Kim Jong Nam Murder Trial Views Deadly Evidence in Lab

Nerve agent found on women's clothes could still be active
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 9, 2017 12:19 AM CDT
Kim Jong Nam Murder Trial Moves to High-Security Lab
Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah, left, escorted by police, arrives at a laboratory in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, Oct. 9, 2017.   (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

The Malaysian court holding the trial of two women accused of killing the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader moved temporarily Monday to a high-security laboratory to view evidence contaminated with VX nerve agent. Judges often visit crime scenes in Malaysia, and in this case the move was made after a government chemist testified last week that the VX he found on the women's clothing may still be active, the AP reports. His testimony was the first evidence linking VX to Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam, who are accused of smearing the banned nerve agent on Kim Jong Nam's face in a Kuala Lumpur airport terminal on Feb. 13.

After the lab visit, defense lawyers are expected to cross-examine the chemist, Raja Subramaniam, who has testified VX was present on the women's clothing as well as on Kim Jong Nam's face, eyes, clothing, and in his blood and urine samples. This week, prosecutors say they will present airport security videos that show the two women carrying out the attack and indicate they knew they were handling poison. Defense lawyers have said the women were duped by suspected North Korean agents into believing they were playing a harmless prank for a hidden TV-camera show. The suspects pleaded not guilty at the start of their trial last week to charges of murder that carry a mandatory death sentence if they are convicted. (More Kim Jong Nam stories.)

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