Man charged for murder in Robinson Road building fire

Yahoo: Man charged for murder in Robinson Road building fire

A 66-year-old man has been charged on Friday with the murder of a woman whose badly-burnt body was found following the Afro Asia Building fire on Wednesday morning.

Govindasamy Nallaiah is accused of killing Low Foong Meng, 56, in an office belonging to law firm, B Rengarajoo & Associates, reported Channel NewsAsia.

The building fire is believed to have started in the law firm, located on the sixth floor, and was contained within it.

It is believed that Govindasamy was a client of the firm. The firm is run by Low's partner, lawyer Rengarajoo Balasamy, whom she lived with. She also worked at the firm.


Govindasamy is now remanded at the Central Police Division and will be back in court on 19 August.


If convicted of murder, he will face the death penalty.

The Indian man was arrested at 10,50 pm on Wednesday in Jurong. The arrest was made 13 hours after the fire at law firm B Rengarajoo & Associates was reported.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force found Low's body on Wednesday after the fire was put out. There were no injuries reported otherwise.

The SCDF said it was alerted to the fire at the seven-storey building at 63 Robinson Road at 10 am. Some 20 fire fighters were deployed to the affected unit to put out the fire.

The fire was confined to a unit measuring about 30 by 20 metres and did not spread to adjacent units, said SCDF. Officers took half an hour to control the fire and another half an hour to extinguish it.

Several vehicles were sent to the scene, including fire engines, four Red Rhinos, an ambulance and four support vehicles. Jet sprays were used outside the building to prevent the fire from spreading.

A support vehicle that was sent to help fight the fire experienced a glitch as its mechanical arm, used to lift firemen, stalled. SCDF said this did not hamper operations as officers could still get to the affected unit and bring the fire under control.

Officers from Central Police Division and the Criminal Investigation Department’s Special Investigation Section were at the scene to conduct investigations while officers from CID’s Forensic Management Branch and scientists from the Health Sciences Authority were present to gather forensic evidence.

Occupants, who just went through a fire drill last week, evacuated on their own prior to SCDF's arrival.

Those whom Yahoo! Singapore spoke to said the couple have been working at the building for some 20 years.

Insurance agent Joyce Ng, 52, who works on the fifth floor, described Rengarajoo as friendly and helpful.

Other building occupants said they started noticing the smell of gas at about 9:30am and saw smoke on the sixth floor 20 minutes later. Building security evacuated the occupants and the process was cool and calm, they said.

This is the first time the building, one of the oldest in the area, caught fire, they said.

The building which was upgraded just three months ago is managed by Afro Asia Shipping Company (Pte Ltd).

The cause of fire and the death is under investigation.

For further enquiries on the matter, the public may call the police hotline at 1800-5471818.

- Additional reporting by Liyana Low

ST: Murder conviction for seafood boss overturned

Apr 12, 2011

Murder conviction for seafood boss overturned

By Selina Lum

Eu Lim Hoklai, 57, had been given the mandatory death penalty by the High Court in 2009 for killing Madam Yu Hongjin on June 18, 2006.A SEAFOOD stall boss escaped the gallows on Tuesday when the Court of Appeal overturned his conviction for murdering his China mistress in the Ang Mo Kio massage parlour she ran.

Justice V. K. Rajah, delivering the decision of the three-judge court in Eu's appeal against his conviction, said that it was unsafe to conclude that this was a case of murder in cold blood.

Rather it appears to have been a death caused in the heat of the moment, said the judge, convicting him of a lesser charge of culpable homicide, which carries up to 10 years' jail or life imprisonment. Eu had gone to meet Madam Yu that day - Father's Day - but the meeting turned violent. Madam Yu died from strangulation and two stab wounds. Eu suffered wounds that damaged no major organs.

The prosecution's case was that Eu had strangled Madam Yu after she was stabbed twice and helpless. But Eu said Madam Yu stabbed him first and he retaliated. On Tuesday, Justice V. K. Rajah - delivering the Court of Appeal's decision - said it was plausible that some of Eu's wounds could have been inflicted by Madam Yu.

It was likely that a struggle took place in the massage parlour although it is not clear who struck the first blow, he said. The benefit of the doubt has to be given to the accused in such 'difficult' cases, said Justice Rajah.

Sarawak man faces second murder charge in Singapore

TodayOnline: Man faces second murder charge

SINGAPORE - He is among three men charged with the murder of a construction worker in the Kallang slashing case.

Now, Tony Imba, 32, faces a second murder charge after another alleged victim, who had been in a coma, died recently.

Tony was initially accused of robbing 63-year-old Jeffrey Tan Hong and hitting him with a block of wood at a Jalan Berseh footpath near Little India on May 30 last year.

Tony and two other men allegedly killed Mr Shanmuganathan Dillidurai, a 41-year-old construction worker, on the same day.

But with Mr Tan's death, Tony now stands accused of his murder, too.

Tony and his alleged accomplices - all from Sarawak - will be back in court on May 4. They face the death penalty if convicted of murder.

Four men have already been dealt with in court for their involvement in the Kallang slashing case.

One was sentenced to two years in jail and ordered to receive six strokes of the cane. The others, who were jailed for six years, will each receive 12 strokes of the cane.

The group is allegedly responsible for a series of armed robberies in the vicinity of Sims Drive and Geylang on May 30 last year, which resulted in Mr Shanmuganathan's death and caused three others to be seriously injured.

16-year-old girl among eight charged with murder

Source: Yahoo Fit-to-Post

By Ewen Boey – March 12th, 2011

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A 16-year-old girl is charged with the murder of a 52-year-old man. (File Photo: AFP)

A 16-year-old girl was among eight people charged in court with the murder of a man in Tiong Bahru Park.

S. Durga is believed to have been part of a group which attacked Mr Goh Ho Leong, 52, with broken bottles.

Mr Goh was unconscious when police found him in the park on Tuesday night, with injuries all over his body.

He was taken to Singapore General Hospital where he died two days later.

Mr Goh’s younger brother told local media that his older brother, who had been unemployed for about two years, received a call at around 9pm on Tuesday, before leaving his home.

The call was reportedly from a man who offered him a job as a security guard. Mr Goh took along his mobile phone and house keys, but not his wallet.

At about 1am, Mr Goh’s family received a call from the police, informing them that he had been injured and was being taken to the hospital after being found lying at the park near his Redhill home.

According to reports, the other seven accused are: Mansur Alikhan, 19, Abdul Samad Mohamed Kasim, 22, and S Karthikesu, Mohamed Fazuluddin Azeedali, Muhizin Khan, Segu Jamaldeen Nafil Mohamed and Anandraj Manimaran, all 18.

Full-time national serviceman Mohamed Ayub Jailabdeen, 27, appeared in court on Thursday with a rioting charge. His charge is expected to be upgraded to murder when the case comes up for mention on Thursday.

The other eight will be remanded until that day for further investigations. They will receive the death penalty if convicted.

Singaporean man sentenced to death for passion fueled murder

The Straits Times: 'Marsiling Baby' to hang for murder

He killed his girlfriend after finding her in bed with another man earlier

By Selina Lum

Pathip's claim that his mind went blank during the killing was not consistent with his actions, said the judge. -- PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

A 24-YEAR-OLD man was found guilty yesterday of murdering his 18-year-old girlfriend in Ang Mo Kio more than two years ago.

Friends and family of Pathip Selvan Sugumaran who packed the courtroom wailed as the High Court passed the mandatory death sentence on him for the murder of Miss Jeevitha Panippan.

The body of Miss Jeevitha, a private student and kindergarten teacher, was discovered on July 8, 2008, behind an electrical substation opposite Block 154, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5. She had 15 external injuries, out of which three wounds were fatal blows.

Pathip, who is known to his family and friends as 'Marsiling Baby', did not dispute that he killed her on the night of July 7, 2008.

But he claimed that he had been provoked by Miss Jeevitha who had taunted him by saying her new beau was better in bed. He said he lost self-control and his mind was 'blank' during the stabbing.

Defence psychiatrist Tommy Tan said Pathip has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a condition associated with impulsivity and rage, and that this abnormal mental state reduced his responsibility for the killing.

But these defences were rejected by the High Court yesterday.

Pathip and Miss Jeevitha became lovers in April 2008. A month into their relationship, she reported him to the police for rape - they had unprotected sex after an argument and she was worried about getting pregnant. But they continued to date.

On the morning of July 7, 2008, Pathip went to her flat at Block 157. When he peeped into her bedroom from outside, he saw her in bed with a man.

That evening, he bought a kitchen knife. He later told police that he wanted to use the knife to threaten her into telling the truth about the man.

On the same day, he met Miss Jeevitha and her mother at Block 155 and he said he wanted to marry her.

After the older woman went off, Pathip pulled her to the back of the substation and confronted her.

He said that when she told him that her new beau was better in bed, he whipped out the knife and stabbed her while she shouted 'I love you'. After she collapsed, he kissed her and removed a gold chain he had given her.

Later, Pathip and his mother crossed the Causeway but she returned to Singapore alone. The next day, he decided to return after she told him over the phone that the police would take her to the police station if he did not.

In his written judgment, Justice Kan Ting Chiu said Pathip's claim that his mind 'went blank' was not consistent with his actions. If that had happened, he would have been alarmed to see her bleeding when he snapped out of it, and would likely have called for help. Instead, he just left her there.

He also said the defence has not established that Pathip had ADHD. Reports from Pathip's days in school and national service showed that he functioned normally.

Justice Kan added that Pathip talked about his mind going blank only when he saw Dr Tan in October last year.

The judge said it was clear that Pathip's mental processes did not cease during the attack.

Pathip's lawyer, Mr Subhas Anandan, said his client would be appealing.

selinal@sph.com.sg

The truth behind Darren Ng's death - not just simple staring

Darren Ng, left, died from a fatal wound to the neck on the night of 30th Oct

Pro death penalty advocates in Singapore have been calling for the hanging of the 4 suspects caught after the crime scene at Downtown East that saw a 19 year old Polytechnic student brutally stabbed to death in public.

The reason for the strong reaction is easy to understand. The stabbing happened close to home - Downtown East, a holiday resort which most Singaporeans visit. Plus, these teenage boys must be hanged to give a strong signal to people who have the tendency to stab any passerbys looking in their general direction. Many Singaporeans call out with ease for the hanging of these assailants because if it happened to Darren Ng Wei Jie, it could also happen to anyone else. Anyone could become the next target, so let's hang them all to send a strong deterrence signal.

But is the story really that simple?

According to news report, Darren Ng's father told reporters that his son "died because of love for his friends". Mainstream news have all but reported the real story behind the stabbing, which occurred on the fateful night of 30th October 2010, preferring to go along the lines of a simple "staring incident" that caused Darren Ng's premature termination of life.

According to reliable sources, the lead assailant had been serving time in prison prior to the incident. Whether he was the one who actually wielded the weapon used against Darren in not known, but being a member of a certain gang triad, there was animosity brewing with another gang's member in prison, which happened to be Darren's friend. The connection with a certain triad is evident from a picture showing a tattoo on one of the assailant, Tang Jia Min, which was reported in the news.

When the lead assailant came out of prison, he was unable to locate Darren's friend. On the night Darren Ng was assaulted and killed at Downtown East, he recognised Darren's group of 3 as the friends of the enemy he made in prison.

This lead to a confrontation which resulted in a purchase of knives from the nearby supermarket and a mad 500m chase inside the holiday resort. Darren Ng was mobbed and stabbed repeatedly, one of which was fatal - a stab to Darren's throat which ripped his jugular vein. Darren died in hospital hours after the attack.

There are many questions left unanswered from the incident:

• Was Darren Ng murdered or mobbed (with weapons), which resulted in his death? (The implications are important as they decide the charge and sentence of the accused persons)
• Was it really a simple random staring incident resulting in a cold blooded murder?
• Did Darren try to stand up for his gang member friend, which resulted in a confrontation and the mob attack?
• How many of the dozen or so assailants were carrying weapons?
• Was there a real intention to murder Darren, or were the knives use with the intent to cause serous injuries?
• How many other suspects are still at large?
• If 10 men mobbed and caused the death of one person, should all 10 be charged for murder, a crime which carries mandatory death sentence?
• Out of the 4 arrested and charged for murder, who attacked Darren, how many were doing so because their peers were doing it?

Before these important questions can be answered, the unfortunate thing is that the public would have already formed their conclusion to the fate of the 4 who were first arrested, with some even calling for public execution for the "cold blooded murderers".

 Such is the ease at which Singaporeans call for the execution of these teenagers when they feel that their security have been compromised, regardless whether murder was the real intent when the assault took place, and regardless whether the mandatory death sentence actually works to prevent these crimes in the first place. This is the reason why the debate on the application of mandatory death penalty and death penalty must not be swept under the rug. Like the court of law, Singaporeans should know both sides to the story before forming a judgment on capital cases.

sgdeathpenalty

Singapore: Four youths to be charged with murder over staring incident

 

CNA: Police arrest four suspects over Downtown East murder

SINGAPORE: Police have arrested four Chinese male suspects, aged between 18 and 20 years old, in connection with the murder of a youth at Downtown East in Pasir Ris on Saturday.

Nineteen-year-old Darren Ng Wei Jie was attacked by a group. He sustained serious injuries and died in hospital.

In a statement issued on late Monday, police said they had followed up on all possible leads and conducted intensive round- the-clock investigations.

Officers from the Special Investigation Section of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) established the identities of the suspects aged between 18 and 20 years, and, with this lead, were able to swiftly round up the four men.

The case has been classified as murder, which carries the death penalty.

Police said investigations are still ongoing

Mr Ng, a Republic Polytechnic student, had been attacked and hacked several times by a group of men at about 6pm on Saturday.

He and two friends were believed to have been involved in a staring incident with the group earlier.

He was sent to Changi General Hospital with injuries and subsequently died at about 10.55pm on the same day.

Director of Criminal Investigation Department Senior Assistant Commissioner Ng Boon Gay commended the police officers for their extensive investigations and speed in apprehending the suspects.

He said, "Such violent behaviour and blatant disregard for the law will not be condoned. Police will see to it that those who perpetuate violence will be dealt with to the fullest extent of our laws."

The four suspects will be charged in court on Wednesday with murder. If convicted, they face the death penalty.

-CNA/de/wk

20 year old Singaporean charged for murder

The Straits Times: NSF faces 3 more charges


Soh Wee Kian was charged two weeks ago with the murder of clerk Hoe Hong Lin at Mandai Tekong Park in Woodlands during the Mid-Autumn Festival on Sept 22. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

THE Woodlands murder accused was charged with three counts of attempted murder on Friday.

Full-time national serviceman Soh Wee Kian, 20, was charged two weeks ago with the murder of clerk Hoe Hong Lin, 32, at Mandai Tekong Park in Woodlands during the Mid-Autumn Festival on Sept 22.

The first fresh charge accuses him of trying to murder Ms Ooi Li Li, 31, by using a knife to inflict injuries on her at the void deck of Block 171 Yishun Avenue 7 on the evening of Jan 29.

Four days later, he allegedly tried to kill Ms Lam Hui Lin, 23, along Khatib Bongsu Park Connector at Yishun Avenue 6 between 11am and 11.21am.

He is also accused of attempting to kill Ms How Poh Ling, 25, at the void deck of Block 588B Montreal Drive in Sembawang on the morning of May 26.

Soh was remanded for psychiatric assessment until Nov 19. His lawyer Josephus Tan had a brief word with him in court. Soh's biological father was among six people who came for the case.

If convicted of attempted murder, Soh can be jailed for up to life and liable to caning.

Singaporean faces death sentence for 20 years old robbery/murder case

Today Online: Facing the music, 20 years later

SINGAPORE - A 46-year-old man has been charged with a murder which took place more than 20 years ago.

Ong Seng Chuan is believed to be one of three men who robbed a coffeeshop and killed its owner Ling Ha Hiang, 74, on Dec 19, 1989.

Mr Ling, who ran Tien Wah Eating House at Block 529, Ang Mo Kio Street 51, was found with his hands and legs bound behind his back.

The old man's head was wrapped in masking tape and he suffocated to death.

Ong's two alleged accomplices have already been dealt with. Then-curry rice hawker, Sim Thiam Seng, had pleaded guilty in 1992 for the robbery.

Sim, who was 35 years old then, was jailed eight years and given 12 strokes of the cane.

His accomplice, Wong Oon Cheong, also 35 then, pleaded guilty a year later to manslaughter and robbery.

The then-welder was jailed 10 years and given 18 strokes of the cane.

Ong, who is believed to have been on the run, is now in remand.

He will be back in court on Friday and faces the death sentence if convicted. SHAFFIQ ALKHATIB

Duo saved from the gallows

SINGAPORE - The Court of Appeal clarified yesterday the scope of a criminal law provision enacted 138 years ago. And the court's interpretation of the meaning of common intention has saved the lives of two men headed for the gallows.

Daniel Vijay Katherasan and Christopher Samson Anpalagan, both 27, had been convicted of murder. But a 128-page written judgment from the highest court in the land has now found them guilty of robbery with hurt.

They were in a group of three who had robbed a lorry loaded with 2,700 mobile phones, worth $1.3 million, in May 2006. During the robbery along Changi Coast Road, Nakamuthu Balakrishnan, 51, bashed the lorry driver, Mr Wan Cheon Kem, with a baseball bat.

The Appellate Court ruled that Katherasan and Anpalagan shared no common intention with Balakrishnan to kill Mr Wan, nor did the duo intend to knock the latter unconscious.

While they knew violence would be necessary to carry out the robbery, Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, who delivered the judgment, said knowledge was not the same as intention.

"In short, there was no finding of a common intention among the Appellants to cause Wan's death or inflict any specific injury on Wan," he wrote.

In setting out a non-exhaustive list of various scenarios, the Court explained that an offender can only be said to have committed a crime with common intention if he had the same intention to commit the act done by the actual perpetrator.

Where murder is concerned, the Court ruled there must be a common intention to cause, specifically, an injury leading to the offence.

Katherasan and Anpalagan will be sentenced at a later date. 

The duo face a jail term of between five and 20 years and at least 12 strokes of the cane.


http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100910-0000100/Duo-saved-from-the-gallows