Altantuya's Body Not Chopped Up, Pathologist Tells Court

SHAH ALAM, March 17 (Bernama) -- There was no way the body of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu had been chopped up as her bone fragments were found strewn at the scene, a pathologist told the High Court here today.

Dr Mohd Shah Mahmood who is Kuala Lumpur Hospital's Forensic Department head, said he was of the view that a high-powered explosion had blown up the woman's body -- her skin, muscles and bones -- into small tissue pieces and fragments.

Some of the bone fragments had hit nearby trees and peeled off the bark, he said.

He said his view was strengthened by the absence of cut marks on the bone fragments but he could not dismiss the possibility of the bone fragments being removed by animals like rats, monitor lizards and crows even though no bite marks were found on them.

"Besides the probable blast injuries, there could be other possibilities because the bone frame fragments were incomplete. Therefore, we had no opportunity to examine whether there were other possible injuries on the missing parts of the frame.

"The fragments did show injuries on nearly all bone fragments. It is consistent with the cause of death, namely probable blast-related injuries," he said.

Dr Shah who is the 70th prosecution witness in the trial for the Altantuya's murder, also gave the same view as explosive expert DSP Muhammad Koey Abdullah's who had testified earlier that it could not be ascertained where the explosive had been placed but the woman had been lying on her back as most of her spine was found at the blast site.

"At this position, the spine would be protected by the chest skin, abdomen and ribs. They acted as a barrier," he said during examination-in-chief by Deputy Public Prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah.

The trial that entered its 95th day today involves Special Action Unit operatives C/Insp Azilah Hadri, 32, and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar, 37, who are charged with murdering the 28-year-old woman between 10pm on Oct 19, 2006 and 1am the next day in a secondary jungle in Bukit Raja.

Political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 48, is alleged to have abetted them in the murder.

Asked on signs of a struggle at the blast spot, Dr Shah said: "There was no sign. But if there were signs of a struggle, the blast could have disturbed them. If there were, some traces could have been found like the pattern of bloodstains being removed. In this case, I did not see any."

He also said that a non-human bone, probably of a bird, was found among 95 bone fragments of Altantuya and it had been set aside and thrown out.

He also explained that a hisphatology examination could not ascertain how long Altantuya had died or the bones were "non-viable" (dead person's bones).

He said the bone fragments had been arranged to make up a human frame but it was incomplete and based on DNA tests, there were many tissues and bone fragments showing they belonged to only one individual.

He said the post-mortem showed the bone fragments belonged to a woman aged between 21 and 53 and her height was between five feet and one inch and five feet and seven inches.

"Her anchestry could not be ascertained," he said.

The trial before Justice Hakim Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin continues tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA