Greenridge Crescent twin deaths: Father handed 2nd murder charge

SINGAPORE — The man charged with murder over the death of an 11-year-old boy was handed a fresh charge over the death of the boy's twin brother at the State Courts on Friday (18 February).

Xavier Yap Jung Houn, 48, had earlier been charged with the alleged murder of Ethan Yap E Chern between 4.23pm and 6.25pm on 21 January at a covered canal located at Greenridge Crescent playground in the Upper Bukit Timah area.

Following his first charge on 24 January, Yap was handed a similar charge on Friday over the alleged murder of Aston Yap Kai Shern, Ethan's twin brother, between 4.23pm and 6.18pm at the same location on the same day.

His earlier charge was amended on Friday to state that Ethan was also killed between 4.23pm and 6.18pm.

No explanation was given over the delay in the second charge.

The prosecution, seeking an adjournment, told the court that while Yap's Institute of Mental Health report was ready, he was still pending a medical report and a report from the Health Sciences Authority. The medical report concerns injuries sustained by Yap during the incident.

Yap has a pre-trial conference fixed in the High Court for 12 April and will return to the State Courts on 26 April for a further mention of his case.

His lawyer Anil Singh Sandhu did not object to the adjournment and said he would be seeing Yap, who appeared on Friday via videolink, next week.

The police earlier said that Yap called the police hotline at about 6.25pm on 21 January asking for help at a playground along Greenridge Crescent.

Officers arrived to find Ethan and Ashton dead in a nearby canal. According to media reports, the twins were special-needs children.

If convicted of murder under section 302(1) of the Penal Code, Yap faces the death penalty.

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