A new feature on Prime Crime by WION revisits the mysterious circumstances surrounding the 2022 murder of Sri Lankan businessman Dinesh Schaffter, examining possible leads and highlighting why the case continues to elude closure.

The 2022 murder of Sri Lankan businessman Dinesh Schaffter remains one of the country’s most unsettling unsolved cases. 

Despite widespread public attention and ongoing investigations, authorities have yet to determine the motives or bring those responsible to justice, even 03 years since the incident. 

A new feature on Prime Crime by WION underscores the lingering questions and the urgent need for accountability in a crime that shocked the nation.

The 52-year-old Dinesh Schaffter was found tied up in the driving seat of his car at the Borella Cemetery on December 15, 2022, and died the following day due to a cardiac arrest while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. (Newswire)

The post Revisiting the unsolved 2022 murder of Dinesh Schaffter appeared first on Newswire.

The Colombo Additional Magistrate’s Court has ordered to suspend payment of insurance money related to the late businessman Dinesh Schaffter for a period of one week.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Rajasuriya issued the order to the relevant Insurance Company when the case in this regard was taken up for hearing today. 

The order was issued following a request made by the Homicide and Organized Crime Division of the Police which is investigating the death.

The Division had sought an order from the court stating that the death of Dinesh Schaffter has been proven to be a murder and for the insurance company to delay the payment to assist the ongoing investigations. (NewsWire)

The post Dinesh Schaffter case : New court order related to insurance appeared first on Newswire.

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today ruled that the death of the late businessman Dinesh Schaffter was a crime.

The court informed that the 5-member Expert Panel appointed to investigate the death concluded that Schaffter’s death was caused by pressure applied to the areas of the neck and face. 

Based on the facts presented by the Expert Panel and other investigation reports, Colombo Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya ruled that Schaffter’s death was a crime. 

The Magistrate also ordered the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to immediately arrest all suspects involved in the incident. 

The 52-year-old Dinesh Schaffter was found tied up in the driving seat of his car at the Borella Cemetery on December 15, 2022, and died the following day due to a cardiac arrest while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. 

The Homicide and Organised Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) launched investigations in collaboration with the Borella police into Schaffter’s death. (NewsWire)

The post Mysterious death of Dinesh Schaffter : Expert committee decision announced appeared first on Newswire.

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has been ordered to handover the exhumed body of late businessman Dinesh Schaffter to his family.

The order was issued by the Colombo Additional Magistrate’s Court today on the basis that the postmortem examination into the death has been concluded. 

The remains of the late businessman Dinesh Schaffter were exhumed at the General Cemetery in Borella in May based on a request made by the five-member special forensic expert committee appointed to investigate the death.

The body was exhumed after the Committee had informed Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya at a previous hearing that it was necessary to exhume the body of Schaffter to verify the cause of death.

The 52-year-old Dinesh Schaffter was found tied up in the driving seat of his car at the Borella Cemetery on December 15, 2022, and died the following day due to a cardiac arrest while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. 

The Homicide and Organised Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) launched investigations in collaboration with the Borella police into Schaffter’s death. (NewsWire)

The post Dinesh Schaffter case : Exhumed body to be handed over to family appeared first on Newswire.

The remains of the late businessman Dinesh Schaffter were exhumed at the General Cemetery in Borella today.

The remains were exhumed based on a request made by the five-member special forensic expert committee from the Colombo Magistrate’s Court on May 18.

The Committee had informed Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya at the last hearing that it was necessary to exhume the body of Schaffter to verify the cause of death.

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court had issued an order instructing the Criminal Investigations Department to exhume the body of the late businessman as per the request of the special expert committee. 

The 52-year-old Dinesh Schaffter was found tied up in the driving seat of his car at the Borella Cemetery on December 15, 2022, and died the following day due to a cardiac arrest while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. 

The Homicide and Organised Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) launched investigations in collaboration with the Borella police into Schaffter’s death. (NewsWire)

The post Remains of late businessman Dinesh Schaffter exhumed appeared first on Newswire.

A request has been made from the Colombo Magistrate’s Court to exhume the body of the late Sri Lankan businessman Dinesh Schaffter in order to ascertain the cause of death. 

The five-member special forensic expert committee made the request from Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya yesterday (18).

During the hearing, the committee stated that it was necessary to exhume the body of Scahffter to verify the cause of death.

The Committee, therefore, requested the court to provide permission for this purpose. 

The judge fixed a new date for the hearing in which an order is to be given to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) based on the special forensic expert committee’s request. 

The 52-year-old Dinesh Schaffter was found tied up in the driving seat of his car at the Borella Cemetery on December 15, 2022, and died the following day due to a cardiac arrest while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. 

The Homicide and Organised Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is conducting investigations in collaboration with the Borella police into Schaffter’s death. (NewsWire)

The post Forensic experts seek court order to exhume remains of Dinesh Schaffter appeared first on Newswire.

A 5-member investigative committee comprising Judicial and forensic medical experts has been appointed to deduce the cause of death of the late Sri Lankan businessman Dinesh Schaffter.

According to Ada Derana, the committee was appointed by Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya. 

The five-member committee of forensic experts is headed by Prof Asela Mendis. The expert committee is set to deduce the cause of death of the late Dinesh Schaffter and present facts to the court. 

Thereafter, the court is expected to take up for hearing the postmortem examination on 14th March 2023.

The committee has been appointed after several contradictions were reported in the previous postmortem examination report.

The Police had informed the courts that the cause of death has been found as the ingestion of cyanide.

The 52-year-old Dinesh Schaffter was found tied up in the driving seat of his car at the Borella cemetery on December 15, 2022, and died due to a cardiac arrest while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. 

The Homicide and Organised Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is conducting investigations in collaboration with the Borella police into Schaffter’s death. (NewsWire)

The post Dinesh Schaffter death : Court appoints 5-member forensic expert committee appeared first on Newswire.

The Colombo Additional Magistrate has ordered to appoint a 05 member expert committee to prepare a report pertaining to the contradictions in the postmortem report of the late Sri Lankan businessman Dinesh Schaffter. 

Issuing the order today, the court has instructed for the 05 member expert committee to comprise Judicial Medical Officers.

The late businessman’s family members had recently raised concerns in court over contradictions relating to Schaffter’s postmortem report. 

Concerns were raised after the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) informed the Colombo Additional Magistrate on 10th February that the death of the businessman was a result of the ingestion of cyanide.

The Colombo Additional Magistrate was informed that the post-mortem examination report has also concluded that the injuries caused to Schaffter by strangulation were not fatal. 

Earlier this week (14), the Colombo Magistrate’s Court issued an order to the Government Analyst and the Judicial Medical Officer to preserve the body parts of Dinesh Schaffter. 

The court issued the order to secure the body parts of the late Sri Lankan businessman for the purpose of investigations into his death. 

The 52-year-old Dinesh Schaffter was found tied up in the driving seat of his car at the Borella cemetery on December 15, 2022, and died due to a cardiac arrest while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. 

The Homicide and Organised Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is conducting investigations in collaboration with the Borella police into Schaffter’s death. (NewsWire)

The post Dinesh Schaffter death : Expert panel to review conflicting forensic reports appeared first on Newswire.

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court has issued an order to preserve the body parts of the late businessman Dinesh Schaffter. 

The directive was issued to the Government Analyst and the Judicial Medical Officer today.  

The court issued the order to secure the body parts of the late Sri Lankan businessman for the purpose of investigations into his death.

The order was issued by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court based on a request made by the lawyer representing the late businessman’s family. (NewsWire)

The post Dinesh Schaffter investigation: New court order appeared first on Newswire.

The aggrieved party of late Sri Lankan businessman Dinesh Schaffter have highlighted several contradictions in the postmortem report.

According to the Daily Mirror, the aggrieved party of the late businessman informed the Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya yesterday in this regard.

They informed the Magistrate that they have noticed several contradictions and inconsistencies in the postmortem report compiled by the Colombo Judicial Medical Officer.

President’s Counsel Anuja Premaratne appearing for the aggrieved party told the court the initial postmortem report had suggested that death was due to strangulation.

Premaratne pointed out that, however, the final postmortem report submitted to the court has concluded that Schaffter’s death was due to the ingestion of cyanide, contradicting the initial report.

Taking into consideration the facts, Colombo Additional Magistrate announced that the verdict of the inquest into the death of businessman Dinesh Schaffter would be delivered on 08th March 2023.

The aggrieved party of late businessman Dinesh Schaffter has raised concerns after the court was informed by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) that the death of the businessman was a result of the ingestion of cyanide.

The Colombo Additional Magistrate was informed that the post-mortem examination report has also concluded that the injuries caused to Schaffter by strangulation were not fatal. 

The facts were presented by the Homicide and Organized Crime Investigation Division of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) before Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya yesterday.

The 52-year-old Dinesh Schaffter was found tied up in the driving seat of his car at the Borella cemetery on December 15, 2022, and died due to a cardiac arrest while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. 

The Homicide and Organised Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is conducting investigations in collaboration with the Borella police into Schaffter’s death. (NewsWire)

The post Dinesh Schaffter death : Concerns raised over postmortem report appeared first on Newswire.

The death of Sri Lankan businessman Dinesh Schaffter is a result of the ingestion of cyanide, the Hulftsdorp Magistrate Court was informed yesterday (08).

According to Ada Derana, the post-mortem examination report has also concluded that the injuries caused to Schaffter by strangulation were not fatal. 

The information was revealed when the Homicide and Organized Crime Investigation Division of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) presented facts regarding Schaffter’s death before Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya yesterday.

The investigation team also revealed to the court other information that had been uncovered after examining Schaffter’s mobile phone and iPad. According to the officers, several documents prepared by Schaffter for his wife and his wife’s parents were found saved in the mobile phone and the iPad.

A document called “List” was among the data which had been saved within ‘Apple Note’ on his iPad and the document contained words such as “KCM” and “ZIP TIE” among a list of several other items. The officers pointed out that “KCM” is a shortened name referring to Cyanide and “ZIP TIE” is a plastic item used for tying up something or someone.

The officers also revealed that another name list called “THE LIST” was found on his iPad, in which the names of five people namely, Mrs. Muthukumarana, Jagath Seneviratne, Jayaratne, Anton Hemantha and Elian Gunawardena were mentioned. The officers stated that there were also telephone numbers and addresses of those individuals.

The investigation officers informed the court that the last four of the five names in question contained a ‘sentence containing an intention to destroy’.

The court was further informed that a PDF file containing photos of Brian Thomas had also been found on the iPad, with the investigation officers mentioning that Josephine Thomas and Christian Thomas were also named in it. The officers revealed that there was also a sentence in the PDF stating ‘‘MOST IMPORTANT WHO IS BEHIND B.T. GET MY MONEY BACK”.

The investigation officers submitted the WhatsApp messages to the court, which were transmitted between Dinesh Schaffter and Brian Thomas from December 25, 2019, to December 15, 2022, until the demise of Schaffter. The court was informed that certain messages sent by Schaffter to Brian Thomas had been deleted.

The 52-year-old Dinesh Schaffter was found tied up in the driving seat of his car at the Borella cemetery on December 15, 2022, and died due to a cardiac arrest while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. 

The Homicide and Organised Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) launched an investigation in collaboration with the Borella police into Schaffter’s death.

Statements had been recorded from a total of 23 people with regard to the murder of Dinesh Schaffterwhile his wife, family members and former English cricket commentator Brian Thomas are also among those who gave statements to the investigators. (NewsWire)

The post Another twist: Cause of death of Dinesh Schaffter revealed appeared first on Newswire.