Judge Azizul Azmi Adnan said the prosecution had succeeded in proving its case against Dr Dharma Danny Ferns, 36; former fishmonger P Vengadesvaran, 35; and former marketing manager RS Sathya Deepan, 34, for murder.

“Therefore, the three accused are called to enter their defence. The liability of all the accused was formed because of their common intention according to Section 34 of the Penal Code, which is proven by inference from the evidence according to the circumstances,” he said, setting Jan 8-12, 2024, for trial.

Earlier, the court discharged and acquitted Hafiz Abdul Kadar, 37, a former canteen trader of the same charge, ruling the prosecution failed to prove its case against him.

According to the charge sheet, the accused are jointly charged with killing A Angu, who was in his 30s, in a cowshed near Jalan Dawn 1, Taman Dawn, here, between 9pm and 10.30pm, on March 16, 2019, under Section 302 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34, which provides for the death penalty if convicted.

A total of 29 witnesses were called to testify at the trial starting at the end of 2019.

The prosecution was handled by deputy public prosecutors Hadi Hakimi Harun and Ala’uddin Baharom, while the accused were represented by lawyers Jaya Prakash Rao, Paul Krishna Raja, Amy Chong and Selvam Shanmugam.