Man, 63, gets life imprisonment for pouring boiling oil & stabbing co-tenant to death at Redhill flat in 2023

A 63-year-old man was handed life imprisonment for the murder of his co-tenant in 2023.

Ng Boon Hong, then 59, was accused of stabbing the victim to death in their shared one-room flat at Block 90, Redhill Close, sometime between 11pm on Mar. 15, 2023 and Mar. 16, 2023.

He was convicted on charges of murder on Jul. 1, when he appeared in court from remand.

Incident

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Ng and the deceased, 61-year-old Ang Cheng Kek, had shared a one-room rental flat since Dec. 28, 2022.

The unit was equipped with a wireless alert alarm system, a distress button which seniors living in public rental flats could use to call for help in emergencies.

Both men were unemployed at the time of the incident.

As a result of the small shared space, the pair had a history of disputes.

On one occasion, Ang lodged a police report claiming that Ng had threatened to kill him after he refused to lend money to the accused.

Ang also caused Ng inconveniences whenever he brought his girlfriend to the unit, which would require Ng to leave.

Murder

At about 11pm on Mar. 15, 2023, Ng became upset after Ang's act of slamming the front door woke him from his sleep, prompting an argument.

After Ng was unable to fall back asleep past midnight, he became frustrated and decided to kill Ang.

He planned to do so at around 2am, believing his neighbours would be asleep and unlikely to hear any noise.

However, he wanted to inflict pain on Ang to prevent him from dying "easily" and decided to inflict pain by pouring boiling oil on him before stabbing him to death.

As he heated a pot of cooking oil over the stove, he also added bits of blackened chilli into it as he believed doing so would inflict greater pain.

Ng took care to shut the windows in the unit so that neighbours would not be alerted to any noise.

He also checked that the lights in the neighbouring units upstairs and downstairs were switched off to confirm that they were asleep.

After the oil was boiled at about 2:10am, he then picked up an 18cm knife that had been recently sharpened and approached Ang, who was sleeping with his blanket over his head.

When Ng poured the oil on Ang's face, the latter woke up immediately and stood on the bed.

Ng then stabbed him in the stomach twice, partially disembowelling him.

Ang attempted to grab Ng's hand and asked in Hokkien, "Why do this?"

Bleeding profusely, he then approached the main door before squatting down.

Ng was concerned that Ang would press the distress button and stood in front of it to block him.

After Ang repeatedly asked Ng to call an ambulance, Ng became offended as he perceived it as an insinuation that Ang thought he was foolish enough to call for help, which would likely lead to his arrest.

He then slashed the knife across Ang's neck, face, back and stomach repeatedly, even after Ang collapsed to a kneeling position.

At one point, he also stabbed Ang in the mouth after the latter slipped on his own blood.

After Ang fell to the ground and became motionless, Ng called out to him and knew he was dead after he did not receive a response.

Confessed his crime

Following the attack, Ng took Ang's bedsheet and spread it across the floor as a makeshift passage over the bloodstains.

He then found S$3,001.50 in cash belonging to Ang and pocketed it.

After placing the knife in the sink and washing his hands, he also took a shower and changed his clothes.

Before leaving the house at 2:31am, he threw Ang's phone into a water-filled fish tank to disable it and prevent Ang's acquaintances from reaching him.

Ng took a taxi to a 24-hour coffeeshop in Ang Mo Kio, where he stayed until dawn.

He then took a bus to a temple in Bencoolen Street and confessed to the Goddess of Mercy that he had killed Ang, then vowed to surrender to the police after spending all his money.

Next, he took a bus to Geylang, where he spent his money on beer, expensive food, and tips for Vietnamese women for entertainment.

He then checked into a nearby hotel with a Vietnamese woman, where he drank heavily before falling asleep.

At about 8am on Mar. 17, 2023, Ng checked out of the hotel and took a bus to Chinatown for breakfast before surrendering to the police at Bukit Merah East Neighbourhood Police Centre.

He was arrested, charged in court on Mar. 18, 2023, and has remained in remand since.

Verdict

An autopsy found 35 wounds on Ang's body, including 24 caused by a sharp object and 11 burns, bruises and abrasions.

The cause of death was identified as multiple stab injuries to the abdomen.

While the hot oil caused sharp pain, it was found to have not played a role in Ang's death.

Ng was assessed by psychiatrists and was cleared of any mental or intellectual disabilities, despite functioning in the borderline range of intellectual activity.

He also did not suffer from any mental disorder and was not of unsound mind at the time of the offence, which implied he was aware of the nature and wrongfulness of his actions.

On Jul. 1, Ng appeared in court in a purple jumpsuit and was communicated with via a Hokkien translator, where he did not contest any of the charges.

Ng's lawyer sought life imprisonment, to which the prosecution did not object.

The judge said that he took into account factors pertaining to the case, including Ng's age and intelligence level, and the fact that the killing took place in the context of ongoing disputes between Ng and Ang.

Citing remorse shown by Ng through his own surrendering to the police and confession to the Goddess of Mercy, he handed Ng life imprisonment, backdated to the date of his arrest on Mar. 17, 2023.