder) charge.”
The Court of Appeal and the Federal Court, in 2015 and 2016, respectively, upheld Asni’s conviction and confirmed the death sentence. - FMT
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