Malaysian man dubbed 'cosplay killer' gets 22 years' jail, instead of death, upon appeal

Malaysian man dubbed 'cosplay killer' gets 22 years' jail, instead of death, upon appeal

PUTRAJAYA - A self-employed man dubbed the "cosplay killer", escaped the gallows in Malaysia on Thursday (Sept 12) for the 2013 murder of his teenage girlfriend whose remains he stuffed in a suitcase, The Star reported.

Poon Wai Hong, 29, was sentenced to death by Malaysia's High Court in 2018 for murdering a 15-year-old cosplay fan five years ago.

A three-member Court of Appeal bench chaired by Datuk Kamardin Hashim, in substituting the charge to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, said there was merit in Poon's appeal.

Poon was then sentenced to 22 years in jail from the date of his arrest in 2013, The Star report said.

He was accused of murdering Ng Yuk Tim on Oct 21, 2013 at Kampung Cempaka, Kelana Jaya and dumping the suitcase containing her body at Jalan Kebun Nenas in Shah Alam.

The girl was believed to have gone to the man's house the previous day to get help with some cosplay costumes.

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Poon's lawyer Datuk Rajpal Singh told the court that Poon intended to have sex with Ng but a friend had interrupted the duo causing him to go out. When he came back, the girl did not want to have sex anymore, resulting in the couple engaging in a fight, Bernama reported.

In his argument, Mr Singh said Poon was trying to stop Ng from shouting when she bit his hand and he then pushed her to prevent her from attacking him with a stun gun.

Poon said that by the time he found his spectacles which were knocked off his face, he saw Ng had fallen and hit her head on a dumbbell. She was motionless.

Mr Singh said Poon panicked and stuffed Ng's body in the suitcase instead of calling the authorities.

According to Bernama, deputy public prosecutor Nurshafini Mustafha said the prosecution would be filing an appeal with the Federal Court.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

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