Investigating officer probing Anna Jenkins’ death grilled by lawyer

 

Azrul Azizan Mat Rawi, the investigating officer in the death of Adelaide grandmother Anna Jenkins, said the classification of the case was determined by a more senior person.

GEORGE TOWN: Azrul Azizan Mat Rawi, the investigating officer in the death of Anna Jenkins, an Adelaide grandmother of Malaysian origin who disappeared in Penang in 2017, was grilled by her family’s lawyer today.

Lawyer S Raveentharan asked Azrul whether he had done his job properly and whether he had questioned who had reburied Jenkins’ remains.

Azrul said police did their best to search the area littered with her bones. He said the project manager who ordered a reburial of Jenkins’ bones “had explained himself”.

“I wasn’t told about the reburial attempt. I was only brought to the place where we found the items. The management (of the bungalow developer) helped and cooperated with us. The landscape worker who stumbled upon the bones was told to place them where he first found them for crime scene pictures.”

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In October last year, Terrence William Theseira, 56, a project manager with Berjaya Land Development, said he had ordered the reburial of the bones since “they belonged there”.

The skeletal remains were confirmed to be that of Jenkins’ through a DNA test two years ago. Police later recovered 18 more bone fragments in a sweep of a construction site near the Turf Club.

Raveentharan also questioned Azrul on how the death was classified as sudden death, or SDR, when the cause of death had not been determined.

“How was this case predetermined as SDR? It is not within your ambit to do so. Our country’s image is at stake,” he told Azul.

Azrul, however, said the classification was determined by someone above his pay grade, typically the criminal investigation department chief or the district police chief.

After police wrapped up their probe, the prosecutors would classify the case as SDR, he said.

“Our investigation is complete and very much settled.”

Adilla Zaharuddin, another lawyer representing the Jenkins’ family, then questioned Azrul on whether he had investigated the cause of death. Azrul said he did not and that he had merely gathered the bones and personal effects for investigation.

Earlier in the proceedings, all evidence gathered from the site was unsealed and marked in court, with Jenkins’ children Jen and Greg, along with Australian High Commission officials, given a chance to observe the skeletal remains.

Greg, however, argued that a piece of vertebrae bone he picked up was now in powder form, adding that it did not seem consistent with a human bone and was reminiscent of “ground red gravel”.

Khairul Anuar Abdul Halim, who is assisting the coroner, said Greg’s concern would be referred to the chemist who is expected to testify tomorrow.

Farah Aimy Zainul Anwar and Shahrezal Shukri also assisted coroner Norsalha Hamzah. Tomorrow, the court will visit the site where Jenkins’ remains were found. - FMT