Neil Dalton (left) and Aidan Brunger.
KUCHING: A 23-year-old fishmonger has been sentenced to death for the murder of two British medical students who were here on work placement.
High Court judge Justice Chew Soo Ha pronounced the sentence on Tuesday after finding Zulkipli Abdullah guilty of killing Aidan Brunger and Neil Dalton, both 22, at Abell Road between 4.10am and 4.15am on Aug 6 last year.
Zulkipli, from Kampung Gersik, had been charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
Justice Chew said Zulkipli's defence, which he made in an unsworn statement at the end of the trial last month, was merely an afterthought and riddled with improbabilities.
"The defence failed to raise a reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case," he said, adding that the court accepted the evidence of witnesses who testified that Zulkipli had attacked the victims.
Newcastle University students Brunger and Dalton were found dead with stab wounds two days before their six-week work placement at Sarawak General Hospital was due to end.
Deputy public prosecutors Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad and Poh Yih Tinn prosecuted the case while Zulkipli was represented by counsel Anthony Tai.
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