Nora Anne's death a misadventure, no third party involved - court

Irish-French teenager Nora Anne Quoirin’s death was due to misadventure, ruled the Seremban Coroner’s Court.

Coroner Maimoonah Aid said there were no third parties involved in Nora Anne's death in August 2019 following her going missing from the Dusun resort in Seremban.

“After hearing all the relevant evidence, I rule that there was no one involved in the death of Nora Anne.

“It is more probable that she died by misadventure, i.e. when she had gone out of the Sora House (at Dusun Resort) on her own and subsequently got lost in the abandoned palm oil plantation,” Maimoonah ruled during open-court proceedings at the Seremban Court complex today.

“For me to speculate and presume of her action and involvement of a third party without any proved facts would be a breach of my duty.

“The inquiry is hereby closed,” she said.

The ruling, which took around two hours to be delivered as the coroner went through the testimonies of witnesses, was streamed live online.

It was reported that today was set for the decision in the inquest on Nora Anne's death.

A total of 47 witnesses, including the teenager's parents, Meabh Jaseprine Quoirin and Sebastien Quoirin, gave testimony during inquest proceedings which began on Aug 24, last year.

The proceedings were also streamed live online through the Malaysian judiciary’s official portal via YouTube and Facebook, and conducted in Bahasa Malaysia and English.

Nora Anne, 15, went missing on Aug 4, 2019, a day after she and her family arrived in Malaysia for a two-week vacation at a resort in Pantai near Seremban.

Following a massive search, her body was discovered near a creek in a ravine, located about 2.5km from the resort where she and her family stayed, on Aug 13, 2019.

A preliminary post-mortem report stated that the death of the disabled teenager had no criminal element, stating that she was dead from gastrointestinal bleeding due to prolonged hunger and stress.

During proceedings today, Maimoonah said the court agreed with the testimony of witnesses that in spite of her mental disabilities, Nora Anne was capable of moving about on her own.

The coroner pointed to a testimony that on the day before Nora Anne was reported missing, the deceased had no difficulty climbing up and descending from a spiral staircase at the resort where the family was staying.

“Due to an outside noise (at the resort), Nora Anne may have woken up,” she said, referring to previous testimony on how Nora Anne is easily distracted by noises.

Maimoonah also pointed to Meabh's testimony that on the night before Nora Anne was reported to have disappeared, the couple’s children had to sleep in their underwear due to the hot weather.

The coroner said that the court found that Nora Anne, having woken up while still discomforted by the heat and troubled by jet lag, may have then left her bed to look for her parents.

The coroner noted that Nora Anne, with no problem navigating the spiral staircase, may have descended it to look for her parents in the master bedroom of the Sora House villa.

Maimoonah noted that due to the deceased’s state and difficulty of navigating in a new place (resort), she may have then opened a window in the villa and got out.

“She might have accidentally pushed open the window with the broken latch while looking for her parents,” the coroner said.

“I am aware there are so many theories and speculations on the death of Nora Anne.

“Today, (some who) speculate (may) expect the theory to be in their favour, but that is not my goal (in reaching the verdict in the inquest).

“My duty under the Criminal Procedure Code is to determine when the deceased died, where she died, how she died, the manner in which she died, and whether there is any (third) person concerning her death,” Maimoonah said.

When met by the media after proceedings at the Seremban Court complex today, the resort’s counsel Gurdial Singh Nijhar said they accept the verdict.

He added that the ruling basically concluded that Nora Anne’s death was a misadventure, with no criminal or negligent element involved.

During today’s proceedings, lawyer S Sakthyvell appeared for the deceased’s family, while inquest coordinating officer Ahmad Sazali Omar acted for the prosecution.