A forensic expert has told the court how Sofia Sam and Arun Kamalasanan allegedly poisoned the woman’s sleeping husband, Sam Abraham in October 2015.
33-year-old Sofia Sam and her lover, 35-year-old Arun Kamalasanan are on trial at the Victorian Supreme Court for the alleged murder of Sam Abraham. Both have been accused of administering a fatal dose of cyanide to Abraham to which they have pleaded not guilty.
On Friday, senior forensic pathologist Michael Burke revealed the alleged method used by the duo to poison the sleeping husband.
Mr Abraham died of cyanide poisoning on October 14, 2015.
The Crown has alleged Mr Kamalasanan sneaked into Ms Sam’s house in the Melbourne suburb of Epping on the night of the murder and slipped sleeping pills into Mr Abraham’s avocado smoothie.
Prosecutor Kerri Judd QC told the court Mr Kamalasanan later added potassium cyanide powder to orange juice and poured it down Mr Abraham’s throat as he slept.
She told the jury it was impossible for Ms Sam to have no knowledge of the poisoning, as she was asleep beside her husband with their son, 6.
reports Professor Burke gave evidence that a person could be administered small amounts of liquid which they would automatically swallow rather than gag.
Sam Abraham Source: Supplied
The court heard that if approximately half a milligram of liquid could be place in the mouth or throat of a person their swallow reflex would be triggered.
Professor Burke said this was caused by receptors in the oropharynx in “the back of the throat and side of throat”.
Prosecutor Judd asked whether a person wouldn’t automatically cough up or have their gag reflex activated when liquid was poured into their throat while sleeping.
“You were also asked your opinion on whether an individual could be administered cyanide in a drink while unconscious after being given some type of sleeping tablet or sedative?” Ms Judd said.
“When it was first put to me I thought it sounded very unlikely, I must say, upfront,” Professor Burke said,
“But I did some reading and ... we are always producing saliva and, and we swallow it.
“Experiments are done where a small syringe puts a small amount of fluid into the back of the throat and that sets off a reflex, a little like if the doctor taps your kneecap and the reflex is that your knee, your knee jumps, your leg straightens.
“So, there is a reflex once water or food gets to the back of the throat, there is a reflex you can no longer control which will send the food or water down into your stomach.
“The nerves go up to the brain stem, and then from the brain stem, nerves go to the oesophagus and start the swallow.”
Professor Burke conducted the post mortem of 33-year-old Mr Abraham two days after his death at the Victorian Institute for Forensic Medicine and concluded he had died from cyanide poisoning.
Sam Abraham and Sofia Sam. Source: Facebook
“The tox showed cyanide within the blood, cyanide within the liver, cyanide within stomach contents. There was also Clonazepam, which is like Valium that was also in blood.”
Westmead Hospital clinical and forensic toxicologist that Mr Abraham’s liver had “a significant amount of cyanide” or 28 mg/kg, whereas one milligram per kilogram of liver weight would be lethal.
Cross-examined by Adam Chernok for Arun Kamalasanan, Professor Burke agreed that he could not exclude that the cyanide was “self-induced”.
“I’m not saying how it got there; I’m just saying it’s there,” he said.
