Trial for the murder of Rupert Berney Appasamy |12 May 2022

More exhibits from senior crime scene officer come in

Police inspector Ralph Agathine of the Scientific Support and Crime Record Bureau was the only witness giving evidence yesterday in the ongoing trial for the murder of Rupert Berney Appasamy, presenting a total of 122 exhibits before the court.

Two accused, namely Sindu Parekh and Ken Jean-Charles are being tried after the completely decomposed body was found shallowly buried at Bougainville, Takamaka on September 23, 2021.

Parekh is being represented by attorney Tony Juliette, while lawyer Olivier Chang-Leng is representing Jean-Charles.

The murder trial is being presided over by Justice Mohan Niranjit Burhan, while the prosecution lawyers are Corrine Rose and Georges Thachet.

In his introduction, Inspector Agathine noted that other than being the exhibit officer, he was also the shift supervisor, delegating all the work in relation to the case.

He said he was introduced to the case following instruction to seize vehicle S34437 which is a white Isuzu-model pick-up truck belonging to Jean-Charles.

Upon seizing the vehicle, Inspector Agathine drove it to the Scientific Support and Crime Record Bureau (SSCRB) headquarters at Bois de Rose where it was searched and processed for fingerprints.

He said during the search, three mobile phones, a piece of rope and one tie-down strap were found.                                                                                            

The five above-mentioned items featured among the 122 on the exhibit chart presented to the court yesterday, but were objected by defence counsel Chang-Leng who said the search was carried out without a warrant, while the items were seized without his client’s consent.

Inspector Agathine added that he later carried out swab tests for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) on Jean-Charles and former suspect in the case Terry Marie, which was later sent to Mauritius for processing.

Similarly to what his colleague Corporal Kelly Auguste said in her presentation on Tuesday, Inspector Agathine explained that he carried out swab tests at the scene of the crime, precisely on some red substances – suspected to be blood – on the walls, floor and door frames of the abandoned house.

He also confirmed that he performed a Bluestar test which is a presumptive test for the presence of hemoglobin, a component of the red blood cells in blood.

The Bluestar test is based on the peroxidase activity of the iron in heme or heme derivatives, which catalyzes the oxidation of the Bluestar reagent, while positive reaction is observed when the colourless Buestar solution is oxidized and produces a chemiluminescent blue colour.

It is to note that in some of the photographs presented by Corporal Auguste on Tuesday, there was the presence of a chemiluminescent blue colour.

In regards to the decomposed body of Appasamy, Inspector Agathine confirmed that he was present during the exhumation process, as well as the post-mortem where he took some samples which were also sent to Mauritius for examination.

Inspector Agathine also told the court that he received a backpack from officer Davis Simeon, containing several clothing items, while the presence of red substance similar to blood was also noticed.

He said swab tests were also carried out on the back pack and its contents belonging to Marie.

The case continues today.

Roland Duval