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Ahmad Danial Mohamed Rafa'ee, 37, who was accused of killing Felicia Teo Wei Ling on June 30, 2007, was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for the murder charge on Monday, June 27, The Straits Times and Today reported.

This comes 1.5 years after he was charged.

He has been in remand during this time.

ST reported that he is expected to plead guilty next week to unlawfully depositing her corpse in a public place.

Another man, Ragil Putra Setia Sukmarahjana, an Indonesian, who was also accused of the murder, is not in Singapore.

The prosecution called for a discharge for Ahmad, as Ragil, who was reported as age 32 in May 2022, is still at large.

This ruling means that Ahmad can still face prosecution for a related crime if any evidence or information emerges later.

Faces 6 charges of less serious nature

Ahmad, a Singaporean, now faces six fresh charges of a less serious nature over Teo’s death.

According to Today the six charges are:

• Two counts of fabricating false evidence

  • By making calls to Teo's phone, leaving her voicemails, and messaging her on social media to create a false impression that they believed she was still alive when they knew she was already dead.
  • By placing Teo's phone in the vicinity of East Coast Park to support lies given to the police that she had gone there.

• One count of dishonest misappropriation of property possessed by a deceased person at the time of their death by taking Teo's mobile phone, MacBook Pro, and Olympus DSLR camera with two lens.
• One count of omitting to give information about Teo's death on June 30, 2007 when he was legally bound to report a sudden or unnatural death to the police.
• One count of giving false information to two police officers that they did not know what happened to Teo after she left a party, intending for the police not to arrest them.
• One count of disposing of Teo's corpse in the vicinity of Punggol Track 24, under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.

Teo was last seen going to a flat at Block 19 Marine Terrace.

She was never found.

What was said in court

ST reported that the defence lawyer urged the court to grant Ahmad a discharge amounting to an acquittal, which means the accused cannot be charged with the same offence in the future.

However, the defence lawyer argued that without receiving an acquittal, the murder charge will hang over Ahmad indefinitely.

District Judge Eugene Teo noted the defence lawyer's concern and said the discharge without amounting to an acquittal will be reviewed later.

According to Today, he also said the one-and-a-half years the accused was held was not for futile reasons,

Ahmad has been remanded since his arrest in mid-December 2020, Today reported.

Murder is a non-bailable offence in Singapore.

He was offered bail of S$20,000 on Monday.

Progress of investigations

Police in Singapore only began trying to trace Ragil when Ahmad was arrested in December 2020, Today reported, and the arrest resulted in "new facts" during investigations, said deputy public prosecutors Yang Ziliang and R Arvindren, who also argued that Ahmad has not been prejudiced.

The defence lawyer told the court his client was surprised he was charged with murder in the first place as no victim's body was found, according to Today.

The authorities here have found a fragment of a skull around where Ahmad said he and Ragil had disposed of Teo's corpse and wanted to send a fragment of the bone to the United States for mitochondrial testing.

Ahmad's defence lawyer said that he had not been informed of the results of the tests.

He added that he had lodged formal complaints to the police, who treated Ahmad's wife with "disdain and impunity", and the police head of investigations had apologised.

The six fresh charges had also come three days late, the defence lawyer said.

In response, DPP Yang said Ahmad's own doing led to the current state of affairs as he had lied to the police in 2007 and time is needed to determine who the skull belongs to, Today reported.

Singapore has also sent a request to the Indonesian authorities over Ragil, the DPP said.

About the case

Ahmad and Ragil were believed to have been the last to see Teo, 19, alive at Block 19 Marine Terrace between 1.39am and 7.20am on June 30, 2007.

She had gone to the Housing and Development Board flat for a party.

The three are said to have been friends, and studied at Lasalle College of the Arts.

Teo's disappearance sparked a search by some 200 friends and family.

The case was reported in the media.

Ragil remains at large and is believed to be in Jakarta, Indonesia, based on last location as listed on his LinkedIn profile.

Teo had gotten to know Ragil first; they were about the same age.

Ragil then introduced Teo to Ahmad, who was about three years older.

Ahmad and Ragil claimed that Teo had left on her own after they complained about her mobile phone's ringtone.

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage retrieved from the town council showed Teo going up to the flat via the lift with the two men.

She was not seen on camera leaving.

The police said they searched the flat and reviewed nearby CCTV footage after the disappearance, but nothing incriminating was found.

The case turned cold and it became a missing persons case.

The CID uncovered new leads in 2020 when the case was referred to them for a fresh review.

They were tracing the items believed to be in Teo’s possession when she was reported missing and its officers managed to link one of the items to Ahmad and arrested him.

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Top images from Danial Enemiko Facebook & findfelicia blogspot