The Kozhikode Special Additional Sessions Court (Marad cases) on Friday (July 31, 2026) started examining the final prosecution witness, Deputy Superintendent of Police R. Haridasan, who led the special investigation team (SIT) that probed the sensational Koodathayi serial murder case.

Though he experienced mild uneasiness due to fluctuations in his sugar levels, he gave evidence in support of the prosecution. Special Public Prosecutor N.K. Unnikrishnan appeared for the prosecution. The proceedings will continue on Saturday (August 1, 2026).

With the deposition of the investigating officer, the trial in the Roy Thomas murder case, the first among the six cases to reach this stage, is approaching its final phase. Once the evidence is closed, the court is expected to pronounce its judgment in the coming weeks.

The trial began on March 8, 2023, after the case was transferred to the Special Additional Sessions Court. Although the investigation had been completed earlier, the proceedings stretched over more than three years because of procedural delays, including the transfer of the presiding judges. The trial had also been delayed initially by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The prosecution examined 130 of the 270 witnesses listed in the chargesheet and produced 235 documents along with 23 material objects. O.P. Abdurahman, who assisted the investigators in tracing the source of cyanide, was among the last witnesses who were examined before Mr. Haridasan entered the witness box.

According to the prosecution, Jolly Joseph murdered six members of her family between 2002 and 2016 by administering cyanide with the alleged motive of acquiring family property. The victims were her mother-in-law Annamma Thomas, 57, a retired teacher, who died in 2002; father-in-law Tom Thomas, 66, who died in 2008; husband Roy Thomas who died in 2011; Annamma’s brother Mathew Manchadiyil who died in 2014; and Sily, the wife of Roy’s cousin and Jolly’s second husband Shaju Zachariya, along with the couple’s young daughter Alphine who died in in 2016.

The deaths remained unconnected until 2019, when Roy Thomas’ brother Rojo Thomas sought a fresh investigation by filing a complaint with the then Superintendent of Police (Kozhikode Rural) K.G. Simon. An SIT subsequently reopened the cases, exhumed the victim’ remains for forensic examination, and arrested Jolly Joseph along with two alleged accomplices on October 5, 2019.

The investigation culminated in an 8,000-page chargesheet supported by hundreds of documentary records and material objects.The prosecution relied heavily on the medical evidence in Roy Thomas’ case as his was the only death among the six for which a post-mortem examination was conducted. The autopsy concluded that Roy died of cyanide poisoning.

Jolly Joseph, the first accused, was lodged in the Kannur women’s prison after the Supreme Court dismissed her bail plea. The second accused, M.S. Mathew, remained in judicial custody, while the third accused, goldsmith Prajikumar, was granted bail.

The Roy Thomas case is the first of the six Koodathayi murder cases to complete trial. According to the investigation team, the judgment is expected to have a bearing on the proceedings in the remaining cases arising from the alleged serial killings.

Published - July 31, 2026 07:28 pm IST