Part-time pastor in M'sia allegedly murdered & stored his mum, 77, in a freezer for 3 years

A part-time pastor in Malaysia allegedly punched his 77-year-old mother to death.

The 53-year-old then proceeded to wrap his mother, Catherine Daniel, in a towel and plastic sheets, before storing her body in a freezer, sometime between Mar. 21 and Mar. 26, 2021, Malay Mail reported.

Daniel's body was only discovered three years later, when Deanesh called the police to surrender himself on Nov. 12, 2024.

When police arrived at his house in Taman Overseas Union Garden in Kuala Lumpur, he was apparently standing next to the freezer containing his mother's remains.

At the time of his surrender, he claimed to have run out of savings and to be suffering from chronic health issues.

Dispute over religious beliefs

Deanesh apparently admitted to the police that he had murdered his mother in 2021 to "send her to heaven" following a dispute over religious beliefs.

Police said that findings from early post-mortem reports indicated that his mother had suffered “chest injuries due to blunt trauma”.

Deanesh Narayanan Nair arrived at the Magistrates Court in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 26, 2024, without a lawyer.

Wheelchair-bound and dishevelled-looking, Deanesh was charged in court.

If found guilty, he could face the death penalty or 30 to 40 years’ imprisonment, as well as a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane.

Deanesh said he understood the charge as it was read out to him before Magistrate Atiqah Mohamed.

"Faham (I understand)," he reportedly said.

No plea was recorded as the offence is under the High Court’s jurisdiction.

Friendly with neighbours

Deanesh's neighbours told Malaysian media Harian Metro that he was friendly and would usually greet them, even chatting from time to time.

The neighbours also said Deanesh's mother had her own house, and would visit him frequently as he lived alone and was unmarried.

However, Deanesh's neighbours said they had not seen him since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Malaysia had then instituted a Movement Control Order, a series of quarantine measures consisting of lockdowns.

The Magistrates Court denied Deanesh bail and scheduled Feb. 7, 2025, for the case to be mentioned again.

Post-mortem, medical and DNA matching reports are also pending.

Top photo from Canva.