Singapore—An 82-year-old man has just been charged with the murder of the 79-year-old woman he lived with at an apartment in Toa Payoh.
The two, who were unmarried, were said to be flatmates and had been living together for some time, with some reports stating they had stayed in the same flat together for 20 years.
On Monday, September 2, the elderly man, Pak Kian Huat, received the charge in court through a video link.
Police were called in during the early morning hours of Sunday, September 1, at Block 191, Lorong 4 Toa Payoh. They were first alerted at 3:40 am, and found Lim Soi Moy (also known as Lim Kim Luan) in an apartment on the twenty-first floor, lying motionless.
Paramedics pronounced her dead on the scene.
Her flatmate, Mr. Pak, who also goes by the name Pek Kiah Huat, was arrested shortly afterward.
The police said, “Preliminary investigations revealed that both the victim and the suspect are known to each other,” but the exact nature of their relationship is still unknown.
Mr Pak has been ordered to be detained at the Central Police Division for one week while police investigate the death of Madam Lim. The order was issued by District Judge Christopher Goh, with permission for Mr Pak to be taken out for the purpose of scene reconstruction.
However, he cannot be given bail due to the gravity of the charge against him.
He is due to go back to court next Monday, September 9, with an order for psychiatric evaluation also following this.
Should he be convicted of the murder of Ms Lim, he could possibly receive capital punishment and be executed via the death penalty.
The public affairs department of the Singapore Police Force issued the following press statement about the murder of Madam Lim yesterday.
01 September 2019
Murder At Lorong 4 Toa Payoh
On 1 September 2019 at about 3.40am, the Police received a call requesting for assistance at Block 191 Lorong 4 Toa Payoh. Upon arrival, a 79-year-old woman was found lying motionless at the said location and pronounced dead by paramedics at scene.
The Police have classified the case as murder. Preliminary investigations revealed that both the victim and the suspect are known to each other. The suspect, an 82-year-old man, has been arrested in relation to the case and will be charged in court on 2 September 2019.
Police investigations are ongoing.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
01 September 2019 @ 10:35AM
This is not the first incident of elderly death at Toa Payoh of late. On August 21, Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao reported that an elderly couple who lived on the 10th floor of a 26th block in Toa Payoh East passed away on the same day.
The 84-year-old husband passed away when he fell off the building while he was drying clothes, and when she learned of his fall, his 70-year-old wife died of a heart attack shortly after. -/TISG