A security guard, who is an Indonesian national, was sentenced to death by the High Court here today after he was found guilty of murdering Ambank Subang Jaya branch officer, Norazita Abu Talib, in October last year.
High Court Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir also handed down the death sentence to the accused, La Ode Ardi Rasila (pic), 37, after he was also found guilty of robbery and firing a pump gun.
Judge Akhtar handed down a guilty verdict on both the offences after being satisfied that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubts in the prosecution's case.
In a brief judgement, he said the accused was found to have intentionally fired in the victim's direction to rob.
He said based on the testimony of a weapons expert, there were three things that needed to be done before shooting from a pump gun, which are pumping the gun, putting the safety pin in the "fire" position and pulling the trigger.
"In his statement, the accused said he didn't know that just by pumping the weapon, a shot was released.
"Therefore, I cannot accept the accused's statement without any doubt, which shows that he had fired it consciously and intentionally," said Judge Akhtar.
He also said closed circuit television (CCTV) camera recordings clearly showed the accused fired the shot.
He said based on his observation, La Ode had pointed the weapon towards the victim before shooting.
"If he wanted to pump the weapon for attention, the accused could have pointed the weapon in a different direction," he said.
La Ode was charged with murdering Norazita, 37, inside the Ambank building located at No. 5 and 7, Jalan USJ Sentral 2, Subang Jaya, near here, between 6pm and 6.30pm on October 23 last year.
He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death sentence, if convicted.
The accused was also charged with robbing and firing a shot using a pump gun intentionally, which caused the death of Norazita at the same time and place.
For this, he was charged under Section 3 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, which also carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
The prosecution was conducted by Selangor Prosecution Unit chief Mohd Azari Harun together with Deputy Public Prosecutor Asyraf Md Kamal while the accused was represented by counsel S. Selvi, who was appointed by the Indonesian Embassy.
A total of 24 prosecution and one defence witnesses were called to testify in the trial, which began on June 24.
Prior to the sentencing, La Ode, through his lawyer, apologised to the victim's family and Ambank staff who were traumatised by the incident, as well as security company Kawalan Prima, which had its licence revoked following what happened.
Norazita's husband, Irwan Kamaruddin, 38, when met by reporters outside the court, said the sentence was justice for his wife.
When asked about his two children after the death of their mother, Irwan, a chauffeur, said the children have accepted what happened.
"I explained everything to them even though I know they are both sad over her death," he said. – Bernama, August 14, 2014.
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