Lovers used cyanide in murder plot, jury told
A JURY in a Melbourne murder trial has heard the extraordinary ways police allege a man was fatally poisoned by his wife and her lover.
A MELBOURNE man was killed after his wife and her lover drugged him with orange juice laced with cyanide or a poisoned avocado shake, a Supreme Court jury has heard.
Sofia Sam, 33, and Arun Kamalasanan, 35, are on trial for murdering Ms Sam’s husband Sam Abraham at his Epping home in October 2015. They have both pleaded not guilty.
Initially it was thought a heart attack had killed him — but a post-mortem later revealed the cause of death was cyanide poisoning and he had traces of a sedative in his system.
Prosecutors have alleged two possible ways Mr Abraham was killed. Kerri Judd QC told the jury he may have been drugged with sleeping pills before Mr Kamalasanan fed him juice with cyanide in it as he slept.
“He administered the cyanide himself by sneaking into the house and pouring orange juice with cyanide in it into the mouth of the deceased,” she told the court.
An alternative prosecution case is that Ms Sam put the cyanide in either an avocado shake or an orange juice she prepared for him.
“The female accused said she made an avocado shake for her husband. She also said she made an orange juice for her husband,” Ms Judd said. Ms Sam and Mr Kamalasanan knew each other from their college days in India and they were allegedly having an affair at the time of the murder.
The jury was told they reconnected after they both moved to Melbourne and were meeting in secret.
“It is the prosecution case that both accused murdered Sam Abraham,” Ms Judd said.
“Their relationship provided the motive.” Ms Judd earlier illustrated the pair’s relationship by reading passionate diary entries they sent to each other.
“Can you hold me tight? I want to drift away in your love,” she read from one of Ms Sam’s entries, as the diary was displayed on a screen in court on Monday. The jury also heard that Mr Abraham’s car was transferred into Mr Kamalasanan’s name following his death.
Both Ms Sam and Mr Kamalasanan have pleaded not guilty. The trial continues today.