Lawyer T Vijayandran, who is appearing for R Kathavarayan, said his client felt drowsy and blacked out.
“He has been rushed to the Putrajaya hospital,” the lawyer told reporters just before the five-man Federal Court bench led by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria was to continue hearing submission from the prosecution after lunch break.
Vijayandran said the court had adjourned the hearing to Thursday pending a report from the hospital.
The High Court in 2013 had found lawyer N Pathmanabhan, 46, and farmhands R Matan, 25, T Thilaiyalagan, 24, and Kathavarayan, 36, guilty of the crime.
Last year the Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction and sentence.
They are said to have murdered Sosilawati, 47, bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, and Sosilawati’s driver Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44.
They were found guilty of committing the offence at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat, in Banting on Aug 30, 2010.
Sosilawati and her three aides were reported missing after they allegedly went to Banting over a land deal.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Saiful Edris Zainuddin submitted that it was true the body of the victims were never found but it did not mean that it was the end of the matter.
“Since there was no eyewitness, we are relying on circumstantial evidence to prove our case. It is our submission that we have made a prima facie case,” he said.
Saiful said Sosilawati’s daughter Erni Dekriwati Yuliana Buhari had testified that her mother was going to Banting to meet Pathmanabhan to bring forward payments on two cheques totalling RM4 million.
He said Sosilawati needed the money to pay bonuses to her staff and to give her family for the upcoming Hari Raya festival.
Sosilawati left her office in Kuala Lumpur in a car with her driver and the two other deceased travelled in another vehicle.
Saiful said Pathmanabhan, however, had insufficent funds in his bank account to repay Sosilawati.
“This created a tremendous amount of pressure on Pathmanabhan to come up with such a big amount of money and the solution he chose was to get rid of Sosilawati and her friends,” he said.
The DPP said when Pathmanabhan was asked to enter his defence, he failed to explain as to how he could have honoured the payments because his bank accounts were not frozen.
He said the testimony of senior chemist Lim Kong Boon was admissible as he was experienced and academically qualified in the area of DNA examination and analysis.
Saiful said Lim had testified that although laboratory assistants assisted him in the analysis, they were under his supervision.
“There is a consistent trend of cases since 1987 that the court is entitled to accept the evidence of the chemist at face value unless it is inherently incredible,” Saiful added.