SHAH ALAM: Samirah Muzaffar, the first accused in the murder case of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan, showed no emotion when firemen arrived at her Mutiara Damansara home on the afternoon of June 14 last year.
Fireman Mohamad Afzan Majid, from the Damansara Fire and Rescue station, who was part of a team of six responders at the scene, said Samirah waved at them upon their arrival at the two-storey semi-detached house.
“I and two other colleagues approached Samirah, who said she was the houseowner and wife of the victim.
“She told us there was a fire at a room on the upper level of the house.
“At that point, I noticed that she was calm, she did not show any signs of anguish.
“Her expression was one I had never seen before.
“In my 22-year career as a fireman, I have responded to more than 500 cases of fires involving deaths and in all of them the occupants would usually cry, wail or weep as they are distraught.
“I have never seen this kind of casual reaction,” he said.
Samirah and her sons, aged 14 and 17, were charged with Nazrin’s murder in March this year. Also charged was the family’s Indonesian maid Eka Wahyu Lestari, who is still at large.
Afzan said this when he was questioned by deputy public prosecutor Asyhraf Ashy’ari Kamaruzaman during the murder trial today.
Armed with a hose reel and clad in firefighter jackets, helmets and face masks, Afzan said he and his colleagues had rushed upstairs to the room to douse the flames, which he described as “not big”.
He said firemen managed to put out the fire in two minutes.
Afzan said at that juncture, he did not notice anybody in the room as the smoke was still thick.
He added that Samirah had followed the firemen and she tried to enter the room but he blocked her with his hand.
“I had to take her downstairs as she was not only disrupting our work, but it was also hazardous.
“As we were making our way downstairs, she asked to go into the room, but I stopped her.
“Once we were downstairs, she sat at a dining table near the kitchen.
“At this point, I noticed two other women, who are in their 40s, at the same table but I did not know who they were,” Afzan said.
He said he then went out of the house to take off his firefighters jacket and safety equipments.
“As soon as I was done, I entered the house again to ensure that Samirah did not go upstairs.
“When I entered, I saw a teenage boy coming out of a room downstairs and there was a child aged about 3 in a babycot which was placed near the dining table where Samirah sat,” said Afzan.
He added that the child was most probably a girl, based on the shoulder length hair.
Afzan said he was then informed by an acting supervisor that there was a body of a man in the room and Samirah was allowed to go upstairs.
“I saw the body of a man lying down, face up and clad only in a pair of underwear.
“Samirah knelt near the body but kept silent.
“I noticed that she took a look at the victim’s head for about five minutes while I stood about 0.6m from her.
“I then asked Samirah to go downstairs with me.
“Once downstairs, she went to a kitchen sink and made baby milk in a bottle,” said Afzan.
Asyhraf: You said Samirah looked at the victim’s head for about five minutes. How did u know that she was looking?
Afzan: I know because her head movement was to the left and right.
Ashyraf: Did she say anything?
Afzan: No
Ashyraf: Did you see her reaction?
Afzan: No, because I was at the back of her.
Ashyraf: Did you hear Samirah cry?
Afzan: No
Ashyraf: What did you see in the room?
Afzan: I saw a burnt bed and a body near it.
Afzan then told the court that he saw a body that had an underwear on and he did not notice any injuries. He said he did not conduct any checks in the room as his responsibility was to bring Samirah to see the body.
He added that he was about 2.4m away from Samirah when she was making milk and observed that she did not utter anything at that time.
Asked by lead defence counsel Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah if Samirah who shook her head from left to right was an indication that she was too sad and in a state of disbelief, Afzan said he did not know.
The trial before Judge Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman at the Shah Alam court complex, here, resumes tomorrow.