Singaporean man caused Vietnamese wife to fall to her death from height: State Coroner

He was in a tumultuous marriage with his Vietnamese wife and suspected her of having affairs with other men.

Cheung Thiam Teng, 43, was also upset that he would receive limited access to his two sons after his pending divorce from Ly Thi Thu Trang, 30. Things took a turn for the worse after Ly uploaded a video on Facebook to say that she had “won” in the divorce proceedings.

On 30 April this year, Cheung managed to enter his wife’s condominium unit in Geylang and caused his wife to fall to her death from height. He later jumped to his death at the same place amid attempts by police and Singapore Civil Defence Force officers to prevent him from doing so.

State Coroner Marvin Bay concluded on Thursday that Cheung, who was previously working as an UBER driver, had caused the unlawful killing of Ly and that his death was a deliberate act of suicide.

Cheung, who had been receiving treatment at the Institute of Mental Health, had previously been convicted of various charges including criminal trespass into the condominium unit, abduction, wrongful confinement and voluntarily causing hurt to Ly. These offences took place on 1 September 2016.

During his IMH session, Cheung revealed that he believed Ly was seeing other men, and working as a masseur without his knowledge. Cheung also assumed that his second son was not his biological child and that Ly had consumed methamphetamine.

In November 2016, Cheung stated that Ly had applied for a personal protection order against him. On 22 March this year, Cheung received a one-year mandatory treatment order plus a one-week jail sentence. Cheung was told to continue receiving medication to treat his major depressive order.

Ly had denied all of Cheung’s allegations of infidelity and her being involved in the massage business. She also found him to be “morbidly jealous”, and he would suspect any man looking at her to be her lover. A male friend of Ly, however, testified that she had told him that she had worked at Orchard Towers as a masseuse.

According to the testimony of Ly’s sister, Cheung lost his job shortly after his second son was born in 2015. He began to stay at home playing online games and drinking beer, and this caused great strains in the couple’s relationship. Ly also told her sister of instances of domestic abuse from mid-2016.

The Coroner’s Court heard that at 11.31am on 30 April, Cheung had let himself into the condominium premises by pressing a button at a side entrance, according to CCTV footage. He was seen taking an item, which looked like a crowbar, from a rubbish bin.

At 11.54am, Ly called the police to say that someone was threatening to kill her. A short while later, Ly was found lying on grass patch in front of her condominium block. She was pronounced dead at 1.55pm.

Ly had abrasion on her back, which was caused by the impact sustained from the crowbar found at the scene. Her right wrist had bruising and a cable tie, which was believed to have been used to restrain her.

When police and SCDF officers arrived at the scene, Cheung was seen drinking and smoking in a room of the condominium unit. At about 12.40pm, Cheung climbed out of the bedroom window onto the ledge.

A police inspector tried to dissuade Cheung from harming himself but he was unresponsive. When SCDF personnel tried to set up a life pack under the ledge, Cheung became agitated and threatened to jump.

Police negotiators took over the engagement with Cheung and noted that he remained agitated and was no longer making eye contact. SCDF officers also prepared to deploy a safety net from the roof of the unit. Cheung managed to evade the net and jump off the ledge. He was pronounced dead at 3.04pm.

Forensic findings showed that both Cheung’s and Ly’s deaths were consistent with a fall from height. SC Bay said, “Mdm’s Ly death calls attention to the need to take acts of stalking with the utmost seriousness, especially in the presence of acrimonious antecedent bad blood between the involved parties.”

He also addressed the ease in which Cheung had managed to enter his wife’s residence, saying there should be tighter security processes at condominium premises.