Overstayer jailed 12 years for killing lover
By Tanya Fong, TODAY | Posted: 19 January 2012 0713 hrs
SINGAPORE: A Nigerian illegal overstayer who killed his lover was sentenced to 12 years' jail on Wednesday.
Details of how the relationship between Amanchukwu Chukwuma, 28, and 25-year-old Singaporean Angela Liu Shuhui began in October 2007 and how it derailed were heard before Justice Lee Seiu Kin in the High Court.
In sentencing, Justice Lee said there was a need to "balance retribution and rehabilitation" in the culpable homicide.
Amanchukwu's lawyer, Mr Wendell Wong, had submitted in mitigation that a jail sentence of 10 years or less would be appropriate, considering the "grave and sudden provocation" by the victim, "which deprived him of his self control".
Justice Lee said Amanchukwu had "intentionally (caused) her death and cruelly snuffed out" Ms Liu's life, but accepted that it was not premeditated and that there was some degree of provocation by Ms Liu.
Amanchukwu and Ms Liu had rented a room in Bukit Panjang in April 2008 but were evicted because the landlord could not put up with their constant quarrelling.
In September 2008, Ms Liu moved back to her parents' home, while Amanchukwu made a makeshift home with wooden boards and newspapers in a forested area in Bukit Panjang Park to be near her.
He also acted on a plan hatched by Ms Liu to cheat a Filipino maid of her money in June 2009, duping her of about S$2,000.
The couple's relationship broke down between August and September 2009 when Amanchukwu discovered that Ms Liu was seeing another man.
She left Singapore for India to be with her new boyfriend, while Amanchukwu resumed a relationship with another Singaporean woman known as Siti and moved into her flat in Boon Lay.
When Ms Liu returned to Singapore in mid-December 2009, she called Amanchukwu and they met on Dec 22. After he retrieved his clothes and photos from her home, he suggested going to his former makeshift home in the nearby park.
When she used her mobile phone to light a path in the forested area, Amanchukwu scolded her. Ms Liu then called him names and pointed her fingers at him.
When he slapped her hands away, she kicked his groin. He retaliated by slapping her to the ground with both hands, and then pulled off her jeans and tried removing her top.
When she resisted, he strangled her until she was motionless, after which he removed her clothes, leaving her in her underwear. He burnt the clothes at the scene and sold her mobile phone.
Ms Liu's highly decomposed body was found seven days later.
Meanwhile, Ms Liu's boyfriend from India had contacted her father, claiming that Amanchukwu had kidnapped Ms Liu, and a police report was made.
Shortly after, the police located Amanchukwu in Siti's Boon Lay flat and arrested him. - TODAY
