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Polly Hui

A government toxicologist told the Court of First Instance yesterday he had never before encountered the combination of drugs found in the stomach and liver of Robert Peter Kissel, the American banker allegedly poisoned and then bludgeoned to death by his wife.

Cheng Kok-choi,  who testified as a prosecution witness, said he had identified four hypnotics in Kissel's  stomach  - flunitazepam (Rohypnol), lorazepam (Lorivan), zolpidem (Ambien) and butalbital (Axotal).

He also found  an anti-depressant, amitriptyline, and salicylic acid, which he said could be a product of the chemical breakdown of aspirin.

In the liver,  Dr Cheng identified amitriptyline and Axotal.

Dr Cheng said amitriptyline, Rohypnol (known as a date-rape drug), Lorivan and Ambien were all  controlled substances and available only with a prescription.

Axotal was not registered in Hong Kong.

Dr Cheng, who has worked for the government laboratory for more than 30 years,  was asked by prosecutor Peter Chapman if he had come across these drugs in other cases.

'Individually, yes, but not as a combination ... not even in suicide cases involving use of multiple drugs,' he said.

The prosecution alleges that Nancy Kissel, 41, beat her husband to death with a metal ornament after serving him a strawberry milkshake laced with 'a cocktail of sedatives' in their flat in Parkview, Tai Tam,  on or around November 2, 2003. She has pleaded not guilty.

Robert Kissel's body was found five days later, wrapped in an old carpet in a storeroom on the  estate.

The prosecutor said medical records showed that Nancy Kissel was prescribed Rohypnol by  a clinic in Central on October 23, 2003. Earlier evidence indicated that another clinic prescribed her Ambien,  amitriptyline and Lorivan  in August 2003 and October 2003.

The prosecutor also sought yesterday to cast doubts on evidence the defence team alleges showed that Robert Kissel  had accessed pornography websites using his own IBM notebook and his daughter's desktop computer. He pointed out that a large number of the websites were paid sites, and the webpages rebuilt on the screen last week appeared to be only homepages, which do not require a paid subscription.

Mr Chapman asked a police forensic computer expert, Cheung Chun-kit:  'There is nothing to suggest ...   paid entry or membership to those sites?'

The witness replied: 'That's correct'.

The prosecutor also argued that webpages showing words such as 'huge cocks big dicks nude boys' could be thrown up on a Google search on subjects 'without any gay content at all'. But Alexander King SC, for the defence, said it was ridiculous to think the porn sites would be thrown up after typing in words such as 'Hong Kong International School or Barbie Dolls'.



'Unusual' drug cocktail in Kissel's stomach