Apex court upholds death sentence for man who strangled wife and daughter
The highest court in Singapore on Wednesday (Feb 23) upheld the death sentence imposed on a former property agent for murdering his pregnant wife and their four-year-old daughter.
Teo Ghim Heng, 46, strangled his wife Choong Pei Shan, 39, a housewife who was six months pregnant, and daughter Zi Ning in their Woodlands flat on Jan 20, 2017.
He spent a week with their bodies in the unit before setting the corpses on fire.
On Wednesday, a five-judge Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of Teo, who argued that he was suffering from depression, which diminished his responsibility for his acts, and hence he should be convicted of culpable homicide instead.
Teo also argued that two homicide-related provisions in the Penal Code were unconstitutional because they effectively gave the prosecution the power to choose sentences.
Justice Judith Prakash, delivering the apex court's decision, said the lower court was correct to find that Teo did not suffer from major depressive disorder and that he could not avail himself to the defence of diminished responsibility.
Teo and Madam Choong married in 2009.
He was a successful property agent but, in 2015, his income dropped due to a downturn in the market.
In late 2016, he took on another job as a sales coordinator at a renovation company. But the family's expenses remained unchanged as Teo had a gambling habit.
By the end of 2016, he was saddled with a debt of about $120,000 and had even listed their flat for sale.
On Jan 18, 2017, the couple argued over the family's finances. During the quarrel, he brought up an extramarital affair that Madam Choong had in 2014.
On the morning of Jan 20, 2017, Teo decided not to send Zi Ning to school as her fees were overdue.
When she found out, Madam Choong berated Teo for being useless.
He strangled her with a bath towel before using his bare hands to make sure she was dead. He then strangled his daughter.
After Teo's double murder conviction, a third charge of killing his unborn son was withdrawn by the prosecution.
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