Maid on trial for murdering employer's 70-year-old mother-in-law, leaving 26 stab wounds

SINGAPORE: A domestic helper from Myanmar went on trial on Tuesday (Nov 9) for murdering her employer's 70-year-old mother-in-law about a month into her employment in Singapore.

Zin Mar Nwe allegedly stabbed the elderly woman 26 times with a knife as the victim watched television at home, after the victim said she would be sent back to her agent.

The court heard that Zin Mar Nwe arrived in Singapore on Jan 5, 2018, and her passport reflected her age as 23 at the time. 

However, investigations later revealed that she was 17 and that she was instructed by her agent to declare her age as 23. A bone-age test conducted by a hospital confirmed that she was most likely only 17 at the time of the incident.

The court heard that Zin Mar Nwe began working for the victim's son-in-law, named only as B1 in court documents, on May 10, 2018.

The man lived in a flat with his wife and two teenage daughters. His mother-in-law arrived in Singapore from India on May 26, 2018 and intended to stay with the family for a month.

The victim, as well as her family members and the location of the incident, cannot be named due to gag orders imposed by the court.

Zin Mar Nwe was paid S$450 monthly, a portion of which was used towards the monthly repayment of a loan to her maid agency.

THE DAY OF THE INCIDENT

On Jun 25, 2018, Zin Mar Nwe woke up at 4.30am and prepared the man's breakfast, before cleaning the house. She took a nap and later cleaned her room.

By this time, at about 11.30am, she was at home alone with the victim. The victim asked Zin Mar Nwe to place a plastic sheet over the table, and asked her to shift a sofa against a wall.

Zin Mar Nwe complied with both orders. Between 11.27am and 12.17pm, Zin Mar Nwe took a knife from the kitchen, approached the victim as she was lying down on the sofa in the living room to watch television, and stabbed her multiple times until she stopped moving.

After this, Zin Mar Nwe ransacked a bedroom, broke a lock on a cupboard and retrieved her belongings including some money that belonged to her.

She washed the knife in the kitchen and left it there, changed into a dress and left the flat with her belongings.

Her employer called the police that afternoon, and the victim was found lying in the flat with all her jewellery intact on her.

An autopsy found that she had died of acute haemorrhage from multiple stab wounds including one that perforated her heart. Some stab wounds also penetrated her lungs, and there were defensive injuries on her forearms.

Zin Mar Nwe was captured on closed-circuit television footage walking to her maid agency, requesting fruitlessly for her passport before wandering around parts of Singapore.

She was arrested at the maid agency that same evening when she returned there.

A driver of a taxi she had taken found a plastic bag containing S$114 in the rear passenger seat and traced it to Zin Mar Nwe's maid agency.

However, Zin Mar Nwe said the bag did not belong to her. Forensic examination found that the bag and four dollar notes were stained with Zin Mar Nwe's blood.

Zin Mar Nwe was examined by doctors and lacerations were found on her hand, but no abrasions or bruises were noted on her face.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Kumaresan Gohulabalan and Sean Teh said they would lead evidence from 63 witnesses to prove the single charge of murder against the accused.

They said Zin Mar Nwe woke up at about 5.30am and went to bed around 11pm during the course of her employment and had no complaints about the family or her working conditions by her own statements. She was also allowed to make multiple phone calls to her relatives in Myanmar.

Zin Mar Nwe allegedly stabbed the victim after the deceased got upset with her and said loudly: "Tomorrow, you go agent."

The defence lawyers, who are representing the accused under the Legal Assistance Scheme for Capital Offences, are likely to rely on the defence of diminished responsibility.

They are likely to rely on a psychiatric report that states Zin Mar Nwe was suffering from either mixed anxiety and depressive reaction, or adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, which substantially impaired her mental responsibility for the acts.

ACCUSED'S CLAIMS OF ABUSE

The first witness, the lead investigating officer on the case, testified that Zin Mar Nwe had made allegations against the victim.

She claimed that the victim had scalded her with a heated pan and hit her on her head or body with crockery or with her bare hands. She also claimed that the victim had kicked her chest once, when she was cutting the victim's toenails.

According to the investigating officer, Zin Mar Nwe said she "felt very angry" and "felt very tight" at the time of the incident, and said she held the knife in her hand and approached the victim while shaking and feeling an indescribable feeling.

In cross-examination of the investigating officer, defence lawyer Christopher Bridges pointed out Zin Mar Nwe's diary entries. In them, she wrote: "I miss my home very much", adding that she felt "so sad".

"Came to Singapore to support my family so they can stay happy," she wrote. "Faced with so many difficulties."

Mr Bridges asked the investigating officer if these entries showed that Zin Mar Nwe missed her family very much and had difficulty adapting to working in Singapore. The investigating officer agreed that "it does suggest so".

Upon further questioning, he agreed that theft was not a motive in his investigations, and that the most likely motive was the alleged abuse Zin Mar Nwe suffered, coupled with the "trigger event" where the victim told her she would be sent back to her agent.

At the time, she owed more than S$3,000 in debts, Mr Bridges said. 

The trial continues in the afternoon. If convicted of murder, Zin Mar Nwe can be sentenced to death or life imprisonment. She cannot be caned as she is a woman.