Stalker kills wife, then jumps to death
Couple dead two days before divorce was to be finalised
A Singaporean killed his estranged Vietnamese wife before jumping to his death from the eighth storey of a condominium in Geylang on Apr 30, two days before their divorce was to be finalised.
In an inquiry yesterday, State Coroner Marvin Bay said Uber driver Cheung Thiam Teng, 43, had committed the "unlawful killing" of Madam Ly Thi Thu Trang, 30, with whom he had a "violent and tumultuous" marriage.
Mr Cheung appeared to have been stalking his wife, who was living alone at the Silverscape condominium in Lorong 32, Geylang, said the coroner.
At around 11.30am on April 30, Mr Cheung let himself into the premises.
Madam Ly later fell from height from the building and was pronounced dead in Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) at around 2pm, while Mr Cheung jumped after a stand-off with the authorities and died in TTSH about an hour later.
Coroner Bay said that among Madam Ly's injuries was bruising on her right wrist, which was consistent with the cable tie found on it and believed to have been used to restrain her.
He added: "Madam Ly's sad demise calls attention to the need to take acts of stalking with the utmost seriousness...
"It also highlights the desirability of hardening the security processes and facilities of condominium premises."
The couple first met while Madam Ly was studying in Singapore in 2005 and were married two years later. They had two children.
In May last year, Mr Cheung was reported to have discovered his wife receiving posts on her Facebook page with alleged explicit content and that she had male friends.
Madam Ly denied the accusations.
On Sept 1 that year, he was arrested for offences including wrongfully confining and voluntarily causing hurt to her. He was later diagnosed with major depressive disorder.
For these offences, he was sentenced in March to a week-long short detention order and issued a mandatory treatment order for a year.
After Madam Ly left the home they shared, Mr Cheung would drive to her condominium and loiter about, according to her friend, Mr Tong Choon Peng.
Mr Cheung finally slipped in on April 30 this year.
Madam Ly called the police around noon that day, saying someone had been threatening to kill her. A police officer who was deployed to the scene spotted her lying at the foot of the condominium block, still breathing but unresponsive.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
