Accused says...victim stabbed herself

SINGAPORE - She stabbed herself after I told her I couldn't marry her just yet.

That was what former Changi Prison officer Lim Wee Thong, who is on trial for murdering his girlfriend, Ms Loh Nyuk Moi, 50, told the police after his arrest, the court heard on Wednesday.

Lim's statement - recorded by then Senior Station Inspector Ravindra Subramaniam hours after Lim, then 45, was arrested on Feb 17, 2011 - was read out during the second day of the trial.

Insp Ravindra said that Lim had told him in his conditional statement that he met Ms Loh, a clerk, on the morning of Feb 13 at the void deck of her flat at Kang Ching Road in Jurong.

They then got into Lim's car and were about to go for a meal at a hawker centre at Taman Jurong when she asked him to drive to her former flat at Yung Ping Road, Lim said in his statement.

He said he insisted they eat first, but Ms Loh was not happy.

As they were driving to the hawker centre, Lim said she asked him to register their marriage. When he asked her to give him two to three months, she asked if it was about the tumour in her womb.

When they reached the hawker centre, Ms Loh walked around but "was unable to find the food she liked", Lim said.

She then told Lim that she wanted to go to her Yung Ping Road flat to "collect something". She told him to come back in half an hour.

He did so after going to a hawker centre, where he had a cup of warm water.

When he reached her block, Ms Loh was waiting for him downstairs, Lim said.

She told him to follow her to her unit and he saw that the door was open.

Ms Loh said some prayers while holding three joss sticks that she had taken along. She asked him to follow her to the kitchen, Lim said.

She then allegedly pulled out a knife from a bag that she was carrying and pointed it at him.

He backed off. She asked him if he did not want to marry her because of her cancer, he said.

Lim said Ms Loh accused him of "delay tactics" and said she knew what to do.

He told her he first had to divorce his wife, who was living at Woodlands.

Ms Loh then allegedly stabbed herself in the chest and pushed him away when he stepped forward, Lim said.

Stabbed

Lim's former immediate supervisor, Mr Teng Jan Kim, also took the stand on Wednesday.

He told the court that Lim had not been involved in any disciplinary issues at work and had told him that he had four girlfriends - one of whom gave him money.

He said Lim had reported to work on Feb 14, 15 and 16, and had shown no abnormal behaviour. Lim requested to take the day off on Feb 17, the day he was arrested, Mr Teng said.

She told Lim not to bother her and stabbed herself once or twice more, before dropping to her knees, he added.

Lim said he pulled the knife out of her chest and "told her she was stupid to do such a thing".

He placed the knife and Ms Loh's belongings in a paper bag and left the flat after she had gestured at him to "go away".

Lim said in his statement that he had taken the knife away because he was "afraid she would stab herself again".

As he was "in shock", he went to seek out a friend living in Tampines.

Lim was arrested four days later at Causeway Point shopping centre. He claimed that was when he found out Ms Loh had died.

On Tuesday, the prosecution said in its opening statement that the fatal stab wounds found on Ms Loh were not self-inflicted. She was found with 10 stab wounds.

Accused owes prison co-op

He had applied for a loan of $15,000 and was granted about $9,000 in July 2010, a former colleague of Lim Wee Thong told the court on Wednesday.

Mr Shahlan Rashid, a senior officer with Changi Prison, said Lim owed the Singapore Prison Service's Multi-Purpose Co-Operative Society about $7,000 as of Feb 28, 2011.

He also said that Lim earned about $2,000 a month while he was serving as a security control officer at the prison.

Having known Lim since 2002, Mr Shahlan said he used to affectionately address Lim as "abang" (Malay term for older brother) as Lim had been in service since 1987.

He told the court that Lim's role at the prison was to ensure that no unauthorised personnel or items enter or leave the complex.

When asked by Lim's lawyer, Ms A. Sangeetha, if he found Lim friendly, helpful and approachable, he said yes.

About the case

Lim Wee Thong allegedly murdered his girlfriend, Ms Loh Nyuk Moi, 50, stabbing her multiple times in the chest before withdrawing $14,500 from her bank accounts between Feb 13 and Feb 16, 2011.

Ms Loh was found dead in her Jurong flat at Yung Ping Road on Feb 16.

Lim was arrested a day later.

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