KUALA LUMPUR: While much of the spotlight focused on the prime suspect, former lawyer N. Pathmanabhan, who orchestrated the brutal murders of Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya, the third accused, R. Kathavarayan, brings a lesser-known yet intriguing element to the case.
The man was one of the key figures in unraveling the horrific case which also saw the demise of Sosilawati's bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, and her driver, Kamaruddin Shamsuddin.
In a 2017 Federal Court judgment, Kathavarayan was noted for turning on his team and providing investigators with information that allowed them to build a case based on circumstantial evidence in the absence of physical bodies.
Even though the farm belongs to Pathmanabhan, the second accused T. Thilaiyallagan and the third accused, R. Matan claimed that they dealt mostly with Kathavarayan, who paid their salaries and supervised their work at the farm.
Kathavarayan, however, claimed that Thilaiyallagan and Matan were under the direct supervision of Pathmanabhan and his role was limited to the construction works at the farm.
He claimed that he only supervised workers involved in the construction works.
The judgment also noted that Pathmanabhan had coached his farmhands telling them that they could cooperate with police and retract their statements later under the pretext of being pressured.
Unlike the first three suspects, Kathavarayan went rogue.
Among the things he countered was the part where Pathmanabhan denied being at the farm on the night of Aug 30, 2010 — the day Sosilawati and her aides were killed.
In his statement, Pathmanabhan claimed that Kathavarayan took him to meet a friend.
But Kathavarayan denied this, saying he never left the farm.
Thilaiyallagan and Matan, however, supported Pathmanabhan's statement claiming that he did not come to the farm, and the three of them, together with two others, U. Suresh and K. Sarawanan, had gathered around midnight to celebrate Merdeka Day.
Both Suresh and Sarawanan were given 20 years imprisonment after admitting to disposing of evidence related to the murder in 2011.
Kathavarayan also revealed that Sosilawati and her aides did actually come to the farm — a fact denied by the other three suspects.
Information shared by Kathavarayan and the other suspects also led the police to various spots inside and outside of the farm where numerous incriminating items were discovered.
They also led the team of investigators to a "black spot" on the farm, where digging revealed several bones, believed to be human.
This indicated that Kathavarayan and the others had clear knowledge of the crime and where the evidence was hidden.
Kathavarayan also claimed that he heard an argument in one of the buildings at the farm and when he went in, he saw Sosilawati's driver being beaten.
He also testified that he saw Kamil being beaten and heard Pathmanabhan giving instructions to Thilaiyallagan and Matan to kill the driver and the lawyer.
Kathavarayan also witnessed the bodies of the three persons who accompanied Sosilawati being burnt with the logs at a location, which he marked on a sketch plan.
In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, a three-member Federal Court bench led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat upheld the death sentence for Pathmanaban and Thilaiyallagan.
Both had filed an application to review their death sentence to be commuted to imprisonment following the Mandatory Death Penalty Abolition Act 2023, which took effect on July 4, last year.
Kathavarayan, however, did not file an appeal to review his death sentence.
On March 16, 2017, the Federal Court affirmed the convictions and death sentences of Pathmanabhan, Thilaiyallagan and Kathavarayan.
The apex court, however, acquitted the third accused, Matan, citing that both the High Court and Court of Appeal had erred in convicting him and affirming his conviction and death sentence.