Kovan murder trial: Iskandar to appeal death sentence
Iskandar Rahmat, the former police officer at the centre of the Kovan double murder trial, received the death sentence on Friday morning for the murder of a father and son in 2013.
Handing down his verdict, Justice Tay Yong Kwang, who presided over the trial, said that there was enough evidence to prove that the murder of 66-year-old Tan Boon Sin was premeditated.
Iskandar's lawyer, Shashi Nathan had, in his oral sumbission last month, appealed for the murder charge under Section 300 (a) of the Penal Code to be lowered to that of Section 300 (c).
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).
In June 2013, Tan was found dead in the garden of his home at 14J Hillside Drive in, while the body of his son, 42-year-old Tan Chee Heong, was found beneath a car more than a kilometre from there, near the Kovan MRT station.
Justice Tay said that it was clear that Iskandar had no intention of committing a grab and go robbery and had instead wanted to silence Tan and his son.
Iskandar had, on the pretext of being an intelligence officer, told the elder Tan that his safe deposit box at a Certis Cisco facility at Jalan Afifi had been compromised.
He then convinced Tan to install a dummy CCTV camera in his deposit box.
The former investigation officer with Bedok Police Division then went back with the elder Tan to the victim's house at Hillside Drive where the murder took place.
Tan's son who appeared at the house unexpectedly later, was also attacked and murdered by Iskandar.
"There was no way he wanted to commit a grab and go. When Mr Tan's son appeared at the house later he was collateral damage," said Justice Tay.
The former senior staff sargent had, in his defence, said that he was attacked by the elder Tan with a knife and he had acted in self defence.
"The number of stab wounds on the bodies of the victims showed that the accused attacked his victims ruthlessly.
"He cruelly, deliberately and forcefully attacked his victims, " said Justice Tay.
Emotional scene
Iskandar's family members who attended the hearing on Friday were allowed by Justice Tay to speak to him for twenty minutes at the end of the trial.
They were emotional and were crying as they spoke to him while he remains restrained behind the accused stand.
Iskandar was heard comforting them and managed to smile as seven of his family members took turns to speak to him.
His family members refused to speak to reporters and only left the premises two hours after the hearing ended.
Most of his family members covered their faces with scarves while his father concealed his face with a hat when they eventually left at about 2 pm.
Members of the Tan family were also present in court on Friday but made a hasty exit after the hearing and refused to speak to reporters.
Defence to appeal
Iskandar's lawyer, Shashi Nathan, told reporters that he was instructed by his client to appeal against the death penalty.
"We are disappointed with the decision but we respect the decision by the court. Iskandar is affected by the decision but he is putting on a brave front for the sake of his family, " he said.
Shashi said that he and his team are going to study the judgement and prepare their appeal which will most probably take place in January next year.
