Kovan double murder: Accused intentionally ran over younger victim, says prosecution

Kovan double murder: Accused intentionally ran over younger victim, says prosecution

SINGAPORE - The eighth day of the high-profile Kovan double murder trial on Wednesday (Nov 11) saw the prosecution maintain its stance that former police officer Iskandar Rahmat had killed both his victims to silence them.

Iskandar is accused of stabbing and slashing Mr Tan Boon Sin, 67, during an attempt to rob the car workshop owner in his Hillside Drive home on July 10, 2013. Mr Tan's 42-year-old son, Chee Heong, who arrived during the struggle, was also attacked by Iskandar.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Prem Raj Prabakaran, who cross-examined the 36-year-old Iskandar on Wednesday, sought to prove that Iskandar was aware that the elder Mr Tan had called his son, despite the accused's claims to the contrary.

Iskandar had hid behind the main door to await the younger Mr Tan's arrival and launch a surprise attack, said DPP Prem.

Iskandar disagreed with the assessment.

[[nid:213183]]

According to DPP Prem, Iskandar also knew where the younger Mr Tan was as he was fleeing from the house, as he had walked around to look for the victim and had intentionally run him over with the car to make sure he was dead.

Iskandar's behaviour in the aftermath of the attacks, said the prosecution, was also not in line with someone in a state of panic. He had gone to the toilet to take a towel, picked up scattered items from the floor and even adjusted the folded-in left view mirror of the car he drove.

He had hatched a plot to steal money from the elder Mr Tan's safe deposit box out of desperation, as he was facing imminent bankruptcy and possible dismissal from the force.

To trick Mr Tan, Iskandar posed as an intelligence officer and said he had to install a fake closed-circuit television camera in the safe deposit box.

In his testimony on Oct 30, Iskandar insisted that his plan all along had been to grab the money and run, but things went wrong when Mr Tan discovered his ruse and came at him with a knife.

Oral submissions are due on Nov 23.


This article was first published on Nov 11, 2015.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.