A woman in Tampines died on Feb. 10 after she was found stabbed, and her husband, who was the suspected assailant, also died shortly after when he was found motionless in Punggol.

In an interview with Shin Min Daily News on Feb. 14, a friend of the deceased husband disclosed that the couple had known each other since they were in primary school.

The friend said the wife's job promotion could have caused the couple's relationship to go downhill and she had planned to file for a divorce.

Loving husband and father

Speaking to Shin Min on Feb. 13, the close friend of the deceased man pointed out that despite only attaining primary school qualification, the husband had always been a good spouse who took care of the family and loved his wife.

The friend who wanted to remain anonymous said the couple were loving, but the relationship between the two allegedly started to sour after the wife got promoted to the position of a principal in a kindergarten.

The source also said that the deceased woman had plans to file for divorce, but the deceased man vehemently refused to sign the papers, hence they remained husband and wife.

The source said: "He had always cherished this marriage and sacrificed a lot for his family. He really cherished his wife and have taken responsibility to support the family, and even approached his mother-in-law a couple of times to ask for a reconciliation."

The couple leaves behind three teenage children.

Almost fainted from the news

Upon hearing about the deaths from their grandson, the deceased man's elderly parents almost fainted.

The friend also disclosed, the deceased man's family initially were unaware about what had happened.

Subsequently, the younger members of the family saw the news online and the pictures of the deceased, but the family was still not convinced, believing that someone had fabricated fake news.

In the end, they gained confirmation of the tragedy upon being contacted by relatives and the daughter of the deceased man.

The child of the late couple had confirmed the news of her parents death, and remained with the family of the deceased woman.

Hoped wife and kids would return home

The deceased man had tried ways to win back his wife, Shin Min reported.

The source said: "After his wife brought their daughter back to her parents' home, he returned to the Punggol flat to clean everyday. He believed his wife did not wish to see him so he would rather sleep in his car at night, hoping that his wife would return home one day with the children."

On the surface, the couple appeared normal.

The friend also disclosed that the deceased man and his wife would always visit his parents for reunion dinners in previous years.

They even took a family picture to commemorate the moment in 2018, which the second daughter had uploaded to Facebook.

The friend said she believes the relationship between the couple was still good at that time but only friends were able to see it.

No mourning hall

The friend shared with Shin Min that the last time she had contacted the deceased man was a few days ago.

At that time, the deceased man claimed he did not have violent tendencies.

The source said: "He was very frugal and believed in saving his money for his three children, so his family will not set up a mourning hall for him."

The deceased woman's mother reportedly said she will be taking care of her three grandchildren.

Top images from Shin Min Daily News and Facebook.