Murder of Minister Milroy Fernando’s mistress

Judicial Medical Officer, Doctor L. B. L. de Alwis yesterday said that the mistress of Minister Milroy Fernando and her servant had been strangled to death. The doctor told the Court that he did not see further signs of any other violence as the bodies were in a highly charred state after the death. Only some parts of the faces were not burnt.

In this case, Minister Milroy Fernando’s wife Juliet Monica Fernando and three others are charged with the murder of the Minister’s mistress Charlette Theresa Fernando and her servant Susahewage Seelawathie.

Examined by Senior State Counsel Sarath Jayamanne , the witness said that Theresa’s body of was identified by her son Indika Fernando and her sister Rani Beatrice. "The bodies were severely burnt. As such the signs of violence before death could not be established. But we could find signs of assault under the teeth of the victims. It appears that the victims were strangled to death", he said.

Other signs of force having been used on the victims may not have been visible due to burning.

"Other signs of using force on the victims may not be visible due to burning. There were no natural causes in the bodies which could lead to death. The victims may fight back during an attempt at strangling but when the neck is gripped they are helpless. Also he or she may lose the ability to speak or cry. The brain may lose the supply of Oxygen necessary for its functions, and also if the veins are tightened the blood supply to the brain may be disturbed. One can do this by using both hands. If the grip on the neck continues for up to three minutes, it would ultimately lead to the death of the victim", the witness said.

"The bodies of these two victims, including their necks were severely burnt".

Cross examined by defence counsel Nihal Gunasinghe, the witness told the Court that on the body of Theresa, he could observe signs of struggle. He accepted the argument that there could be injuries to the offender also as a result of such struggle. But he pointed out that if the victim was held by some other person there may perhaps be no injury on the offender.

The next prosecution witness was Kotagedara Vellage Dharmakeerthi. He was a fuel pump attendant at a filling station. Answering the questions put by the State Counsel, he said that he knew the Pajero jeep of Minister Milroy Fernando and also his driver Sunil Shantha.

"On January 03 1992, I was on duty at the filling station. Around 6.00 p.m. the Minister’s jeep arrived with Sunil in the driver’s seat, Sudath in the rear seat and Ajith was occupying the seat next to the driver. Sudath had a can with him and got it filled with a litre of petrol. The jeep went towards Puttalam afterwards. I knew Ajith as the manager of Milroy Fernando’s mill. Sudath had a motor bike and he often came to the filling station to get fuel", he said.

This case was heard before High Court Judge Upali Abeyratne.

Counsel U. R. de Silva and Nihal Gunasekera appeared for the accused.