The Washington Post, 27 May 2013SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore police who examined the scene of an American's death admitted on the last day of a coroner's inquest Monday that they deviated from official protocols by not dusting for fingerprints or collecting DNA samples, and by examining the contents of a laptop computer there.
When asked by government lawyers why police had not ordered a further investigation of the apartment, police Sgt. Muhammad Khaldun Bin Sarif said he and his partner had made "a preliminary assessment" that pointed to suicide and determined there were "no signs of foul play." He said the officers decided as a result "not to perform fingerprint dustings or DNA swabs."
Asked why he had deviated from police protocols by assessing a personal laptop at a crime scene, Khaldun said he had found two notes in Todd's apartment, one of which contained a password which he used to gain access to the laptop nearby.
Khaldun explained that the protocol was only "a guideline which can be deviated from." He said he and his partner made an "operational decision" to assess Todd's laptop because the note containing the password "was left there for a reason" and would help police in determining whether there was foul play involved. Full story
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