.jpg "Chemist Suhana Ismail is pictured at the Seremban Coroner's Court September 2, 2020. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Yusof Mat Isa")
SEREMBAN, Sept 2 ― A post-mortem toxicology analysis of holidaying Irish-French teen Nora Anne Quoirin, who was found dead after disappearing from a jungle resort near here last year, did not turn up any trace of common drugs or poisons, a government chemist testified at the Coroner’s Court today.
The seventh witness at the inquest proceedings to determine the cause of Quoirin’s death, Department of Chemistry Malaysia Toxicology Division chemist Suhana Ismail said she found no traces of drugs after performing her analysis on three specimens belonging to Quoirin.
According to Suhana, the three exhibits ― sealed in a plastic specimen bag ― were obtained from Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar’s National Forensic Medicine Institute on August 19, 2019.
“I performed a drug analysis on three specimens ― liver, peritoneal fluid and psoas muscle ― labelled ‘Nora Anne Quoirin’ and the results revealed that they do not contain any traces of drugs.
“Two other pesticide analysis ― organophosphate and organochlorine ― were also conducted on the three specimens and they too show a negative result,” she told Coroner Maimoonah Aid.
Subsequent to her findings, Suhana said she prepared a two-page chemist report dated September 27, 2019 and the exhibits were re-sealed to be kept in cold storage.
Asked to clarify what she meant by common drugs, Suhana said they included over-the-counter prescriptions, recreational drugs and synthetic drugs.
Peritoneal fluid is a liquid made in the abdominal cavity that lubricates the stomach's surface while the psoas muscle is obtained from a person's hip.
As for the two pesticides, Suhana explained they were both pesticides commonly used in the agriculture industry and that their analysis were part of the division’s routine test when provided with said specimens.
To a question by Maimoonah on how long drugs could remain in the body for it to be analysed, Suhana said it generally depended on the drug's half-life while inside the body system and metabolism level of said individual.
To another question by Quoirin's lawyer S. Sakthyvell, Suhana also said the department's toxicology analysis would also be able to detect traces of traditional medicine and that drugs could remain in a person's system longer if their metabolism is lower.
She also said there would be occasions where traces could not be detected due to the insignificant amount present in the specimens but this rarely took place.
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Crime scene soil samples also analysed
Testifying as the eighth witness in the inquest, Department of Chemistry Malaysia Criminalistics Division chemist Saiful Fazamil Mohd Ali said he was tasked with analysing two soil samples obtained from the vicinity of where Quiorin was found and those underneath her body.
He said he had obtained both samples on August 16, 2019, three days after Quoirin's body was discovered.
“After performing my analysis, I found that both soil samples contained similar density distribution with each other. Therefore, I believed both samples were from the same source.
“Subsequent to the findings, I then prepared a chemist report dated October 1, 2019,” he said.
Following that, Saiful Fazamil said the samples were then moved to a vault for safekeeping until they were taken out on January 20 this year.
When asked to clarify the purpose of the analysis, Saiful Fazamil said it was to perform a comparison of both soil samples through a thorough study of their traits such as colour, density and soil pH.
Quoirin, a 15-year-old with learning difficulties, disappeared from The Dusun resort last year where she was staying with her London-based family, triggering a 10-day hunt involving helicopters, search dogs and hundreds of searchers.
Her nude body was discovered close to the jungle retreat and an autopsy found that she probably starved and died of internal bleeding after spending about a week in the dense rainforest.
