Death of TV9 exec: Appeal Court upholds husband's acquittal

The Court of Appeal here today upheld the acquittal of former IT executive on the charge of murdering his wife, the TV9 administrative executive, Nur Syaleza Jaffar.

The three-member panel of judges led by Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat unanimously rejected the appeal filed by the prosecution to set aside High Court decision to acquit and discharge Norazman Bashah Ahmad Azam Bashah of the murder charge.

In her judgment, Tengku Maimun said the High Court's judge did not err in his decision to set Norazman Bashah free and that there was no solid foundation for the panel to interfere in the decision.

She said High Court judge Datuk Abdul Halim Aman must have looked into all evidence given by the witnesses and taken into consideration the crime scene investigation findings.

Clad in a white t-shirt, Norazman Bashah, 34, appeared calm when the decision was read before leaping into the arms of his family members who were present at the court today.

The two other judges in the panel were Appeal Court judge Datuk Seri Zakaria Sam and High Court judge Datuk Kamardin Hashim.

Norazman Bashah, a former IT executive at an oil and gas company was accused of killing Nur Syaleza, 31, at their residence in Saujana Apartment, Damansara Damai, Petaling Jaya, between noon and 7.30pm on July 28, 2012.

He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

Nur Syaleza's body was found hanging from the ceiling fan in their bedroom.

On May 28 last year, the Shah Alam High Court acquitted and discharged Norazman Bashah from the murder charge after hearing the testimonies from 24 prosecution witnesses and one defence witness.

Deputy public prosecutor Nurshafini Mustafha told reporters that she would seek further instruction whether or not to file an appeal at the Federal Court.

Also in the prosecution team was deputy public prosecutor Jasmee Hameeza Jaafar, while Norazman Bashah was represented by lawyers Muhammad Fadhli Mat Sutris and Shah Rizal Abdul Manan.