REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Slamet Purnomo, a forensic specialist doctor by profession and an expert witness, said he believed that Wayan Mirna Salihin died because she had consumed a cyanide-spiked beverage.
Purnomo made the statement in Central Jakarta district court on Wednesday in the ongoing trial about Mirna's death. Jessica Kumala Wongso has been named as the defendant.
"I am sure that traces (of cyanide) found in her stomach were from what she had drank earlier in the day," said Purnomo, the doctor who had examined Mirna's remains at the Sukanto Police hospital.
Traces of cyanide were found in the samples of Mirna's gastric mucus taken by Purnomo as part of the tests conducted by the toxicology department.
Samples from the deceased's heart, urine and bile were also taken.
There was approximately 0.2 milligram of cyanide in her stomach, said Purnomo.
Other than that, his team also found wounds in the form of black colored lumps inside Mirna's stomach.
The lumps, formed by blood, were caused by a corrosive substance that had heavily damaged the surface, said the University of Indonesia medical graduate.
"The corrosive substance was probably highly acidic," he continued.
Purnomo's statements were contested by the defendant's attorney Otto Hasibuan, based on the expert witness' statement that said cyanide can be lethal only when the amount is 2.5 milligram or more. Therefore, he believed that Mirna's death was not caused by cyanide poisoning.
However, Purnomo refuted this contention and maintained that the concentration of any substance that enters the human body is reduced due to certain reasons, including metabolism and evaporation.
"Seeing that she died immediately, the concentration of the cyanide was most probably far greater and the dose was lethal," he reiterated.
Based on experience, forensic doctors diagnose victims of poisoning by ascertaining five facts.
Firstly, he explained, they determine whether the patient fell immediately ill or died despite being in a healthy condition just before that.
Secondly, they determine whether the victim had record of any contact with substances that could be poisonous.
Thirdly, they see whether the symptoms suffered by the victim matched the poison they allegedly consumed.
Fourth and fifth steps cover finding physical evidence of poisonous substance at the crime scene and in the victim's body.
"Based on our examination, combined with statements from toxicology experts and CCTV footage, we can confirm that Mirna was indeed poisoned," Purnomo concluded.
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