Terrence William Theseira, 56, a project manager with Berjaya Land Development, said he had ordered the reburial 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.
“We were clearing the area for a feature pond when we stumbled upon the bones. We asked them (landscaping workers) to rebury them since they belonged there.
“A few days later, there were rumours that they belonged to a missing person,” he told sessions judge Norsalha Hamzah who sat as a coroner.
Theseira said he then noticed that the soil at the spot where the bones were buried had been disturbed and sought an explanation from Kew Kee Sing, the landscaper who first discovered the remains.
He later discovered that Kew had been in touch with Jenkins’ family and was most probably eager to claim the reward that was offered.
“I told Kew the (remains) must be handed over to the police. I then took him to the police station and accompanied him while he made a police report on the discovery.”
Lawyer S Raveentharan, who is conducting a watching brief, then showed Theseira three photos that were taken by the police at the location where the bones were found, asking if the sites were close to each other. He said they were about 800m to 1,000m apart.
Theseira said one of the three sites were supposed to be turned into a landscaped park overlooking a waterfall.
Missing person
Raveentharan later questioned George Town police chief Soffian Santong on procedures concerning missing persons.
The lawyer asked how it was that Jenkins’ disappearance was classified as a missing person when a statement was not recorded from her husband, Francis.
Generally, Raveentharan said, a case would only be classified after a statement had been taken from the complainant. Soffian said he was unable to answer the question.
Raveentharan also asked how a death certificate for Jenkins – which was admitted as an exhibit – could be issued, when her cause of death had yet to be determined.
Jenkins’ cause of death was listed as “undetermined skeletal remains” in her death certificate.
Soffian replied: “Only the experts can determine the cause of death.”
Soffian said he was not aware that Jenkins’ remains had been reburied, adding that a stop-work order was issued in June 2020 until the forensics team had completed their investigation.
He also said Raveentharan should question his predecessor, Anuar Omar, or the investigating officer in the case. Soffian replaced Anuar as district police chief on Nov 16, 2019.
Deputy public prosecutors Yazid Mustaqim Roslan and Shahrezal Shukri assisted the coroner, while Asmeeta Rajendran and Nur Adilla Zaharuddin also appeared for the Jenkins family.
The inquest continues tomorrow.