Decomposed body of jobless widow, 39, found alone in flat

Decomposed body of jobless widow, 39, found alone in flat

SINGAPORE - Hers was a tragic end to a troubled life.

She was a widow with three children, an alleged drug habit and jobless.

For days, Ms Sheila Goh's body lay rotting on the sofa in the living room of her three-room flat at Circuit Road.

And the only indication that something could be wrong was a stack of shoe racks and a rubbish bin blocking the front door from the outside.

On Tuesday, the decomposed body of the 39-year-old, who lived alone, was discovered by police when a neighbour noticed a stench coming from the seventh-storey flat.

It is not known how long she had been dead, but the last time she was seen alive is believed to be on Aug 26, when her mother visited her.

The case has been classified as unnatural death. Police are investigating.

Ms Goh's ex-boyfriend, Mr Ho Soon Nee, 41, had visited her on Aug 23 when he brought her some food.

Mr Ho told The New Paper last night: "Her mother and I visited her that Saturday and I found three cans of glue by her coffee table. I threw them away and told her not to sniff glue any more."

Both Mr Ho and Ms Goh's mother, Madam Hao Kim Choo, 65, claimed Ms Goh had often abused drugs.

Mr Ho said Ms Goh did not own a mobile phone so the only way to speak to her was to visit her at home.

He last tried to visit her home on Monday, a day before her body was discovered.

"When no one answered the door, I thought she had left to stay with her friends," he said.

"Later, when I left the block, I looked up and noticed that her kitchen window was closed. I found it strange because she never closed her kitchen window."

Mr Ho then called Ms Goh's mother and they arranged to meet the following day at her place.

They did not know then that Ms Goh was already dead and that the police had already been alerted.

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DEPRESSION

Madam Hao told Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao that her daughter had suffered from depression and had "never been the same" after her husband, an army officer, had threatened to throw her from a building after an argument.

After her husband died from tongue cancer two years ago, Ms Goh sold their four-room flat at Block 55, Circuit Road, and bought her current flat at Block 62.

Her three daughters, aged six, 10 and 13, were left with her mother-in-law after their father died.

Madam Hao visited her daughter every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

She added that Ms Goh had behaved strangely when she saw her at her flat on Aug 25.

"She gave me her birth certificate for no reason," said Madam Hao.

She was again puzzled when she met Ms Goh the following day. "She didn't usually send me off when I left the flat, but she came out last Tuesday."

Madam Hao added that her daughter liked to dress up and take drugs.

Mr Ho added that Ms Goh had been sniffing glue for the past few months.

He had been with Ms Goh for eight months before they broke up.

Said the contractor: "I know that she was caught and imprisoned for glue sniffing before."

Neighbours told TNP that Ms Goh would often ask them for money.

Said a resident who lives on the same floor: "She would come over and ask us to lend her some money but we never gave her."

Another resident living in the opposite block said that she would often bump into Ms Goh at the void deck and she would also refuse to lend Ms Goh money.

Madam Hao was distraught.

"I had never thought that it would end like this."

tnp@sph.com.sg

This article was published on Sep 4 The New Paper.

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