<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>If the accused is FTrash, the kangaroo court would try its best to lighten the sentence or even let it off. For Sporns, it will think of ways to nail them to their coffins! No room for mitigating circumstances!
Stall owner to hang for lover's murder
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Judge rejects claim of self-defence, noting few signs of violent fight </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
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Eu Lim Hoklai said he tried to strangle his mistress to subdue her so he could escape, but he passed out. -- ST FILE PHOTO
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->DESCRIBED as a doting father, Eu Lim Hoklai was sentenced to death yesterday for murdering his China mistress - on Father's Day - three years ago.
Justice Kan Ting Chiu rejected the 56-year-old's claim that he acted in self-defence against Madam Yu Hongjin, 30.
She was killed in the Ang Mo Kio massage parlour she ran and forensic experts found few signs of a violent struggle, the judge said in his grounds of decision.
He noted that a witness in the hair salon next door did not hear any sounds of a fight, but heard cries when Eu's wife and daughter turned up.
At the trial last year, Eu, a seafood stall owner, admitted lying to his family about meeting a fishmonger when instead he was with Madam Yu, a masseuse.
The two first met in mid-2005 when she solicited him for business and they had sex four times in hotels. He told the court he paid for her trips to China and had spent about $30,000 on her.
He paid her rent on her Ang Mo Kio flat but was not allowed to visit her because she said the neighbours might gossip. Her son, then 11, lived with a relative.
Having lavished so much money on her, he was furious to see a man leaving her flat on the morning of June 14, 2006.
Four days later, he went to her massage parlour to end their relationship.
She demanded $30,000 as a 'separation fee', saying she would create trouble with his family otherwise.
Eu claimed he refused to pay her and she stabbed him several times. They then struggled and she ended up being knifed twice. She fell onto a massage table where she was later found dead.
Eu said he tried to strangle her to subdue her so he could escape, but he passed out. He was found semi-conscious and with nine stab wounds in the abdomen.
However, the forensic evidence told a different story.
Ms Lim Chin Chin, deputy head of the criminalistics laboratory at the Centre for Forensic Science, found no defensive injuries on Madam Yu, which suggested that a violent struggle was highly improbable.
Ms Lim also said the absence of vertical blood flow from Madam Yu's wounds indicated that she was likely to have been on her back when she was stabbed and not standing up, as Eu claimed.
The defence's expert, Professor Johan Duflou of the pathology department of the University of New South Wales, maintained that Eu's injuries were unlikely to be self-inflicted as those wanting to hurt themselves typically slash their wrists or neck, not their abdomen. But he agreed with Justice Kan that this 'preference' may not be true across cultures.
The prosecution said Eu had strangled Madam Yu after she was stabbed twice and helpless.
Sobs filled the courtroom after the hearing, with the loudest cries from Eu's mother. His wife and three daughters were heard telling Eu, who also broke down, to be strong.
Eu will appeal against his conviction.
[email protected]
Stall owner to hang for lover's murder
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Judge rejects claim of self-defence, noting few signs of violent fight </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Eu Lim Hoklai said he tried to strangle his mistress to subdue her so he could escape, but he passed out. -- ST FILE PHOTO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->DESCRIBED as a doting father, Eu Lim Hoklai was sentenced to death yesterday for murdering his China mistress - on Father's Day - three years ago.
Justice Kan Ting Chiu rejected the 56-year-old's claim that he acted in self-defence against Madam Yu Hongjin, 30.
She was killed in the Ang Mo Kio massage parlour she ran and forensic experts found few signs of a violent struggle, the judge said in his grounds of decision.
He noted that a witness in the hair salon next door did not hear any sounds of a fight, but heard cries when Eu's wife and daughter turned up.
At the trial last year, Eu, a seafood stall owner, admitted lying to his family about meeting a fishmonger when instead he was with Madam Yu, a masseuse.
The two first met in mid-2005 when she solicited him for business and they had sex four times in hotels. He told the court he paid for her trips to China and had spent about $30,000 on her.
He paid her rent on her Ang Mo Kio flat but was not allowed to visit her because she said the neighbours might gossip. Her son, then 11, lived with a relative.
Having lavished so much money on her, he was furious to see a man leaving her flat on the morning of June 14, 2006.
Four days later, he went to her massage parlour to end their relationship.
She demanded $30,000 as a 'separation fee', saying she would create trouble with his family otherwise.
Eu claimed he refused to pay her and she stabbed him several times. They then struggled and she ended up being knifed twice. She fell onto a massage table where she was later found dead.
Eu said he tried to strangle her to subdue her so he could escape, but he passed out. He was found semi-conscious and with nine stab wounds in the abdomen.
However, the forensic evidence told a different story.
Ms Lim Chin Chin, deputy head of the criminalistics laboratory at the Centre for Forensic Science, found no defensive injuries on Madam Yu, which suggested that a violent struggle was highly improbable.
Ms Lim also said the absence of vertical blood flow from Madam Yu's wounds indicated that she was likely to have been on her back when she was stabbed and not standing up, as Eu claimed.
The defence's expert, Professor Johan Duflou of the pathology department of the University of New South Wales, maintained that Eu's injuries were unlikely to be self-inflicted as those wanting to hurt themselves typically slash their wrists or neck, not their abdomen. But he agreed with Justice Kan that this 'preference' may not be true across cultures.
The prosecution said Eu had strangled Madam Yu after she was stabbed twice and helpless.
Sobs filled the courtroom after the hearing, with the loudest cries from Eu's mother. His wife and three daughters were heard telling Eu, who also broke down, to be strong.
Eu will appeal against his conviction.
[email protected]