'Vicious, horrifying': 15 years' jail for 86-year-old man who hacked partner to death with chopper
www.todayonline.com
BY CHARLENE GOH
Published May 22, 2023
Updated May 22, 2023
The court heard that 79-year-old Lim Soi Moy suffered 54 injuries throughout her body including 31 injuries to her head. The force of Pak's blows with the chopper left her with multiple fractured bones as well.
Pak was arrested on Sept 1, 2019 shortly after killing Lim in their Housing and Development Board flat at Block 191, Lorong 4 Toa Payoh.
Pak was set to plead guilty to culpable homicide in September last year, but disputed several facts of the case in an unusually heated court hearing.
These included the number of wounds he had inflicted on the victim and whether he had put on a pair of socks and slippers after attacking her.
The older woman accepted him only after Pak and Lim had their first child in 1963.
Though they never tied the knot formally, the pair had four children together — two daughters now aged 59 and 54, as well as two sons aged 52 and 50.
Over the years, the relationship between the couple grew strained as Pak was “bad-tempered and abusive” towards Lim and their children.
He continued to live with their three children who were 12, 11 and nine at the time, caring for them until they grew up and moved out of their home.
It was only two decades later in 2004 that Pak and Lim reconnected through their children.
Not wanting to live alone, Pak asked Lim to let him move in with her. She obliged.
From 2004 to 2019, the couple lived in a four-room flat in Toa Payoh. They slept in separate bedrooms, keeping a third bedroom unoccupied for their children when they would return temporarily to Singapore from their work abroad.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Dillon Kok told the court that Pak then wanted to sleep in the bedroom reserved for their children, because he felt that the dust in his own bedroom made him suffer from a flu and a bad cough.
However, Lim rejected his request and told him to go to bed on the night of Aug 31, 2019.
Growing angrier as the night wore on, Pak took a chopper from the kitchen and went to her bedroom at around 3.30am.
DPP Kok said that Pak chose the chopper because “he thought that the other knives in the kitchen were too small”.
Upon entering the bedroom, Pak pinned Lim onto the bed, and swung the chopper at her hand and neck several times as she screamed.
Even after she fell to the floor, Pak continued hacking her while standing over her and only stopped when she became silent.
Pak later called one of his children, saying that he had killed Lim and wanted the police to come.
He told police officers that he suspected some of their children were not fathered by him and that Lim wanted him dead.
Unlike his conduct during the previous court hearing, Pak remained silent while the facts of the case were read out to him, speaking only once to say that he was hard of hearing.
Lim had the heart to let Pak live with her as he did not want to be alone but this arrangement led to “lethal consequences”, said DPP Kok.
He added that despite the man’s age, Pak managed to inflict a great number of injuries on Lim.
“The fact that many of these wounds were associated with fractures speaks of the level of force used,” he said.
DPP Kok added that Pak’s advanced age should not be a mitigating factor as there is no evidence showing a long term of imprisonment would have an undue effect on Pak.
“His heinous crime must be met with severe punishment even if he must live out his remaining years in prison,” DPP Kok said.
In response, the man’s lawyer, Mr Eugene Thuraisingam from Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, made reference to a report by the Institute of Mental Health.
The report said that Pak could not explain why he had taken the chopper from the kitchen or whether he wanted to kill her at the time.
"We don't mean to dispute the facts but that was the state of mind he was in," he said.
However, Justice See said that Pak had shown "clear presence of mind" in picking the chopper as his weapon of choice, instead of the other smaller knives in the kitchen.
"His chosen weapon was consistent with his single-minded intent of killing her," said Justice See.
He called the attack on Lim "deliberately and unspeakably vicious and brutal".
The judge agreed with the prosecution's submission of not reducing Pak's sentence due to his age.
Those convicted of culpable homicide can be jailed for life, or up to 20 years with a fine or caning. Those aged 50 or above cannot be caned under Singapore's laws.
https://www.todayonline.com/singapo...telegram_tg-single_social-free_26012019_today
www.todayonline.com
- Pak Kian Huat, 86, was sentenced to 15 years' jail for killing his longtime romantic partner Lim Soi Moy, 79
- The pair never married but had four children together
- He had been set to plead guilty to culpable homicide in September last year but had challenged several details about the killing
- Pak finally pleaded guilty to the offence on Monday (May 22)
- A High Court judge called the killing "deliberately and unspeakably vicious and brutal"
BY CHARLENE GOH
Published May 22, 2023
Updated May 22, 2023
The court heard that 79-year-old Lim Soi Moy suffered 54 injuries throughout her body including 31 injuries to her head. The force of Pak's blows with the chopper left her with multiple fractured bones as well.
Pak was arrested on Sept 1, 2019 shortly after killing Lim in their Housing and Development Board flat at Block 191, Lorong 4 Toa Payoh.
Pak was set to plead guilty to culpable homicide in September last year, but disputed several facts of the case in an unusually heated court hearing.
These included the number of wounds he had inflicted on the victim and whether he had put on a pair of socks and slippers after attacking her.
WHAT HAPPENED
The pair met in the 1950s when they were teenagers, but began dating only after a decade because Lim’s mother initially did not approve of him.The older woman accepted him only after Pak and Lim had their first child in 1963.
Though they never tied the knot formally, the pair had four children together — two daughters now aged 59 and 54, as well as two sons aged 52 and 50.
Over the years, the relationship between the couple grew strained as Pak was “bad-tempered and abusive” towards Lim and their children.
Eventually, with their children’s encouragement, Lim moved out of the family home in Whampoa to live with their eldest daughter to avoid Pak in 1980.He continued to live with their three children who were 12, 11 and nine at the time, caring for them until they grew up and moved out of their home.
It was only two decades later in 2004 that Pak and Lim reconnected through their children.
Not wanting to live alone, Pak asked Lim to let him move in with her. She obliged.
From 2004 to 2019, the couple lived in a four-room flat in Toa Payoh. They slept in separate bedrooms, keeping a third bedroom unoccupied for their children when they would return temporarily to Singapore from their work abroad.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Dillon Kok told the court that Pak then wanted to sleep in the bedroom reserved for their children, because he felt that the dust in his own bedroom made him suffer from a flu and a bad cough.
However, Lim rejected his request and told him to go to bed on the night of Aug 31, 2019.
Growing angrier as the night wore on, Pak took a chopper from the kitchen and went to her bedroom at around 3.30am.
DPP Kok said that Pak chose the chopper because “he thought that the other knives in the kitchen were too small”.
Upon entering the bedroom, Pak pinned Lim onto the bed, and swung the chopper at her hand and neck several times as she screamed.
Even after she fell to the floor, Pak continued hacking her while standing over her and only stopped when she became silent.
Pak later called one of his children, saying that he had killed Lim and wanted the police to come.
He told police officers that he suspected some of their children were not fathered by him and that Lim wanted him dead.
Unlike his conduct during the previous court hearing, Pak remained silent while the facts of the case were read out to him, speaking only once to say that he was hard of hearing.
'VICIOUS AND BRUTAL'
DPP Kok sought a sentence of 15 to 18 years’ jail, saying that Pak had “committed the gravest form of domestic violence” by killing Lim.Lim had the heart to let Pak live with her as he did not want to be alone but this arrangement led to “lethal consequences”, said DPP Kok.
He added that despite the man’s age, Pak managed to inflict a great number of injuries on Lim.
“The fact that many of these wounds were associated with fractures speaks of the level of force used,” he said.
DPP Kok added that Pak’s advanced age should not be a mitigating factor as there is no evidence showing a long term of imprisonment would have an undue effect on Pak.
“His heinous crime must be met with severe punishment even if he must live out his remaining years in prison,” DPP Kok said.
In response, the man’s lawyer, Mr Eugene Thuraisingam from Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, made reference to a report by the Institute of Mental Health.
The report said that Pak could not explain why he had taken the chopper from the kitchen or whether he wanted to kill her at the time.
"We don't mean to dispute the facts but that was the state of mind he was in," he said.
However, Justice See said that Pak had shown "clear presence of mind" in picking the chopper as his weapon of choice, instead of the other smaller knives in the kitchen.
"His chosen weapon was consistent with his single-minded intent of killing her," said Justice See.
He called the attack on Lim "deliberately and unspeakably vicious and brutal".
The judge agreed with the prosecution's submission of not reducing Pak's sentence due to his age.
Those convicted of culpable homicide can be jailed for life, or up to 20 years with a fine or caning. Those aged 50 or above cannot be caned under Singapore's laws.
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