The police have exhumed the bodies of John Philomenon and Sridhar, who were allegedly murdered by Stephen, a 41-year old businessman, and his aides last year with syringes filled with potassium cyanide that were fitted to an umbrella.
Stephen is reported to have killed one more person using this contraption. The police have sent the bones of the two victims to the forensic labs for testing and a re-post mortem has also been completed in different hospitals.
“We are waiting for the doctor’s report. We need to study the impact of the chemical,” said a police officer.
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While Stephen is alleged to have murdered his brother-in-law John Philomenon on April 19 last year at Thousand Lights, he is believed to have killed Sridhar of Uthiramerur and Henry of Madipakkam on May 17 and October 10 the same year respectively.
The murders came to light when the police were investigating a burglary complaint lodged by Stephen.
The burglary suspects turned out to be Stephen’s aides who had helped him commit the murders.
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Third body
The police are also preparing to exhume the body of Henry.
“The policemen of respective stations were asked to take out the bodies and send it for a re-post mortem. We are waiting for the results,” said a police officer.
Meanwhile, a forensic expert said that it was really difficult to know the details of the poison if the body was not examined within 24 hours of death.
“Usually, if poison is injected, it metabolises very fast. It cannot be seen in the blood or organs unless the parts are sent for a forensic test in a day’s time. However, if it is cyanide, there are chances that it will be seen,” said S. Balasubramanian, professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Stanley Medical College,
Forensic expert says identifying poisons after a year would be difficult