A 43-year-old Vietnamese woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering her boyfriend in a jealous rage at Ang Mo Kio.
Justice Dedar Singh Gill called the case “a tragic case of love gone wrong”, noting that a life had been needlessly lost.
Both the victim and the accused were found with multiple stab wounds and taken separately to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where 51-year-old Cho Wang Keung was later pronounced dead.
The woman, Nguyen Ngoc Giau, fatally stabbed Mr Cho along the common corridor outside his fifth-floor flat at Block 562 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 just before 1am on 15 July 2021.
Source: Google Maps, for illustration purposes only
When police arrived, they found the pair lying in a pool of blood, with Mr Cho sprawled across Nguyen.
Both had sustained multiple stab wounds, and Mr Cho was pronounced dead in hospital around 7.15am.
Nguyen, a Singapore permanent resident, had moved into Mr Cho’s flat as a tenant in 2020, initially sleeping in the living room.
The two later became romantically involved and shared a bedroom.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
However, by July 2021, their relationship had deteriorated. Mr Cho allegedly wanted to end things and evict her.
Nguyen told the court they drank and argued almost daily, fighting about five times a week.
The breaking point came after Mr Cho invited friends over for drinks on 12 July 2021.
One of them was a female beer promoter whom Nguyen had previously seen sitting on Mr Cho’s lap.
On 14 July 2021, consumed by jealousy, she called and texted Mr Cho more than 30 times.
Source: Wang Keung Cho on Facebook
When he ignored her, she sent a message reading “446 good”, referencing the coffee shop where she believed he was drinking with the other woman.
That night, Nguyen drank 10 cans of beer, sharpened a knife, and waited.
When Mr Cho returned home after midnight with another male tenant, Nguyen confronted him outside the flat at about 12.50am.
She filmed the encounter on her phone, accusing him of cheating.
When Mr Cho ignored her and told the tenant to call the police, Nguyen went back inside, grabbed the knife, and stabbed him several times.
Video evidence showed her shouting “I love you” repeatedly moments before the attack.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
As the tenant took photos of the assault, Nguyen turned on him, forcing him to flee. She then stabbed herself.
During the trial, Nguyen’s lawyers argued that she had been too intoxicated to form the intent to kill, describing the relationship as “unhealthy” and marred by constant quarrels.
They urged the court to consider a lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, asserting that she was in a state of “acute alcohol intoxication” after drinking since morning.
The defence further claimed she had acted impulsively in the heat of a sudden fight.
Justice Gill, however, rejected both arguments, finding that Nguyen’s actions showed a clear and purposeful chain of decisions.
Her intoxication, he ruled, was not severe enough to prevent her from intending to cause fatal injuries.
The judge also observed that she had deliberately armed herself with a knife and used it to attack Mr Cho, reflecting a degree of conscious decision-making, even if it did not amount to premeditation.
Ultimately, the court concluded that Nguyen had acted rationally and deliberately, rather than in a drunken haze.
Justice Gill noted that the couple’s relationship had been fraught with quarrels, fuelled by jealousy and alcohol.
The involvement of a female beer promoter further deepened Nguyen’s suspicions and anger, ultimately leading to the fatal confrontation.
As the prosecution did not seek the death penalty, and with caning not applicable to women, life imprisonment was the only remaining sentence.
After the verdict, Nguyen asked through an interpreter about the possibility of an appeal, and the judge advised her to discuss it with her lawyer.
Also read: Woman allegedly stabs boyfriend to death over break-up at Ang Mo Kio flat, denies murder charges
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Featured image adapted from Lianhe Zaobao, Wang Keung Cho on Facebook, and Lianhe Zaobao.