Tawau murder case: Court told e-hailing driver checked into hotel on the same day he was murdered

TAWAU, Jan 22 — The High Court here was informed today that e-hailing driver Nurman Bakaratu had checked into a hotel on January 13, 2023 and subsequently left the hotel in the afternoon on the same day.

On the same date, Nurman, 61, was murdered in an oil palm plantation near Jalan Anjur Juara, Jalan Apas Batu 5 here, between 7.30pm and 11.30pm.

The manager of the hotel Adam Lim Ka Kiet, 30, also confirmed that Nurman had checked into the hotel based on a printout of the registration form and the hotel invoice.

Lim confirmed this during the examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Rohaiza Abd Rahman on the fifth day of the trial of six policemen and a civilian, charged with killing e-hailing driver early last year, along with former Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) head of intelligence staff Mat Zaki Md Zain who is accused of abetting.

Rohaiza: Can you tell the court, whose name is on the printout of the registration form and the hotel invoice?

Lim: Nurman Bakaratu.

Lim identified the printout of the registration form and invoice.

Meanwhile, the court viewed nine CCTV recordings showing a man entering a hotel with a woman on the mentioned date (January 13).

In response to Rohaiza’s question, Lim, who is also the 14th prosecution witness, said he did not recognise the individuals in the CCTV footage.

Rohaiza: You have provided the check-in record for a customer named Nurman Bakaratu. Have you ever met him and do you recognise him (Nurman)?

Lim: I have never seen him.

Meanwhile, in response to a question from lawyer Datuk Ansari Abdullah, Lim said the man in the CCTV footage was seen leaving the hotel between 6pm and 7pm.

Ansari: In the video, the man was observed carrying a white plastic bag when checking into the hotel at 3.48pm on January 13, 2023, to which the witness agreed.

However, the witness said he was unsure whether the man was carrying a plastic bag when leaving the hotel on the same date (January 13) and no items were found in the room occupied by the man after he left.

In response to a question from lawyer Datuk Ram Singh about whether the witness inquired about the relationship between the man and the woman who entered and stayed in room 403, the witness replied, “no.”

When cross-examined by Rohaiza, the witness said he knew that the man left between 6pm and 7pm after checking the hotel system.

Policemen Rosdi Rastam, 45, Denis Anit, 45, Fabian Rungam, 44, Khairul Azman Bakar, 47, Mohd Azlan Sakaran, 40, and John Kennedy Sanggah, 44, and a civilian Vivien Fabian, 34, are charged with the murder of Nurman at a palm oil plantation near Jalan Anjur Juara, Jalan Apas Baru 5 here.

They were accused of committing the act between 7.30pm and 11.30pm on January 13 last year and were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read with Section 34 of the same code, which provides for the death penalty if convicted.

Mat Zaki, 59, is facing two charges of conspiring to kill Nurman according to Section 109 of the Penal Code read with Section 302 of the same code.

The trial before Judge Datuk Duncan Sikodol continues tomorrow. — Bernama