Man who killed supervisor, dumped her body in drain gets life imprisonment and caning

SINGAPORE: A cleaner who killed his supervisor at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and fled to Malaysia for his wedding with the victim's gold jewellery was sentenced on Wednesday (Nov 4) to life imprisonment and 18 strokes of the cane.

Malaysian Ahmad Muin Yaacob, 27, was found guilty of a lesser charge of murder, which does not carry the mandatory death penalty.

Justice Aedit Abdullah said it is sufficient and appropriate to impose life imprisonment.

"Given the aggravating features here, particularly the severity of the attack, in which a weapon was used, as well as the accompanying theft of items which were sold or pawned by the defendant, 18 strokes of the cane is also imposed," he said.

Ahmad Muin had killed Ms Maimunah Awang, 54, with a grass cutter at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal on Nov 24, 2016 after an argument.

He picked up a pair of grass cutters in a pail on the floor in the cleaners' room and thrust the blades into the woman's chest, before hitting her repeatedly on the head with the weapon.

He then took two gold necklaces and two gold bracelets from her before dumping her body into a 1.8m-deep drain outside the room, replacing the covers so no one would find her.

Ahmad Muin then fled to Malaysia where he used some of the money from pawning the jewellery to pay the dowry for his new wife, gambling another portion of the cash.

READ: Man stands trial for killing supervisor at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, dumping body in drain

The victim's daughter lodged a police report when she could not find her mother, and the victim's body was discovered in the drain a day after the murder.

The accused got married as planned, but the Royal Malaysian Police soon caught him. He was taken back to Singapore and charged with murder.

The prosecution called for 24 strokes of the cane, saying that Ahmad Muin's conduct after the offence showed a lack of remorse.

"The accused tried to make sure that the deceased’s body would not be found easily by throwing her into the drain and placing the drain cover. He took pains to clean up the crime scene. He also stole her jewellery and mobile phone, fled to Malaysia and pawned the jewellery for his personal expenditures," said the prosecutors.

The attack on the woman twice his age was also "persistent and brutal", with the man continuing to hit her with the handle of the grass cutters after she had slumped to the ground, they said.

He hit her repeatedly until he observed blood flowing and the woman gasping for air. He proceeded to conceal her body.

Defence lawyers Eugene Thuraisingam, Chooi Jing Yen and Johannes Hadi said the victim had called Ahmad Muin's family "bodoh" or stupid during their argument.

They said Ahmad Muin cooperated fully with the authorities, recording eight statements and going on a visit to the scene.

"Ahmad Muin is remorseful and regrets his actions. His wife has divorced him. He will spend the rest of his life away from his family and native land, reliving the events of that terrible, fateful day which have led him to where he is now," said his lawyers.