If you believe their lawyers, Doan Thi Huong and Siti Aisyah were just a couple of party girls happy to participate in a prank for a TV show in exchange for some cash and 15 minutes of fame.
Instead, Huong, 29, and Aisyah, 25, face death by hanging as the sole defendants on trial for the Cold War-style assassination murder of Kim Jong-un's estranged half brother, Kim Jong-nam, on February 13.
Huong, from Vietnam, and Aisyah, an Indonesian national, are accused of smearing the deadly nerve agent VX on Kim's face in a plot South Korea's spy agency says was hatched by the North Korean leader five years ago.
Police claim the women practised spraying substances in shopping centres in preparation for the attack.
Both women have pleaded not guilty to murder. If convicted they face a mandatory death sentence. In Malaysia, that means they will be hanged.
The women claim they were duped by four men who approached them at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and asked them to carry out the attack as a harmless prank for a TV show.
Siti Aisyah (left) and Doan Thi Huong are on trial for the murder of Kim Jong-nam. Photo / AP
But since the trial began on October 2, the alleged role of the four missing suspects has come to dominate the proceedings, which are being played out in the Shah Alam High Court.
Both the prosecutors and the defence team say a lot more is going to be revealed in the weeks ahead about the men, who have been referred to in court only by their aliases.
Chief investigating officer Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz has testified Hanamori, who sometimes went by the nicknames "Grandpa" and "Uncle", orchestrated the operation on the ground.
Mr Wan Azirul said airport security video shows that he arrived at the terminal in the same vehicle with two of the three other suspects about 90 minutes ahead of the February 13 attack. He is captured on CCTV meeting both of those men and the third suspect, all separately, at an airport cafe before the attack.
Police say Hanamori, who initially wore a purple shirt but changed after the attack, not only came to the airport with two of the suspects but met with all three just before the plan was put into action.
He then left after the attack in a vehicle with two of the three and was seen later that day - and for the last time - with two of them in the departure hall of the main terminal.
'James' - allegedly recruited Aisyah
Aisyah's lawyer, Gooi Soon Seng, told reporters before the trial that she was recruited in early January by a man known to her only as James, who asked her to star in what he claimed was a video prank show.
The lawyer said James and Aisyah went to malls, hotels and airports, where she would rub oil or pepper sauce on strangers' faces. James recorded the encounters on his phone and paid Aisyah between $100 and $200 for each prank.
Mr Wan Azirul testified in court that James was seen heading to the Sama Sama airport hotel, which is in the terminal not far from where the attack took place.
Security videos show James entering the hotel room before checking out a short time later, he said.
James is later seen at the departure hall of the main airport terminal, where the other three suspects went.
What his role was on the day of the death isn't yet clear - an examination of the airport security camera footage in court last Thursday was cut short when Judge Azmi Ariffin ruled more time was needed to digest the information.
The prosecution is expected to return to the videos in the next session, scheduled for November 6.
Alleged assassin Doan Thi Huong. Photo / Facebook
'Chang'- gave Aisyah the deadly nerve agent
The court heard that a man known as Chang supplied Aisyah with the poison that killed Kim Jong-nam.
Mr Wan Azirul testified that on the morning of the killing, Chang met up with Aisyah at the same cafe where he had earlier met with Hanamori.
Chang handed Aisyah an airport taxi voucher during their short meeting and he was believed to have later applied the deadly VX nerve agent poison to her hands just before the attack, which happened at about 9am, he testified.
Chang was described as wearing glasses and a dark-coloured baseball cap. He carried a backpack and a white plastic bag.
Prosecutors say that after the hit, Chang ditched his belongings, changed his shirt and even managed to shave off his goatee. He was later captured on CCTV beard-free and carrying an orange plastic bag.
Aisyah's legal team has said Chang pointed Kim out to Aisyah as the target and put a substance in her hand.
'Mr Y'
Prosecutors claim this man placed the deadly nerve agent VX in Huong's hands just prior to the attack.
Mr Y is captured on CCTV arriving at the airport with the other three and was seen in the company of a woman prosecutors allege was Huong near the area Kim Jong-nam was attacked.
He also wore a baseball cap and carried a backpack and water bottle.
Video footage shows that after the attack, Mr. Y also changed his shirt and discarded his belongings. Police say he then left the budget terminal in the same vehicle with Chang and Hanamori.
At Malaysia's request, Interpol has issued a "red notice" - the closest equivalent it has to an arrest warrant - for four North Koreans wanted in connection with the killing: Ri Ji Hyon, 33; Hong Song Hac, 34; O Jong Gil, 55; and Ri Jae Nam, 57.
But it is not entirely clear if they are the same four whose actions are now being detailed in the court testimony.
Help from Pyongyang is highly unlikely given that North Korea has denied any involvement in Kim's murder and is not a member of Interpol.
