12 August 2008 :

the appeal by two Nigerians against the death sentences was dismissed by the Malaysian Federal Court. The court ruled that the evidence brought against the duo was not weak and as such, the case against 38 year old Erivesto Anderson and 37-year-old Michael Philip, could not be waved aside. The two, along with another fellow Nigerian Lawrence Osayi Irabor, were sentenced to death by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 2000, after they were found guilty of slashing three family members to death while robbing a watch shop in 1997. Osayi was later acquitted and discharged of complicity in the murder upon appeal. Chief Judge of Malaya, Alauddin Mohamad Sheriff, said that blood from the victims was discovered on the clothing of both the accused, adding that police had later recovered watches and money in various denominations in the apartment of the Nigerians.