Man who killed ex-girlfriend after quarrel was not of unsound mind: psychiatrist
A man who admitted to fatally stabbing his former girlfriend did not suffer from any mental disorders at the time of the attack, said a psychiatrist in the High Court on Wednesday (2 May).
Neo Chun Zheng, 28, was initially charged with one count of murder after stabbing his ex-girlfriend Soh Yuan Lin, 23, in the neck with a knife after a quarrel outside his Boon Lay Drive flat on 26 November 2015. Neo pleaded guilty last October to a reduced charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Both the prosecution and defence have called on psychiatrists to be cross-examined with regard to Neo’s psychiatric condition at the time of the incident to determine whether there are any mitigating factors to consider before sentencing.
The court heard that Neo’s neighbour called the police regarding an incident on 26 November 2015 at Boon Lay Drive.
Upon arrival, police officers found Soh lying in a pool of blood on the floor along the block’s common corridor. They also found Neo’s mother crying at the scene.
Neo stretched out both his hands when he saw the officers and told one of them that he had stabbed Soh in the neck with a knife and threw the weapon down the flat’s rubbish chute.
Soh was taken to hospital but died the following day.
The prosecution’s psychiatrist, Dr Subhash Chandra Gupta, disputed the medical report from the defence’s own psychiatrist, which said that Neo was suffering from a delusional disorder that led him to believe – without adequate evidence – that his partner was being unfaithful.
Referring to text messages exchanged between Neo and Soh, Dr Gupta cited several instances in which Soh made it clear that she wanted a non-exclusive relationship with Neo and was also seeing other men.
He read out messages in which Soh had made statements to Neo such as, “If I tell you I don’t want to be exclusive, what will you do?”, and “May I remind you, we’re just dating. I have the right to go out with whoever I want.”
Dr Gupta also corroborated Soh’s statements by interviewing her friends and colleagues who said Soh had intimate relationships with other men within the same timeframe that she was dating Neo, and that Neo was aware she was seeing other men.
“I am still of the opinion that the defendant did not suffer from any mental disorder at the time of the offence,” said Dr Gupta.
Pair had secret, ‘non-exclusive’ relationship
Neo and Soh became acquainted when the began working together in Marina Bay Sands around April 2014. They began dating in September 2014 but Soh wanted the relationship to be secret and non-exclusive. Neo agreed to the arrangement.
Neo discovered in March 2015 that Soh had been dating another colleague of theirs and had been intimate with him. Angered, he circulated compromising messages and photos of Soh and the colleague she was seeing to their other colleagues.
He told his colleagues that he would circulate such photos of Soh to others if she cheated on him again. Neo would also constantly check on Soh’s whereabouts and forbade her from dating other people. Soh also discovered that Neo had been accessing her e-mails, phone messages and photos on her phone without her permission.
Neo and Soh quarrelled in September that year after Neo discovered she had kissed a man she met at a club. Soh broke up with Neo at the end of the month because she felt he was too possessive and controlling in their non-exclusive relationship.
Following their break-up, Soh told Neo she wanted to remain single for a while but they remained on speaking terms. Neo became angry when he found out that Soh was planning a holiday with friends to Bangkok and had asked a male friend along. He then told some of his colleagues that he wanted Soh to die an “ugly death”.
In November 2015, Neo told a friend that he wanted to get even with Soh for dating others while she was dating him. He also said he thought of using acid to disfigure her.
He began telling Soh repeatedly that she needed to make things up to him by returning favours he had done for her in the past. Soh relented and would buy meals for him or go out with him.
Fatal meeting
On the night of 25 November till the early morning of 26 November, Neo texted and called Soh multiple times. He also asked her to buy dinner for him.
Soh told him she was out with friends and ignored his subsequent messages and calls. Frustrated at being ignored by Soh, Neo told another colleague that Soh would “die in an ugly way”.
That evening, Soh relented to Neo’s multiple messages and calls and said she would buy dinner for him. She left her home in Bishan and took a taxi to Neo’s flat at Boon Lay.
After she reached Neo’s flat, she hung the packet of food on the front gate and tried to leave. Neo stopped her, saying he wanted to talk to her. Soh replied that she was not in the mood to speak to Neo and the two began quarrelling outside the flat.
Neo’s mother heard the commotion and told Neo to let Soh leave. Soh also called her own mother and asked her for a lift from Neo’s flat. Neo then snatched Soh’s phone away and hid it.
He took a folding knife from his bedroom and went back outside. Soh saw the knife and began shouting for help. When Neo’s mother saw him holding the knife, she stood between Neo and Soh tried to wrestle the weapon from him.
Neo then pushed his mother to the floor, then swung the knife towards Soh’s neck, stabbing her once.
Soh collapsed to the floor face-first and began bleeding from the neck and mouth. Both Neo and Ng shouted for someone to call the police while Neo threw the knife away. He then went to get a towel to try and stop Soh’s bleeding. Neo was subsequently arrested when the police arrived.
Culpable homicide carries a penalty of life imprisonment and caning, or up to 20 years’ jail, with caning or a fine.
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