Man kills neighbour with knife in Punggol after argument, gets life imprisonment & caning

Man stabs neighbour to death after being harrassed & punched

A 46-year-old man in Singapore has been sentenced to life in prison after stabbing his neighbour to death with a knife outside a flat in Punggol.

The incident involved Heng Boon Chai and the deceased, 46-year-old Mr Kim Wee Ming.

Heng lived with his mother in a one-room rental flat in Sumang Walk since 2018, after his release from prison.

Heng had previously served eight years in jail after stabbing his uncle to death. His sentence had then been reduced to culpable homicide due to his schizophrenia.

In 2019, Mr Kim moved in next door and their relationship started out well. Mr Kim would even give them pineapple tarts for Chinese New Year.

However, problems started to emerge during the Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 when Heng’s mother, Mdm Ho, would leave her flat several times each night to throw her trash.

The sound of the door and the gate closing annoyed Mr Kim, and in December of that year, Heng and Mr Kim had their first argument. After Mdm Ho left to throw her garbage, Mr Kim yelled at her.

Heng saw that his neighbour was drunk and told him to go to sleep. He also mentioned having previously committed murder.

This would be just one of several quarrels that culminated in the killing on 14 July 2021.

Drunk victim harasses defendant & throws knife into his home

At 2pm on 14 July 2021, an intoxicated Mr Kim knocked on Heng’s door.

The victim asked Heng to come out to fight him, even calling him a sissy and a coward in Hokkien.

Mr Kim also ignored other neighbours attempting to calm him down.

He ended up punching Heng through his iron gate. Despite this, the defendant did not retaliate, telling Mr Kim that he was drunk and to go home.

Afterwards, Mr Kim went home and retrieved a knife. He pointed it at Heng and struck his gate with it.

Heng told his neighbour that he had mental health issues, had murdered someone, and had spent time in prison. He told Mr Kim not to harass him any longer.

Heng then told Mr Kim to hand him the knife, only for the victim to throw the weapon into the flat.

Defendant stabs Punggol neighbour repeatedly in the neck with knife

Mr Kim then went home and picked up a wok, which he used to hit Heng’s gate.

Heng responded by picking up the thrown knife and stabbing Mr Kim in the neck.

The victim staggered back into the HDB corridor and called the police, informing them that he was going to die soon.

Mr Kim also made a video call to his employer.

Heng, meanwhile, informed his father over his phone that he had just killed someone. He requested his father to care for Mdm Ho.

Mr Kim, however, continued to curse Heng, telling him, “If I die, you die.”

The defendant opened the gate, walked to Mr Kim, and stabbed him several more times in the neck until he fell to the floor.

Afterwards, he called his mother and sister to inform them of the killing.

When paramedics arrived, they pronounced Mr Kim dead at the scene.

Heng was charged with murder and assessed at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

The psychiatrist found that Heng had schizophrenia but was not suffering a psychotic relapse during the incident.

Heng spared the death penalty for murder charge

In court, Heng did not contest the charge. The judge found him guilty of murder.

The defence alleged that Heng was worried that Mr Kim would attack his mother, who was returning from buying lunch, resulting in the second stabbing.

During mitigation, his lawyers added that Mdm Ho only had a plastic knife at home due to concerns about Heng.

Due to this, they argued that Mr Kim escalated the situation by throwing the murder weapon into their unit.

The judge noted that Mr Kim had repeatedly provoked Heng.

She said his actions could not be condoned, but had admitted his guilt early on.

She decided that the death penalty was not warranted and sentenced Heng to life imprisonment and 10 strokes of the cane on Thursday (7 Nov).

After court was adjourned, the judge allowed Heng’s divorced parents to speak to him.

Mdm Ho ended up falling while walking to him, causing Heng to tear up.

He reminded his mother to remember to eat and his father to take good care of her.

Also read: S’porean man covers neighbour’s mailbox with death threats after noise dispute, gets 5 weeks’ jail

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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.