Suspects to plead not guilty in Kim Jong Nam's assassination

Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong are accused of smearing Kim Jong Nam's face with the banned VX nerve agent at a crowded airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 13. The women, who face a possible death penalty if convicted, say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank for a hidden-camera TV show. They are the only suspects in custody in a killing that South Korea's spy agency said was part of a five-year plot by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to kill a brother he reportedly never met. Four North Korean suspects fled the country, police say.The women's lawyers say their clients are expected to plead not guilty at the High Court on Friday.

North Korea has a long history of ordering killings of people it views as threats to its regime. While Kim Jong Nam was not thought to be seeking influence, his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since its founding could have made him appear to be a danger. Kim Jong Nam had also spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the nuclear-armed nation.

North Korea has refused to publicly accept that the dead man was leader Kim Jong Un's half brother and has suggested the victim died of a heart attack. It has accused Malaysia of working with South Korea and other "hostile forces" in blaming the North.

Kim Jong Nam died en route to a hospital after falling ill at a budget terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport while waiting for a flight to Macau. He told medical workers before he died that he had been attacked with a chemical spray that Malaysian officials later identified as VX nerve agent. Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46, had been living abroad for years.