Others likely wrote in Zara-linked journal as well, says expert

PETALING JAYA: The Kota Kinabalu coroner’s court was told today that portions of several examined documents in the Zara Qairina Mahathir case, including a journal, were not written by the girl herself.

Handwriting and document examination expert Linthini Gannetio, appearing as the 74th witness, said there were indications that other people had written parts of the documents linked to the teenager, Sinar Harian reported.

She said an analysis of documents W1, W2, W3, and Y1 to Y15 found that W2 was not used exclusively as Zara’s personal journal, as several pages contained the handwriting of other individuals as well.

“These findings indicate that others may have had access to W2 and may have written in it,” she said in her witness statement.

Linthini also said her examination of document W3 found more than one handwriting pattern, with several sections displaying characteristics inconsistent with Zara’s known handwriting.

“The handwriting on pages W3_2, W3_7 to W3_14, W3_25 to W3_37, W3_46, W3_58 to W3_64, W3_73 to W3_84, and W3_86 to W3_89 was not Zara’s.

“Some of the writing in W3 shows characteristics inconsistent with Zara’s known handwriting and contains significant differences that cannot be explained when compared to the available known handwriting samples,” she added.

Linthini said she could not reach a definitive conclusion for several other pages in W3 due to the absence of contemporaneous known handwriting samples for the relevant period.

Linthini said the examination used documents W1, W2, W3, and Y1 to Y15, as well as known handwriting samples from Zara and several others identified as Writers A to J.

The expert said that based on the examined samples, Zara’s handwriting showed a clear development from 2023 to 2025, including changes in letter shapes, slant patterns, and number formation.

“The examination results also found that the handwriting on document W1 from pages W1_PG1 to W1_PG28 bears a significant resemblance to Zara’s handwriting. Most of the content in the W2 document is also consistent with the victim’s handwriting for the period of late April to July 2025,” she said.

Zara, 13, was pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu on July 17, 2025, a day after being found unconscious in a drain near her school dormitory at around 4am.