Faizal Abdullah, a senior investigating officer (IO) from the Dang Wangi district police headquarters, said only the forensics team was needed on Dec 7, 2017, at the sixth floor unit of CapSquare Residences off Jalan Dang Wangi in the city centre.
“When we saw the body of Ivana, she was already dead. I was of the opinion there was no need to call a pathologist because the deceased would be taken to the Pathology Department at Hospital Kuala Lumpur for further examination,” he said.
Asked by deputy public prosecutor N Joy Jothi if pathologists were needed to determine the time of death while at the scene, Faizal, who has 14 years of experience as a criminal investigating officer, said it was not necessarily so.
“When post-mortems are carried out later, the pathologists can give an estimation of the time of death there and then,” Faizal, 38, told coroner Mahyon Talib.
However, Jothi reminded Faizal that corpses were put in a freezer prior to autopsies, affecting body temperature which was vital to making an accurate estimate of the time of death. They should also take the temperature as soon as the body was found, she added.
“The best thing to do is for pathologists to be at the crime scene. Please take note of this,” she said, to which Faizal said he would.
Earlier, Faizal, who was made IO for the case just days after Dang Wangi police sergeant Haliza Hamdan had been given the task, said there were already policemen on site when he arrived just after 3.40pm on the day Smit was found dead.
He also said things had been moved.
“Based on investigations carried out that day and on statements given by witnesses, the broken roof originally covering the deceased was moved from its initial location,” he said.
Not only were the roof parts moved for the police to see the body, a thin white cloth was placed over Smit as she was in the nude. She had crashed through the roof and landed on the balcony floor.
He said he did not see the person or persons removing these items as four uniformed police officers and five plainclothes officers were present at the scene when he arrived. They were part of a motorcycle patrol unit from Dang Wangi, Faizal said.
Asked if the area had been cordoned off, Faizal replied in the affirmative. But when asked how this was done, he said that a police officer was stationed outside the front door and did not specify if police tape had been used to seal off the exits.
“Once I arrived, I instructed the police not to interfere with anything on the balcony or disturb the scene,” Faizal said. “I did not touch the body until the police forensics came. I instructed the police photographer to take pictures.”
On whether he was suspicious about the manner in which Smit was found, Faizal said he had not come across any case where a victim was found dead in the nude. That was why he had his men question occupants on the sixth and 20th floors, he said.
He reiterated findings from the events surrounding Smit’s death, including Smit having threesomes with her American-Kazakh host couple, drugs in her urine, how she was with the couple in a hotel room, and that she died due to injuries consistent with falling.
He also said it was he who ordered Alex Johnson and Luna Almaz, the occupants of the 20th floor unit where Smit was staying that day, to go to the Dang Wangi police station for questioning soon after her body was taken from the 6th floor unit.
However, he asked Haliza to question the duo because he had to be at a function at the Cheras district police headquarters. The autopsy was done the following day and it was Haliza who briefed him that the cause of death was not due to internal injuries or choking.
Smit, 18, is believed to have fallen from a 20th floor CapSquare condo belonging to Alex and Luna, whom she had befriended.
The police originally classified the case as sudden death, but it was re-opened this year due to pressure from Smit’s family, who claimed there were elements of foul play and a cover-up.
An inquest, now in its 19th day, is being held to determine the facts of the case and whether there is enough evidence to reopen a police investigation. Faizal is the 22nd witness to testify and the last witness for the next two days.
Smit moved to Malaysia when she was three years old and lived for 13 years in Penang with her paternal grandparents. Her body was repatriated to the Netherlands where she was laid to rest in her birth town amid wide media coverage.
The inquest continues this afternoon.