Warning: This article contains descriptions of suicide. Reader discretion is advised.

A funeral director who allegedly helped her ex-boyfriend kill himself has claimed trial to her charges.

Alverna Cher Sheue Pin, 41, denied intentionally aiding Wee Jun Xiang, 32, to die by nitrogen gas in his car.

She also denied that she obstructed justice by removing evidence and lying to the police.

Charge downgraded from culpable homicide

According to CNA, The Straits Times and Shin Min Daily News, Cher was initially charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

After the homicide charge was downgraded to a charge of intentionally aiding the suicide of another, Cher was set to plead guilty in July 2023.

However, she has since denied her charges, and the trial commenced on Oct. 27, 2023.

Beneficiary of ex-boyfriend's S$1 million life policy

According to documents seen by CNA, the prosecution and defence agreed on various facts relating to the case, including certain details leading up to Wee’s death.

The documents stated that Cher and Wee dated from early 2019 to October 2019 and remained friends since they broke up.

In February 2020, Wee shared his intention to commit suicide with Cher and penned a suicide note to her and some of his family members.

Wee bought various insurance policies, planning to leave money behind for family members and Cher after his death.

Amongst them was a S$1 million life policy Wee had bought in 2019, with Cher as one of the beneficiaries.

Discussed how to make death appear natural

Wee also asked Cher how to make his death appear natural.

Cher replied that Wee would need to have a medical history or a family doctor to help show that his death from a heart attack would appear natural.

She also told Wee that if she were the first to find his body, she could claim it without police involvement.

In May 2020, Wee messaged Cher about cases of people killing themselves with nitrogen gas and said he intended to take his own life within the month or next.

Cher offered to be the executor of his assets, encouraged him to have a funeral and said she would arrange a write-up done by a reporter.

Had "trial run" and also "Plan B"

Wee then planned for his suicide to take place in his car, using a nitrogen gas tank.

With Cher’s advice, Wee went to see a doctor to complain of “chest pains”.

They also planned his funeral and how to handle his properties after his death.

The duo not only had a “trial run” for the suicide but also agreed on a “Plan B”.

According to Shin Min, the backup plan was for him to commit suicide by falling from a height.

Wore gloves to not leave fingerprints on ex-boyfriend's car

CNA further reported that, according to court documents, on May 16, 2020, the day the suicide plan was carried out, Wee drove his Audi with the nitrogen gas tank to a multi-storey car park along Bedok Reservoir Road.

An hour after Wee messaged her that he had commenced the plan, Cher drove a van to the car park and parked it beside Wee’s car.

She noticed the windows were not fully closed, and smoke was coming from the rear seat.

Cher then put on latex gloves to prevent leaving any prints and opened the front passenger door to see Wee alive and conscious in the driver’s seat.

She then sat in the front passenger seat.

Dispute with prosecution on what happened in the car

What happened in the car was disputed by the prosecution and defence, but they agreed that after Cher left the car, she returned later in the afternoon to find Wee dead.

She then removed a bag which had liquid nitrogen in it from the floorboard and threw it in a rubbish bin at a nearby estate.

She called Wee’s doctor and a freelance undertaker to the scene.

After the doctor pronounced Wee dead, he asked Cher to call the police.

Before the police arrived, the freelance undertaker swapped vehicles with Cher and drove a nitrogen gas tank away.

Claims ex-boyfriend filled bag of liquid nitrogen himself

During the trial, the prosecution claimed that Cher was the one who poured liquid nitrogen into a bag before placing it on the floorboard of the left rear seat of the car.

The prosecution said that the nitrogen gas tank had been removed from Wee’s car and placed in Cher’s vehicle.

However, Cher denied the prosecution’s claims.

According to Shin Min, the defence claimed that Wee had tried to turn on the valve of the nitrogen tank, but only “white smoke” came out of it.

Hence, the defence claimed that Wee took the tank out of the car, poured liquid nitrogen into a bag, and brought the bag of liquid nitrogen along with him back into his vehicle.

The trial continues.

Top image via & Lianhe Wanbao