A 51-year-old Malaysian man, Boh Soon Ho, has claimed trial on Sep. 18 for the murder of a 28-year-old woman from China, attempting to have sex with her corpse, and stealing her phone and cash afterwards.

According to Today, the incident happened on March 21, 2016, when the woman, Zhang Huaxiang, rejected his sexual advances at Boh's rented flat along Circuit Road in MacPherson.

In response, Boh strangled Zhang with a bath towel in anger, then stripped her, took photos of her corpse and attempted to have sex with the body, although he failed as he could not keep his erection, CNA reported.

Wanted the woman to be his girlfriend

The High Court further heard that the man wanted to make the woman his girlfriend and that the case was "a murder driven by jealousy, rage and unrequited desire", according to Deputy Public Prosecutor Wong Kok Weng.

Boh and Zhang had first met in 2011, when they were working at the staff cafeteria in Marina Bay Sands Resort.

Wong noted that while Boh considered Zhang his girlfriend, she did not reciprocate his feelings.

As such, while the pair had gone out together to shop and eat together, they were not physically intimate.

Grew suspicious when she began turning down his invitations

Subsequently, in March 2016, Zhang began turning down Boh's invitations and he began to grow suspicious.

This led to Boh spying on Zhang's flat from the block opposite hers, on four or five occasions, both Today and CNA reported.

Boh then grew "increasingly jealous" when he saw Zhang leaving her flat with another man in a taxi on March 18, 2016.

Arranged for steamboat on day of murder, forced himself on her

Boh then arranged for a steamboat lunch with Zhang three days later, at his rental flat in Circuit Road.

After their meal, Boh hugged Zhang from behind while she was combing her hair in front of his bedroom mirror, and said that he wanted sex.

Wong added that Zhang scolded him in Chinese, saying "Crazy, go away!"

However, Boh pushed her onto the bed and attempted to kiss her again, resulting in Zhang warning him that she would bite off his tongue and shout for help.

He then forced his hands under her clothes and caressed her breasts.

Angered when he found out other man was woman's ex-boyfriend

Afterwards, Boh brought up the man that he had seen her with three days before the steamboat.

In response, Zhang told Boh that the man was her ex-boyfriend, whom she had gone out with on four to five occasions, and that it was normal for her to be intimate with him.

Strangled with bath towel, face turned black

Furious at her response, Boh took a bath towel, which he tied around her neck, and strangled her from behind.

Wong highlighted that Boh strangled her for about two minutes before letting go, and that he noticed afterwards that her face had turned black.

Still wanted to satisfy his sexual desires

Boh still wanted to satisfy his sexual desires.

He stripped down to his underwear, removed the clothes from Zhang's body, took photos of her body, licked it, then tried to have sex with her corpse.

However, he was unable to sustain his erection.

Fled country afterwards

Boh then made plans to flee Singapore by packing his clothes, disposing of Zhang's belongings, and taking her cash of S$50 and phone.

He also attempted to get rid of the corpse at first, although he realised that he could not bend the corpse and pack it into his luggage for disposal at an undergrowth, as rigor mortis had already set in.

He further considered chopping the corpse up but decided to just leave it in the unit in the end.

Boh subsequently fled Singapore to his younger sister's home in Malacca, Malaysia, on March 22, 2016, and confessed the killing to her.

Landlord discovers corpse

CNA reported that the corpse was discovered by his landlord, Chai Yong Siong, on the day he fled.

As per Chai, when he pulled away the blanket covering Zhang's body:

"To my horror, all I saw was the face of the deceased, which was darkened. (It was obvious) she was dead, and I let out a loud shout."

Chai then called the police.

On March 23, Chai received a call from Boh, on an unknown Malaysian number, who told him that he was now in Kuala Lumpur and that he was the one who had strangled Zhang.

The two continued to keep in contact via calls and messages over the next few days, with Chai sending the exchanges to the police.

Boh was eventually arrested by Malaysian police on April 4, 2016, and brought back to Singapore on April 5.

Accused knew what he was doing

A psychologist from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) found that Boh did not meet the criteria for intellectual disability, while a IMH psychiatrist added that Boh had the mental capacity to know the nature and wrongfulness of his act.

Should Boh be found guilty of murder, he will either be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.

However, he cannot be caned as he is above 50.

Top image screenshot from Google Maps