FOUR journals linked to the late Zara Qairina Mahathir were found to be incomplete, with forensic examinations revealing that scores of pages were missing, including 64 from an olive-green journal titled ‘Love and Peace’.
The 77th witness in the inquest, forensic science lecturer and researcher Dr Wan Nur Syuhaila Mat Desa, said her findings were based on the physical examination and reconstruction of four journals labelled W1, W2, W3 and WK9.
She said the examination was conducted to identify physical and structural irregularities, including the size and condition of the paper, tear patterns and problems involving binding or stitching.
"I also compared torn pages Y1 to Y15 with one another and with the journals concerned to determine the sequence and orientation of the pages, as well as to identify whether the pages originated from one of the journals or from another source.
"For that purpose, I compared each of the questioned materials, namely W1, W2, W3 and WK9, with new, unused reference journals of the same type to understand their original condition," she said in her witness statement at the Coroner’s Court in Kota Kinabalu on Monday.
She said the examination also involved the use of different lighting angles to detect indentations left by writing on preceding pages.
"I physically compared the torn edges of Y1 to Y15 with one another and with the journals to determine whether they matched and aligned, while also labelling each torn page on the front as (a) and the back as (b) to ensure consistent tracking, for example Y1a/Y1b.
"W1 is a green ‘NOTES’ journal which is almost identical to the new reference journal. The front and back covers, the upper and lower binding sections, as well as the ribbon bookmark, were all intact.
"Compared with the new reference journal, which contained 98 sheets, W1 contained 97 sheets, meaning one sheet was missing or had been torn out," she said.
Turning to W2, a purple ‘Simple Style Book’ journal, Dr Wan Nur Syuhaila said it contained only 53 sheets, compared with 96 in the new reference journal.
"W2 only contained 53 sheets, meaning 43 sheets were missing.
"I found writing indentations on pages 51, 53, 67 and 100. I also found that two separate torn pages, Y8a and Y8b, were inconsistent when compared with W2, indicating that they were likely to have originated from another source or journal," she said.
She said W3, a dark-brown ‘DIAMOND’ journal, contained 77 of its original 98 sheets, indicating that 21 sheets were no longer present.
"Evidence of torn-out pages was also identified between the pages labelled 16–17, 42–43 and 46–47," she said.
The most extensively incomplete journal examined was WK9, an olive-green ‘Love and Peace’ journal, which she said had been received in a worn and torn condition.
"The original front free endpaper was missing, while the paper affixed to the inside of the front cover had been torn. A separate page was subsequently pasted back onto the front cover.
"I observed what appeared to be writing indentations on that reattached page. However, the impressions could not be extracted using ESDA because of the thickness of that section, as it was attached to the journal cover.
"Compared with the new reference journal, which contained 118 sheets, WK9 contained only 54 sheets, meaning 64 sheets were missing. I also found writing indentations on pages 1, 4, 7, 17, 37, 50, 51 and 53," she said.
In examining the 15 torn sheets labelled Y1 to Y15, Dr Wan Nur Syuhaila said most could be divided into two groups based on physical matches between their torn edges.
She said Group 1 comprised Y1 to Y9, while Group 2 consisted of Y12 to Y15, with Y10 and Y11 unable to be physically matched to either group.
"However, a writing indentation on the back of page Y11, namely Y11(b), matched part of an entry found on Y12, indicating that Y11 came before Y12 in the sequence of pages.
"Observations based on the dates written on the pages showed that the pages generally appeared to be arranged in chronological order, with Group 1 preceding Group 2," she said.
Dr Wan Nur Syuhaila also conducted an analysis using an Electrostatic Detection Apparatus (ESDA), a forensic device used to detect writing indentations that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
She said writing indentations were successfully detected on pages 51, 53, 67 and 100 of W2, but none of the pages remaining in the journal corresponded with those impressions.
"This indicates that the pages which previously contained the content were no longer present in the journal," she said.
The same finding was made in relation to WK9, where writing indentations were detected on pages 1, 4, 7, 17, 37, 50, 51 and 53, although no pages remaining in the journal corresponded with those impressions.
However, Dr Wan Nur Syuhaila stressed that her examination was confined to the physical condition of the documents and the writing indentations recovered, and did not determine why an entry was written, when it was written or what its contents meant.
"I also did not personally compare the handwriting obtained with the handwriting of any individual to determine who the writer was. The handwriting analysis was conducted by Dr Tay Eue Kam using the materials that I obtained," she said. - August 24, 2026
