Singaporean man extradited from Malaysia for alleged Beach Road murder remanded for psychiatric observation
A 50-year-old man was detained in Malaysia on Nov 15 for his suspected involvement in the unnatural death of a 27-year-old woman. (Photo: Singapore Police Force)
SINGAPORE: A man who was brought back to Singapore from Malaysia for the alleged murder of his business partner will be remanded for psychiatric observation, a court ordered on Friday (Dec 9).
Caleb Joshua Chai Shanmugam, a 50-year-old Singaporean, spoke up briefly during the hearing and said it was his wife who made the police report.
His lawyer, Ms Sophia Clare Ng, stopped him from saying anything further and said she would make arrangements to speak to him.
Chai was charged in November with the murder of 27-year-old Ang Qi Ying.
He is accused of causing her death through unspecified means at about 7pm on Nov 9 at Block 2, Beach Road.
Ms Ang was reported missing on the evening of Nov 10. Chai left Singapore for Malaysia that same morning.
On Nov 13, police officers went to a shop along Beach Road to investigate a case of unnatural death and found Ms Ang dead in the premises.
Chai was nabbed in Johor Bahru on Nov 16, after the Singapore Police Force sought assistance from their Malaysian counterparts to locate him.
Chai was in hospital for unspecified reasons when he was charged. He appeared in court via video-link on Thursday, wearing a red top and blue mask.
The police prosecutor said Chai was no longer required for custody for investigations, but asked that he be remanded for psychiatric observation.
The defence had no objection, but said she understood that the prosecution did not object to her seeing her client, as well as for Chai to see his wife.
The prosecutor said he was "not made known of this arrangement", to which the defence said the prosecution had told her about it in a text message the day before.
The police prosecutor told the defence to check with the assigned deputy public prosecutor before seeing Chai.
The judge then granted the application to have Chai remanded for psychiatric observation.
At the end of the hearing, Chai spoke up.
"Just a question," he said. "I just want to clarify something right here. When I was in ... My wife is the one who made the police report, saying whatever I've done ..."
At this point, his lawyer cut in and Chai stopped speaking.
His case will be heard again later this month. If convicted of murder, he could be sentenced to death.
