A three-judge panel led by Court of Appeal president Abu Bakar Jais convicted Sagar Sharma, 30, and Shubham Sharma, 25, of the murders of Lim Ah Kee, 79, and Tan Siew Mee, 52, Bernama reported.
The brothers were sentenced to 32 years in prison with 12 strokes of the rotan each.
The court ordered them to serve the prison sentence from the date of their arrests on Sept 29, 2019.
Also on the bench were Federal Court judges Nordin Hassan and Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh, who unanimously allowed the prosecution’s appeal to set aside the Court of Appeal’s previous decision to acquit the duo.
Delivering the court’s unanimous decision, Abu Bakar said there was overwhelming circumstantial evidence to prove the involvement of the two brothers in the murders.
The brothers, both former security guards, were originally sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court in November 2022 for the murders, which took place at a house on Jalan USJ21/10, Selangor, between 8pm on Aug 23, 2019, and 3.20am the following day.
In November last year, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court’s decision and acquitted the pair, which prompted the prosecution to appeal to the Federal Court.
According to the facts of the case, Tan’s body was discovered inside a suitcase by a telecommunications worker in a drain near the junction of Persiaran Klang and Persiaran Kuala Selangor.
Lim’s body, also concealed in a suitcase, was later found in a separate drain along Jalan Putra Bestari 2/5 in Putra Heights.
The prosecution, represented by deputy public prosecutor Eyu Ghim Siang, argued today that there was overwhelming circumstantial evidence pointing to the irresistible conclusion that the perpetrators of the murder were the two respondents.
He said both respondents were seen handling the suitcases later found to contain the victims’ bodies, and that they had been the only individuals living in the same house as the couple.
Lawyer Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi, representing the brothers, defended the earlier acquittal, arguing that the prosecution’s case lacked sufficient evidence to convict his clients for murder.