Death penalty for man who murdered pregnant wife, daughter in Woodlands flat

SINGAPORE - A former property agent was sentenced to death on Thursday (Nov 12) after he was found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife and their four-year-old daughter.

"This is a tragic case. It's a case of life lost, a family torn asunder," said High Court judge Kannan Ramesh as he delivered his decision.

Teo Ghim Heng, 45, had strangled his wife, Madam Choong Pei Shan, 39, a housewife who was six months pregnant, and daughter Zi Ning at their Woodlands flat on Jan 20, 2017.

He spent a week with their bodies in the flat before setting the corpses on fire, the court heard in a trial that started in July last year.

On Thursday, Justice Ramesh convicted Teo of two counts of murder after rejecting the defence's arguments that Teo was suffering from depression and that he had been provoked and lost control after his wife belittled him in front of their daughter.

Justice Ramesh said Teo's behaviour before and after the offences did not paint a picture of someone who was suffering from depression.

Among other things, the judge said Teo's frequent visits to pornographic websites before and after he killed his wife and daughter did not square with his claims that he had lost interest in sex.

The judge also noted that, after the killings, Teo had the presence of mind to access her Facebook page to change her cover photo, to keep up the facade that she was alive.

Justice Ramesh was also not persuaded that Teo had lost control, pointing to the "outcome-driven" and "goal-oriented" way in which he carried out the killings, such as asking Zi Ning to sit on his lap.

Moreover, Zi Ning was not a participant in the heated argument between Teo and Madam Choong. "She was an innocent," said the judge.

A third charge of killing his unborn son was withdrawn by the prosecution after Teo's conviction.

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Teo and Madam Choong married in 2009 - it was the second marriage for both.

In 2015, Teo, who used to be a successful real estate agent, saw his income drop when the property market cooled.

In late 2016, he took on another job as a sales coordinator with a renovation company.

But the family's expenses remained unchanged, and with Teo's weakness for gambling, he became mired in debt. This led to frequent quarrels.

On Jan 18, 2017, the couple argued again over the family's finances. During the quarrel, he brought up an extra-marital affair that Madam Choong had in 2014.

On the morning of Jan 20, 2017, Teo decided not to send Zi Ning to school as her fees were overdue.

On learning this, Madam Choong berated Teo for being useless. Incensed, he strangled her with a towel, then with his hands, telling her to "let go".

He then decided to kill Zi Ning in the same way. "Go find your mummy first. Papa will come soon," he told her.

Teo said in court that Zi Ning was his "dearest" and he did not want her to live without her parents.

He then penned four "suicide notes" and, over the next seven days, spent his time watching TV, YouTube videos and pornography.

He also tried various ways to kill himself, such as swallowing a large quantity of Panadol pills, but did not succeed.

Teo also repeatedly lied to his and his wife's families to explain their absence at Chinese New Year gatherings and used her phone to communicate with her family members.

The bodies were discovered on Jan 28, the first day of Chinese New Year, after Madam Choong's brother called the police when he detected an odour when he went to the flat.

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Although he admitted to the killings, Teo's lawyers argued that his major depressive disorder diminished his responsibility for his acts and that he lost control due to grave and sudden provocation.

Teo's lawyer, Mr Eugene Thuraisingam and Mr Suang Wijaya, said the trigger for depression was Teo's "fall from grace" from a successful property agent to a mere employee.

Madam Choong's barbs on the fateful day, in the presence of Zi Ning, "undermined his manhood", the defence argued.

But the prosecution said the methodical manner in which Teo strangled his wife and daughter showed that he did not lose self-control.

Moreover, Zi Ning was playing with her toys and watching TV at the time and had clearly not provoked him.

The prosecution also argued there was no objective evidence to corroborate Teo's self-reported symptoms of depression.

Teo's parents and brother were in court, but declined to speak to the media. 

His lawyers said he intends to appeal against the court's decision. 

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.