Kovan double murder: Verdict on 4 December
The verdict of the Kovan double murder trial will be delivered by Justice Tay Yong Kwang on 4 December.
Iskandar Rahmat is standing trial for murdering Tan Boon Sin and his son Tan Chee Hong on 10 July 2013. The former police officer will be hanged if found guilty of the charges.
The accused was in court on Monday morning for the final submissions by both defence and prosecution for his case.
No intent by suspect
Iskandar’s lawyer, Shashi Nathan, appealed in his submission for Justice Tay to lower the original charge of murder with the intention to kill under Section 300 (a) of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death penalty, to that of Section 300 (c) of the Penal Code.
Section 300 (c) of the Penal Code prescribes that an act is murder if it is done with the intention of causing bodily injury to any person and the bodily injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death.
The death penalty is not mandatory under Section 300 (c) of the Penal Code, but Iskandar faces life in prison and possibly caning.
Shashi said that he is not asking for his client to be acquitted as Iskandar had already admitted to stabbing both his victims.
“Yes he stabbed both of them but he had no intention to kill them,” said Shashi.
The lawyer added that his client is financially strapped and his only motive was to rob the elder Tan to pay off his debts.
He pointed out that his client did not bring a change of clothes and had not parked his car anywhere near the vicinity of the crime scene to facilitate his escape.
“He did not bring a knife and ultimately no knife was found,” said Shashi, who added that his client panicked after murdering his victims and left empty handed.
Iskandar wanted to silence victims
The prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lau Wing Yum, maintained that Iskandar had planned to kill his victims in order to silence them.
He urged Justice Tay to convict Iskandar under Section 300 (a), arguing that the accused intended to kill his victims and was not acting in self-defense during the incident.
DPP Lau said that the total number of 40 stab wounds found on both victims showed that Iskandar was not defending himself during the incident and that he was determined to kill his victims.
“The accused admitted that he had a knife in his hand when he was defending himself yet there were wounds to the head, neck and chest of both victims,” said DPP Lau.
