PETALING JAYA: A 38-year-old lone robber who gunned down a security guard in a heist last month was dealt with multiple charges including murder at the Shah Alam High Court today.
The hardened criminal, who operated alone, had six past criminal records before the latest case.
Apart from killing the security guard during a cash-in-transit heist on March 11 opposite the Hong Leong Bank in Puchong Prima, the accused was also charged with shooting dead 29-year-old police lance corporal Valentino Messa at the Pinggiran USJ police station on Sept 1, 2017.
Federal police CID director Commissioner Datuk Abdul Jalil Hassan (pix) said the accused was also charged with attempted murder for shooting and injuring another security guard during last month’s robbery.
He said other charges mounted on the man were for possession of a semi-automatic pistol and his involvement in three past cases of bank robberies in Shah Alam and Subang Jaya.
Abdul Jalil said the pistol that was recovered from the accused, a Walther P99, was identified as Valentino’s service firearm that was stolen from him after he was killed five years ago.
The accused faces two death sentences for the murder cases he was charged with and up to 20 years imprisonment and whipping for the other crimes.
Valentino, a Sarawakian who had served the force for seven years, was on duty alone on the day he was killed at about 2.30am.
His colleagues later found his body face down on the ground with a gunshot wound on his back.
In last month’s murder-cum-robbery in Puchong Prima, the accused had showed up opposite the Hong Leong Bank and opened fire at security guards on their cash-in-transit rounds.
The accused escaped with a bag containing RM500,000 but was traced and held by police less than two hours later in Shah Alam.