Jalan Turi murders

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = Jalan Turi murders

| partof =

| image = Ariffin Agas.png

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| caption = Ariffin Agas, who was hanged in 2002 for the Jalan Turi murders

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| location = Jalan Turi, Taman Bukit Bandaraya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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| date = 23 April 1992

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| type = Murder

| fatalities = 3

| injuries = 1

| victims = Deceased
Kabir Talwar (11)
Arjun Talwar (7)
Natalia Fernandes (45)
Alive
Suneeta Talwar (38)

| perpetrator = Ariffin Agas (25)

| weapons = Chopping board
Stones

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| motive = Unknown

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| accused =

| convicted = Ariffin Agas (25)

| verdict = Guilty of all three counts of murder
Sentenced to death in 28 April 1994
Sentence upheld in 1999
Hanged on 27 December 2002

| convictions = Murder (x3)

| charges = 1st charge: Murder of Kabir Talwar
2nd charge: Murder of Arjun Talwar
3rd charge: Murder of Natalia Fernandes

| litigation =

| judge = Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid

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}}

On the night of 23 April 1992, at a bungalow in Jalan Turi, Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, an Indian-American family and their maid were attacked by their security guard. Although the matriarch of the family managed to escape the onslaught, the family's two sons – Arjun Talwar and Kabir Talwar – and their Filipino maid Natalia Fernandes (alias Natty) were brutally murdered by the guard, Ariffin Agas, who was arrested on the same day of the mass murder. Ariffin, who claimed that the victims were killed by a group of three Chinese men and denied all the charges, was found guilty of murdering the three victims and sentenced to death in March 1994. Ariffin's appeals were dismissed and he was hanged on 27 December 2002.{{cite news|title=Guard hanged for murder of trio |work=Malay Mail |date=28 December 2002 }}

Triple murder

On 23 April 1992, an Indian-American family (who came from New York) and their maid fell victim to a brutal attack initiated by their security guard.

When the attack first started just before midnight, 38-year-old Suneeta Talwar, whose 44-year-old husband Rakesh Talwar (a director of Colgate-Palmolive) was on a business trip to London,{{cite news|title=Exec: I was in London when told of the murders|work=The New Straits Times |date=12 January 1994 }} had just returned home from an outing with friends, and her two sons and the Filipino maid were also present at home. After she returned home, Suneeta was being attacked by their security guard. Suneeta, who was injured, barely escaped from her house alive and headed to a neighbour's house to seek help. A police report was lodged and the suspect was subsequently arrested at his post. Suneeta's two sons and her maid were nowhere to be found inside the house, but the house had bloodstains all over the place.{{cite news|title=Two US children and maid found murdered in KL home|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19920425-1.2.29.9 |work=The Straits Times |date=25 April 1992 }}

The three victims, identified as Suneeta's two sons – 11-year-old Kabir Talwar and seven-year-old Arjun Talwar – and her family's Filipino maid 45-year-old Natalia Fernandes (who was mistook for an Indian at first), were later found dead inside a septic tank, with their bodies being stacked up on top of each other one by one. The guard, who only began working for the family three days earlier, had led the police to the tank itself, and he was subsequently arrested for the murders, and Inspector Officer Sheridan Mohammad was put in charge of the investigations.{{cite news|title=Constable: Accused led us to recovery of bodies |work=The New Straits Times |date=5 March 1994 }} Suneeta was also taken to Pantai Medical Center for treatment.{{cite news|title=Murder of maid and two children: Case '99% solved'|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19920426-1.2.24.3 |work=The Straits Times |date=26 April 1992 }} Rakesh was notified of his sons' deaths while in London, and in the next two hours, Rakesh boarded a plane back to Malaysia with his friend and two psychiatrists to assess the situation.{{cite news|title=Exec: I was in London when told of the murders |work=The New Straits Times |date=12 January 1994 }} After the completion of post-mortem examinations, the remains of the Talwar brothers were later taken back to Bombay (present-day Mumbai) to be buried with final funeral rites.{{cite news|title=Last rites for battered victims in Bombay |work=The New Straits Times |date=29 April 1992 }}

On 8 May 1992, the 25-year-old security guard Ariffin Agas, who came from Kuala Lipis, Pahang, was officially charged in court with the murders of the two Talwar brothers and their maid. A preliminary hearing was carried out in July of that same year.{{cite news|title=July hearing for guard on triple-murder charge|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19920508-1.2.33.9 |work=The Straits Times |date=8 May 1992 }} The preliminary hearings concluded during that same month, after a magistrate's court ordered Ariffin to stand trial for all three charges of murder for the deaths of the Talwar brothers and Natalia.{{cite news|title=Guard to stand trial for triple murder |work=The New Straits Times |date=26 July 1992 }}

The trial of Ariffin was originally scheduled to take place on 18 October 1993,{{cite news|title=Murder trial to begin on Oct 18 |work=The New Straits Times |date= 2 September 1993 }} before the trial was postponed and rescheduled on 10 January 1994.{{cite news|title=Date for triple murder hearing |work=The New Straits Times |date=19 October 1993 }}

Trial of Ariffin Agas

On 10 January 1994, 26-year-old Ariffin Agas stood trial at the Kuala Lumpur High Court for the murders of the Talwar brothers and Natalia Fernandes. A single trial judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid and a jury of seven members, consisting of five men and two women, were appointed to preside over the murder trial. Under the past Malaysian laws, before the 1995 abolition of jury trials, should the jury found him guilty of murder, either by a majority or unanimous decision, Ariffin would be sentenced to the mandatory death penalty under Section 302 of the Malaysian Penal Code.

Forensic pathologist Dr Abdul Rahman Yusof of Kuala Lumpur Hospital, who conducted autopsies on the victims, testified that the victims had been bludgeoned to death with blunt instruments, although he could not conclusively find out the exact time of their deaths.{{cite news|title=Doctor can't give exact time of death|work=The New Straits Times |date=4 February 1994 }} In the case of seven-year-old Arjun Talwar, he died from bleeding in the brain due to multiple blows that fractured his skull and damaged his brain tissues.{{cite news|title=Expert tells court: Victim's death caused by bleeding|work=The New Straits Times |date=29 January 1994 }} Arjun's older brother, 11-year-old Kabir Talwar, was hit multiple times on the face and head, which severely fractured the base of his skull and resulted in massive bleeding, and the mouth bled so much that blood clots had clogged Kabir's airways; Kabir's head injuries overall were sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death.{{cite news|title=Victim's head injuries were fatal, court told|work=The New Sunday Times |date=30 January 1994 }} Forensic experts ascertained that from the five teeth of Kabir's found at the scene of the crime, extreme force had been used on the boy, so much so that his jaw was fractured and five of his teeth were dislodged,{{cite news|title=Great force used on boy, court told|work=The New Straits Times |date=1 February 1994 }} and none of his injuries were caused by a fall.{{cite news|title=Doctor: Injuries not caused by fall|work=The New Sunday Times |date=6 February 1994 }} Finally, for the death of Natalia, the blunt force trauma to her face was so lethal that it caused her face to fracture badly and her mouth to bleed profusely, and it flowed into her air passages, which completely prevented air from entering her lungs, which contained about 250cc of blood in them.{{cite news|title=Blow on face caused maid's death|work=The New Straits Times |date=3 February 1994 }} Ariffin's lawyer K. Balaguru tried to raise doubts that the pathologist's reports were superficial and not properly made, an allegation which Dr Abdul Rahman denied.{{cite news|title=Autopsy reports were complete, court told|work=The New Straits Times |date=19 February 1994 }} A chemist Dr Primulapathi Jaya confirmed that Ariffin's security uniform was stained with the blood of the victims.{{cite news|title=I found bloodstains on uniform, says chemist |work=The New Straits Times |date=4 March 1994 }}

The prosecution, led by Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah and A. C. Fernandes, charged that Ariffin, for motives that remained unknown,{{cite news|title=Police could not find motive for killings, witness tells court |work=The New Straits Times |date=11 March 1994 }} had attacked the Talwar family and Natalia with a chopping board and stones and beaten them up, resulting in the deaths of the boys and maid before throwing their bodies inside a septic tank.{{cite news|title=Batu dan papan pemotong dijumpai |work=Berita Harian |language=Malay |date=8 March 1994 }}{{cite news|title=Three bodies found in sewage tank, court told |work=The New Straits Times |date=8 March 1994 }} The broken chopping board recovered at the scene were tested and the stains found on the board contained the DNA of the victims.{{cite news|title=`Stains matched blood type of boys' |work=The New Straits Times |date=3 March 1994 }} Suneeta Talwar, the sole survivor of the case, testified that Ariffin had attacked her first by hitting her on the forehead and she was forced to flee the house alone.{{cite news|title=Guard assaulted me, woman tells court|work=The New Straits Times |date=18 January 1994 }}

Suneeta's evidence was corroborated by David Raymond Frediani, an insurance broker and Suneeta's neighbour whom she sought help from, as he testified that before the murders, Ariffin was the only person he saw roaming outside the house and David testified that he heard screams from the Talwars' house and Suneeta also told him that her security guard had attacked her.{{cite news|title=Broker tells court: I heard someone screaming for help|work=The New Straits Times |date=15 January 1994 }}{{cite news|title=I saw only a guard, says witness|work=The New Sunday Times |date=16 January 1994 }} Wan Phen Martin, a neighbour of the Talwars, testified that she heard Suneeta, whom she befriended before, screaming for help and she also saw bloodstains at the house when she went to check the situation.{{cite news|title=Housewife: I saw pool of blood on floor|work=The New Straits Times |date=19 January 1994 }} Tay Su Lin, another neighbour of the Talwar family, similarly testified that she heard screams for help coming from the house at the time of the murders.{{cite news|title=Murder trial told of woman's cries for help|work=The New Straits Times |date=11 January 1994 }} Rakesh Talwar, who broke down in court while he testified, stated that he started employing security guards after a theft incident at his house in late 1990, and Ariffin was a relief guard assigned to his bungalow shortly before he left for London that same night when Ariffin murdered his sons and maid.{{cite news|title=Dad breaks down at murder hearing |work=The New Straits Times |date=14 January 1994 }}

Ariffin's supervisor M Ramachandran also testified that soon after the murders, he saw Ariffin and picked him up from his car, and saw Ariffin throwing a knife out of the car, and Ariffin allegedly told him in Malay, "Saya terpaksa buat", which meant "I had to do it", indirectly referring to his involvement in the murders.{{cite news|title=Security guard threw away knife from car, court told|work=The New Straits Times |date=1 March 1994 }} Police corporal Majid Jaafar testified that Ariffin had led them to the place where the bodies were found after he questioned him where were the three victims.{{cite news|title=Murder trial told of gruesome find|work=The New Straits Times |date=27 January 1994 }}

However, in midst of Ariffin's trial, a trial-within-a-trial was conducted, as Ariffin's defence counsel tried to raise doubts that when he was first questioned by Corporal Majid over the murders, Ariffin was not in police custody and it was inadmissible with pursuant to Section 27 of the Evidence Act.{{cite news|title=Trial within trial in triple murder case|work=The New Straits Times |date=21 January 1994 }} Eventually, the trial court ruled that the statements were admissible as they were made while Ariffin was legally in police custody, and Corporal Majid was considered as a legitimate police officer when he questioned Ariffin over the murders.{{cite news|title=Court: Murder accused was in police custody|work=The New Straits Times |date=25 January 1994 }}

At the close of the prosecution's case, the trial court ruled that a prima facie case was established against Ariffin, who was ordered to take the stand and put up his defence. Ariffin adamantly denied on the stand that he murdered Natalia and the Talwar brothers, claiming that it was group of three armed Chinese men who attacked and murdered the three victims, and he stated he was threatened by the men at gunpoint and knifepoint, and forced to help the trio to dispose of the victims' bodies. Ariffin claimed that he had no reason to commit murder to begin with, and he was none the wiser as to why the Chinese men killed the boys and maid. The prosecution sought to rebut that Ariffin was untruthful and concocted the existence of the three Chinese men to absolve him of his guilt.{{cite news|title=Guard: I had no reason to kill the three |work=The New Straits Times |date=18 March 1994 }}{{cite news|title=Accused: I didn't kill the children and maid |work=The New Straits Times |date=19 March 1994 }}{{cite news|title=Accused: I don't know motive |work=The New Sunday Times |date=20 March 1994 }}

On 28 March 1994, based on the seven-member jury's verdict issued two days earlier after more than four hours of deliberation, Ariffin was found guilty of all three counts of murder by a majority decision of six to one,{{cite news|title=Guard guilty of killing two children, maid |work=The New Sunday Times |date=27 March 1994 }}{{cite news|title=Ariffin bersalah bunuh tiga rakyat asing |work=Berita Minggu|language=Malay |date=27 March 1994 }} and the jury recommended three mandatory death sentences, one for each count of murder which Ariffin was found guilty for. Justice Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid, in accordance with the jury's verdict, convicted Ariffin as charged after agreeing with their findings, and sentenced him to death by hanging.{{cite news|title=Ex-guard gets death for killing kids, maid|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19940329-1.2.23.3 |work=The Straits Times |date=29 March 1994 }}{{cite news|title=Guard to die for murder of boys, maid |work=The New Straits Times |date=29 March 1994 }}{{cite news|title=Bekas pengawal dihukum gantung |work=Berita Harian |language=Malay |date=29 March 1994 }}

In the judgement, Justice Syed Ahmad reiterated that this case should serve as an eye-opener for all security firms to check the emotional state of their charges and their criminal records, so as to ensure their aptitude and whether they qualified for the job.{{cite news|title=Security guard gets death sentence for triple murder |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/03/28/Security-guard-gets-death-sentence-for-triple-murder/6716764830800/ |work=UPI |date=28 March 1994 }}

Appeal process

After he was sentenced to hang, Ariffin filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal against his conviction and sentence but the appeal was rejected on an unknown date. Afterwards, Ariffin further appealed to the Federal Court of Malaysia, the highest court of the nation.{{cite news|title=Appeal against death penalty |work=The New Straits Times |date=16 November 1999 }}

On 17 November 1999, Ariffin's final appeal was rejected by the Federal Court. With this outcome, Ariffin's triple murder conviction and three death sentences were finalized.{{cite news|title=Guard's appeal against death sentence for murder dismissed |work=The New Straits Times |date=17 November 1999 }}{{cite news|title=Jaga dihukum gantung |work=Harian Metro|language=Malay |date=17 November 1999 }}

Execution

On 27 December 2002, ten years and six months after murdering the Talwar siblings and their maid, 35-year-old Ariffin Agas was hanged in Kajang Prison. On that same day, two other death row convicts were also put to death; one of them was Ghazali Mat Ghani, who was convicted and put to death for murdering a police constable Abdul Rahim Manan with a M16 rifle in 1994, while another was Mohd Alladin Talib, who was found guilty and executed for drug trafficking in 1993.{{cite news|title=Ex-guard who killed two children and maid hanged |work=The New Straits Times |date=28 December 2002 }}{{cite news|title=Tiga jalani hukuman mati |work=Harian Metro |language=Malay |date=28 December 2002 }}{{cite news|title=Dua jalani hukuman gantung |work=Berita Harian

|language=Malay |date=28 December 2002 }}

Aftermath

The Jalan Turi murders was remembered as one of Malaysia's most brutal murders to take place. His motive for the murders remains unknown, but there were lingering suspicions that he harboured under a psychiatric disorder, although this was never confirmed.{{cite news|title=5 gruesome murders in Malaysia that still haunt the people |url=https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2019/11/02/5-gruesome-murders-in-malaysia-that-still-haunt-the-people/ |work=Free Malaysia Today|date=2 November 2019 }}{{cite news|title=10 High-Profile Crimes In Malaysia That Gripped Our Nation |url=https://thesmartlocal.my/malaysia-crimes/|work=The Smart Local|date=12 July 2024 }}{{cite news|title=Murder most foul |work=Weekend Mail |date=22 December 2007 }}

Ever since the murders in 1992, the bungalow house where the case occurred became vacant, and nobody lived there since. It was rumoured that the house was haunted by the ghosts of the victims. Many claimed to have seen ghosts or screams of children at the house itself, making it one of the most infamous haunted places in Malaysia.{{cite news|title=JB villa one of spookiest |work=The New Paper |date=6 November 2013 }} {{cite web|title=11 most haunted places in Malaysia to visit this Halloween – if you dare |url=https://www.lifestyleasia.com/sg/travel/asia/haunted-places-in-malaysia-all-you-need-to-know/ |work=Free Malaysia Today |date=20 October 2023 }}

In 2016, when a 20-year-old security guard was arrested for the rape-murder of 17-year-old schoolgirl Intan Suraya Mawardi in Penang, the case of Ariffin Agas came into attention again as the suspected killer was found to have been previously arrested for drug possession and housebreaking but never charged, and yet his employer had never submitted his details to the police for background checks. This was similarly observed in Ariffin's case as he was assigned due to the family wanting an English-speaking guard but his records did not show anything suspicious, and the judge having reiterated that the case should serve as an eye-opener for all security firms to check the emotional state of their charges and their criminal records.{{cite news|title=Apathy rears its ugly head once again |url=https://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/01/120895/apathy-rears-its-ugly-head-once-again |work=The New Straits Times |date=7 January 2016 }} Intan's murderer Tarmizi Yaakob was subsequently found guilty of both rape and murder, and sentenced to death in 2019, before his death sentence was commuted to 33 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane in 2023, after Malaysia repealed the mandatory death penalty and allowed those convicted of murder to face either a death sentence or a jail term of 30 to 40 years.{{cite news|title=Ex-guard escapes gallows, gets 33 years for murdering teen lover|url=https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2023/12/14/ex-guard-escapes-gallows-gets-33-years-for-murdering-teen-lover/ |work=Free Malaysia Today|date=14 December 2023 }}