Boon Tat Street death: Man admits to stabbing son-in-law over mistreatment of daughter and business takeover
Tan Nam Seng arriving at the State Courts on July 12, 2017. (Photo: Robin Choo/TODAY)
SINGAPORE: Unhappy at his son-in-law for cheating on his daughter and forcing him out of the company, a man took a knife to meet the younger man and stabbed him in broad daylight at a coffee shop, later telling passers-by not to help him but let him die.
Tan Nam Seng, now 72, pleaded guilty on Thursday (Aug 20) to one count of culpable homicide not amounting to murder by stabbing 38-year-old Spencer Tuppani at 121 Telok Ayer Street in July 2017.
Tan was suffering from major depressive disorder at the time, ruminating overwhelmingly about the well-being of his daughter and having his mental responsibility for the killing significantly impaired, the prosecution said.
The court heard that Tan was semi-retired at the time of the offence. He had founded a port management services company TNS Shipping in 1974 and expanded it over the years in a family-run business that saw his three daughters working for him.
After Mr Tuppani married Tan's eldest daughter in 2005, he began working for Tan as well in one of the companies.Â
The company did not perform well for four years from 2012, and when business improved in 2016, Mr Tuppani suggested selling it to a bigger corporation. Tan left the sale to his son-in-law as he was contemplating retirement.
Leading up to the sale, Mr Tuppani persuaded some of the shareholders including his wife and the accused to assign their shares to him to boost his stake in the company, so the buyer of the company would not have control of it.
They agreed and the sale went through, with Mr Tuppani appointed CEO of the firm in December 2016. However, Tan was unhappy as he received only about S$450,000 from the sale of his shares.
VICTIM HAD AFFAIR WITH ANOTHER WOMAN, HAD TWO KIDS WITH HER
In early 2017, his daughter found out that Mr Tuppani had been having an affair with another woman and had two children from the affair. Mr Tuppani had three other kids with Tan's daughter.
They agreed to get a divorce, but still lived together in the same household as Tan, frequently quarrelling over issues linked to the split.
Subsequent events led Tan to believe that Mr Tuppani was planning to cheat him of his business, by divorcing his daughter after taking control of all the shares.
He began feeling miserable, ruminating excessively about his son-in-law's actions and was unable to sleep at night, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Jian Yi.
At around lunchtime on Jul 10, 2017, Tan went to the company's office at Cecil Court, and saw Mr Tuppani having a meal at a coffee shop at 121 Telok Ayer Street as he was driving past.
Angry that his son-in-law had been ignoring and avoiding his attempts to discuss business matters, which he considered disrespectful, Tan decided to confront the younger man.
He was shown in closed-circuit television footage, played in court on Thursday, entering the office and rummaging around in the pantry before retrieving a knife which he kept in his sling bag.
THE STABBING
He went to the coffee shop, where his son-in-law was having lunch with three friends. After Mr Tuppani greeted him, Tan confronted the younger man and said in Hokkien: "You are too much."
Tan swiftly took out the 22cm-long knife from his bag and stabbed Mr Tuppani three times in quick succession, as seen in clips played in court. His daughter was in the public gallery, dressed in black.
Mr Tuppani ran towards Boon Tat Street while pursued by his father-in-law. He was shown stumbling and getting up along a shop before collapsing.Â
Tan appeared soon after and stood over him. He stopped employees of the restaurant where his son-in-law had collapsed in front of, from helping the victim.
He pushed them away, saying: "This is my son-in-law, don't help him, let him die."
The passers-by were shown walking away, and when other passers-by tried to help, Tan told them to "stay away", saying: "He has come here to die" and "I wish to kill him".
Tan was shown kicking his son-in-law's face twice as Mr Tuppani lay on the floor, before waiting for the police to arrive.
While waiting, he called his daughter and told her he had stabbed the younger man thrice.
He said: "I can't sleep at night. I have done it. I have killed him. Don't cry. I am old already. I am not scared (of) going to jail."
His daughter cried over the phone and told her father not to do anything, but Tan replied: "What's done cannot be undone."
ACCUSED WAS SUFFERING FROM MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDERÂ
The police arrived shortly after the stabbing and found Tan sitting calmly on a chair outside the restaurant with a blood-stained knife on a tray nearby and the victim lying motionless on the floor.
Tan told the police where the knife was and pointed to the victim, and said he had used the weapon on his son-in-law.
The victim was taken to hospital and pronounced dead soon after. Tan told the police in the car that he was unhappy with how the victim had mistreated his daughter, and added that he had tried approaching the victim a few times to sort things out, but things had not changed.
An autopsy found three stab wounds on the victim's shoulder and chest, with the cause of death certified as a perforating stab wound.
Tan was examined at the Institute of Mental Health and found to be suffering from major depressive disorder. At the time of the offence, he was experiencing a major depressive episode.
"The accused’s pervasive dysphoric state, diminished ability to concentrate, negative cognition of helplessness, as well as overwhelming ruminations and worries about the well-being of his daughters would have adversely affected his impulse control and judgment at the time of the alleged offence, and significantly impaired his mental responsibility for the alleged murder," said the IMH report.
Tan, who had lost a lot of weight since his charge for the original offence of murder three years ago, is represented by lawyer Wee Pan Lee.
The prosecution asked for an adjournment to prepare more submissions for sentencing, and was granted one.
Both sides will return at a later date for sentencing.
For culpable homicide not amounting to murder, Tan could be jailed for life. He cannot be caned as he is above 50.
