Wife of man found dead in Yishun flat: All I have left is his blood
Woman refuses to clean blood-spattered flat in which dead husband was found
Close to 10 hours after her husband was found dead inside their three-room flat, the smell of blood lingered.
Dark red splatters formed a trail from the living room all the way to the kitchen at the other end of the flat.
"I can't bear to clean anything. (The blood) is all I have left of my husband," Madam Teo Ah Whah, 58, told The New Paper in Mandarin before breaking down in tears.
Holding up a bloodied pillow case, she added: "I think I want to keep this. It's something to remember him by."
On Saturday night, Madam Teo's husband, Mr William Wong, 76, was found dead in their home of over two decades in Block 114, Yishun Ring Road.
The case has been classified as one of unnatural death and a 34-year-old woman will be charged in court today with voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.
The suspect is Madam Teo's tenant, whom she calls Jennifer. Although reports say the woman is Malaysian, she believes that Jennifer, who has lived with them for several months, is a Thai national.
The two had met while working for the same boss, but in different food courts. Madam Teo is a part-time cleaner and Jennifer is a dishwasher.
When TNP went to Madam Teo's flat yesterday, the widow was walking around the flat barefooted.
Neither the lingering smell nor the gory sight of tiles caked with dried blood seemed to bother her.
She told TNP that she did not do much cleaning after returning from the mortuary yesterday afternoon.
"I tried to clean a little, but stopped. I can almost imagine where he walked that night and how he tried to escape," she said as she showed the blood trails that connected the blood-spattered kitchen and the master bedroom.
Another trail led out into the living room. On a white wall next to a door in the living room was a handprint in blood.
With her joints hurting from arthritis, she then sat down on the blood-soaked mattress in the master bedroom.
"The mattress is still wet as I sit down. Why is there so much blood? I want to know," she said, breaking down in tears again.
MYSTERY
All she knows about her husband's death is that before he died, he allegedly had a scuffle with their tenant.
"Jennifer called my boss that night to say my husband was bleeding profusely and there were many policemen.
"When my boss called to tell me what Jennifer had said, I didn't know whether to believe him," said Madam Teo, who left for home soon after.
Even when she got home and saw the blood-stained corridor outside her flat around 11pm on Saturday, she wanted to believe that her husband had merely been injured.
It was only in the wee hours of yesterday morning that the truth sank in.
"I didn't even get to see my husband for the last time. I only managed to see him at the mortuary. By then, he was all cleaned up but I could still see scars and wounds on his face.
"My husband died too soon. He may be old, but he was healthier than me. I have diabetes, high blood pressure and I regularly take medicine for insomnia," said Madam Teo, adding that she used to suffer from depression.
The widow is still clueless as to what could have caused the alleged scuffle between Jennifer and her husband, but she said the pair never got along.
Both of them were hot-tempered characters, and Madam Teo often found herself having to play mediator.
Despite the constant bickering and frequently defaulted rental payments, Madam Teo never chased Jennifer out.
"If I chased her out, she would be homeless. I couldn't bear to see her sleeping on the streets. I was too kind. They say kindness begets kindness, but look where being kind got me," she said.
"I tried to clean a little, but stopped. I can almost imagine where he walked that night and how he tried to escape."
- Madam Teo Ah Whah
Neighbour heard angry screams almost every day
Mr William Wong, 76, was pronounced dead at 11.40pm on Saturday night by paramedics at the scene, a Singapore Civil Defence Force spokesman said.
A 34-year-old woman will be charged in court today with voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.
When The New Paper visited the scene at Yishun Ring Road on Saturday night, there was a pool of blood about 1m in diameter at the entrance of the second-storey unit.
Blood splatters were seen on the corridor, stretching over 3m.
Mr Wong's wife, Madam Teo Ah Whah, 58, a part-time cleaner, saw the blood-spattered corridor and the police cordon at her block only when she returned from work at about 11pm.
Despite the gory sight, she at first thought that her husband of 21 yearshad merely been injured.
"No one died, only injured. They are still up there being questioned," she told TNP in Mandarin on Saturday night.
She found out the truth only two hours later and was later seen crying and wiping away her tears.
A resident on the third storey said he heard no commotion on the night of the incident.
But another resident, Mr Michael Lin, 36, told TNP that angry screams in the evening were a common occurrence in the block.
The IT support engineer said the screaming would typically start at 7pm and last about two hours.
"I usually hear it in the kitchen. It has gone on for more than half a year. Someone would scream in a very angry tone in Cantonese, as though she is screaming at the top of her lungs.
"I heard it almost every day, I got so numb. I do get irritated, but if it is a household problem, I try not to intervene," he said.
Mr Wong's body was removed from the unit at about 5.30am yesterday. The funeral will be handled by undertaker Roland Tay, founder of Direct Funeral Services.
A police spokesman said the case has been classified as one of unnatural death and investigations are ongoing.
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