2024 Beach Road murder: Woman jailed 12 years for fatally stabbing married lover, did so over money issues

A woman has been sentenced to 12 years' jail for fatally stabbing her lover after their relationship went south under the weight of money troubles.

According to CNA, Li Ye, a Chinese national who was 37 at the time of the killing, pleaded guilty on Jul. 24 to one count of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

She'd attacked her 56-year-old lover, who was married to another woman, at the City Gate condominium on May 8, 2024.

She was previously charged with murder.

Was working as a nightclub manager

Li, now 40, was working as a performance artiste manager at a nightclub that the man frequented when they met in September 2019.

He told her he was in the midst of divorcing his wife, and the two began a romantic relationship in mid-2020.

Li and her son soon moved in with him and he covered the rent for their apartment.

The couple later moved into the unit along Beach Road where the stabbing would eventually take place, with the man paying S$3,200 in rent.

Continued supporting her

In late 2021, the man quit his job but told Li he could keep supporting her and her son through income from forex trading.

A few months later, Li's daughter from a previous marriage joined them from China. She had her children call the man "daddy" and treat him like a godfather figure.

Later that year, the man invested S$30,000 to help Li start a fashion boutique at Parklane Mall.

He also paid a separate S$2,000 monthly rent for the space.

Money troubles

But the man's forex trades later started going south, and he began borrowing money and falling behind on household expenses.

As their relationship became more strained, the man began showing up at the nightclub where Li worked to make a scene, costing her at least two jobs.

The arguments would sometimes turn physical. Li also accused him of using S$3,500 that was meant for her daughter's school fees for forex trading instead.

Li ended up taking over half the rent, then the full monthly rent by December 2023.

In early 2024, Li tried to end the relationship.

Didn't leave apartment

But the man refused to leave the apartment, insisting he was the legal tenant.

Three days before the stabbing took place, the man sent Li a string of emails demanding to be let back into the unit. He turned up at 3:40am and was only let in after Li's son woke to open the door.

Upset, Li left to take a walk. When she returned at around 5am, she cut up his clothes and hit him with a cardboard roll demanding for him to leave.

She also tried to stab him in the chest with a pair of scissors, but he blocked the attack with his hand, suffering only minor injuries.

He continued to remain in the apartment.

The stabbing

On May 8, 2024, Li came home from work at around 1:20am to find the man lying on their shared bed, using his phone.

She demanded for him to leave, but he refused.

Li then followed him into the kitchen and picked up a knife with a 15cm blade, continuing to insist that he leave. As he tried to calm her down and held onto her arm, she stabbed him once in the upper left chest.

Li immediately tried to help him and got her daughter to call for an ambulance.

He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:30am. Li was arrested later that day.

DPP pushed for 12-13 years' jail

Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPP) Grace Chua and Nicole Teo asked the court for 12 to 13 years' jail, arguing this was a case of domestic violence.

They described Li as the aggressor against a partner who lived with her and had largely supported her and her children financially before his own finances fell apart, reported CNA.

"No partner is entitled to resort to violence," Chua told the court.

The prosecution disputed the defence's suggestion that Li had seen the man as trespassing that night, as he was the legal tenant, and had a financial history with Li that went well beyond "living there rent-free".

On the night itself, prosecutors said, he had been quietly on his phone in bed and did not fight back when Li confronted him.

Defence instructed by Li not to contest prosecution's sentencing position

Li's lawyer, Rayner Gooi of Panzer Law Corporation, said his client had been pushed to her limit and felt she had no other way out, and that she deeply regretted the outcome.

He noted she'd tried to help the man immediately after the stabbing, hadn't attempted to flee, and stayed at the scene until police arrived.

He said he'd been instructed not to contest the prosecution's sentencing position, as Li did not want to be seen as unrepentant.

Justice Kwek Mean Luck agreed this was domestic violence committed in the couple's home, and that Li was the aggressor despite the history of conflict between them.

He sentenced Li to 12 years' jail, backdated to her arrest in May 2024, well above the four-and-a-half to seven-and-a-half years the defence had originally sought.

In CNA's report, Li wiped away tears as her sentence was read out.

Responding to a letter she had written in mitigation, the judge acknowledged her remorse and the fact that she would not be present to watch her children grow up, but said her actions carried consequences that had to be reflected in her sentence.

“I hope that in serving your sentence in the days ahead, you will continue to grow, so that when the day comes when you can be with your children again, you will be who you want to be for them,” he said.