VX nerve agent a highly toxic poison which causes rapid complication: Pathologist
KHAIRAH N. KARIM and HARIZ MOHD
New Straits Times4 October 2017
SHAH ALAM: The VX nerve agent, a poison believed to have been used to kill North Korean Kim Chol could have entered the deceased's body through his eyes, the High Court heard.
Forensic pathologist Dr Mohd Shah Mahmood who performed the post-mortem on the victim said based on the facts in the chemist report, the concentration of VX agent was on the victim's eye mucosa, face, and in the victim's urine and blood.
Dr Mohd Shah was testifying as the sixth prosecution witness on the third day of trial of Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, who were charged with killing Kim Chol who was later established as Kim Jong-nam the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The witness who was the head of the forensic pathology department at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital said the absorbtion rate of the poison is faster through the eyes compared to the face.
To a question by deputy public prosecutor Wan Shahruddin Wan Ladin, Dr Shah said the chances of a person to live after being exposed to VX is slim.
"This is because VX is a highly toxic poison which causes rapid complication.
"The possibility of Kim Chol being exposed to VX is high based on the information by the investigation officer, the death of the victim happened in just a short time," he said.
The witness further testified that the result of the chemical test which confirmed that VX was the cause of the victim's death shows that the victim died due to respiratory failure.
"The symptoms shown by the victim as informed by forensic consultant Dr Norliza Abdullah (who conducted the post-mortem together with the witness) is connected to the symptoms of a person exposed to VX which is among others, eye irritation, excessive sweating, a lot of liquid inside the mouth and respiratory tract," he said.
During the examination-in-chief session by Wan Shaharuddin, the witness said Kim Chol's cause of death was not because of myocardial infarction commonly known as heart attack based on the post-mortem conducted on the victim.
He added that hypertension was also not the cause of Kim Chol's death as there was no signs of high blood pressure.
"I examined the deceased through observation as his organs looked normal so there is no need to examine the tissue under the microscope... this practice is universally accepted and it is a normal practice," he said.
Dr Shah said the VX nerve agent which was used to kill Kim Chol is considered the most dangerous chemical weapon.
Meanwhile, the prosecution team had tendered exhibits comprising the blood, mucus, urine and plasma speciments of Kim Chol among others to be labelled as evidence.
On Tuesday, Shah Mahmood as the prosecution's sixth witness testified that the victim's cause of death had been identified as acute VX agent poisoning.
On March 1, Siti Aisyah and Doan were charged at the Sepang magistrate's court with murdering Kim Chol, 45. with four others still at large.
The duo had allegedly committed the offence at the klia2 departure hall around 9am on Feb 13.
Their charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code carries a mandatory death penalty. ©
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