Two suspects changed appearance after Kim Chol poisoned with VX

Two of four male suspects still at large in the murder case of North Korean Kim Chol or Kim Jong-nam, had changed their appearance when seen at the departure hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) minutes after the victim was attacked with the lethal VX nerve agent by two women.

Sepang/KLIA district police headquarters senior investigating officer, ASP Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz said their movements were recorded by the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at klia2 on Feb 13, 2017.

"One of the suspects, "Mr Y", was wearing a black cap and a grey shirt and carrying a backpack before the attack incident, but was in a black shirt and without a cap and backpack after the incident.

"He had entered the restroom at Level 2 at 9.13am and 10 minutes later, he came out with a change of appearance but was still wearing black shoes," he said during the examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad.

The ninth prosecution witness said he had to repeatedly watch the CCTV recordings to facilitate identification based on the body shape, movements and clothing of the suspects.

He was giving evidence at the 11th day hearing of the case of Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, who were charged with four others still at large with the murder of Kim Chol, 45, at the departure hall of klia2 at 9am on Feb 13.

On the other suspect, Mr Chang, Wan Azirul Nizam said from the CCTV recording, he was in grey shirt, had a black cap on and was holding a white plastic bag when arriving at klia2 at 7.58am.

"However at 9am, Mr Chang entered the restroom at Level 3, came out at 9.12am where he had changed into a red T-shirt, not wearing a cap and the plastic bag he carried was orange this time.

"But he was still wearing the black shoes with a white stripe which he had on before the attack incident. Before entering the restroom, he had a beard and moustache but was clean-shaven when he came out," he said.

On the movements of another suspect, Hanamori, the witness said the investigation found the man to be the mastermind of the deadly attack plan against Kim Chol.

"He was seen arriving earlier than the rest at the scene, where he was also seen walking together with another suspect by the name of James before being approached by Mr Y.

"After the attack incident, Hanamori was still at the green zone area in a state akin to ensuring that the whole plan went on smoothly until he left klia2 together with Mr Y and Mr Chang in a Naza Ria car," he said.

On James, the witness said CTV recordings showed the man heading towards Sama-Sama Hotel after the attack incident, then entering a hotel room and later leaving the hotel and heading for the departure hall of KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport).

He said the four suspects were detected to be at the departure hall of KLIA after the attack incident.

The hearing before judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin continues on Nov 6.

-- BERNAMA