Kovan double murders

On the afternoon of 10 July 2013, commuters at Kovan MRT station witnessed a silver Toyota Camry driving past, with the body of a man being dragged face-down under the car itself, with his belt stuck to the underside of the car and a trail of blood following it. Seeing this, about 15 to 20 cars honked at it to stop but to no avail. It was only when the car drove past the MRT station then the body was completely dislodged outside the station. Police were contacted and the body was later found to have head injuries and neck injuries. There were also a total of 20 stab wounds found on the body, 17 of them were mainly at the head, neck and chest.

The police followed the blood trail, which stretched over 1 km and ended outside a house in Hillside Drive. The police were greeted by another corpse, that of an elderly man with a total of 27 knife wounds on his body, mostly at his head, neck and chest. There were sock prints found in a linear path, stained in blood. A lane along Upper Serangoon Road and roads leading to Hillside Drive were closed by the police, leading to a massive traffic jam. Crowds also gathered around the house and where the first body was found. Both places were cordoned off for more than eight hours.[3]

Before the horror at Kovan MRT station, there was an eyewitness - Salamah, a 28-year-old maid from a neighbour's house - who earlier saw the younger victim, who was said to be the elderly man's son, clutching his bleeding neck wound and collapsed in front of the house, and she claimed she saw another man running out of the house and got into the silver car to make his escape, which ran over the man's body and caused it to be dragged under the car, culminating into the scene that horrified members of the public at the MRT station. Anthony Fabian, a 56-year-old caretaker of a nearby vacant, disused school building, also saw the suspected killer moving the car over the younger victim's body and dragged it under the car; he claimed that after seeing this, he tried to shout at the driver to alert him but failed to catch up.[4][5] These two people would become the prosecution's witnesses in the murder trial of the suspected Kovan double killer.

The next day, the Toyota Camry, which belonged to the older victim, was found parked outside an apartment in Eunos. By then, the police had classified the case as murder, and established the identities of the victims. The older victim was 67-year-old Tan Boon Sin (陈文新 chén wén xīn),[6] while the younger victim found at Kovan MRT Station was his 42-year-old elder son Tan Chee Heong (陈志雄 chén zhì xióng).[7] Boon Sin was described by his family, friends and neighbours as a very nice and hard-working person, and a kind, jovial and even-tempered man who was close to his wife and children and never smoke or gamble, while his son, Chee Heong was a university graduate and owner of an electronics business married with two sons, both aged 10 and 3 respectively at the time of his death. Chee Heong was also described as a responsible family man to his wife and sons, and also a filial son to his parents.[8][9]

The investigations also revealed that Boon Sin was last seen alive at around 1 pm on that fateful afternoon, according to an employee who told police that the older victim had told him he had to leave and that he had reportedly withdrawn some items from the safe deposit box. By then, there were speculations over the motive behind the murder by the media, including a possible business dispute, but Boon Sin's car workshop business was strong and healthy, which dismissively refuted this particular theory.[10]

On 12 July 2013, the suspect was discovered to be eating and then arrested at Restoran Singgah Selalu in Danga Bay, Johor Bahru, Malaysia by plainclothes police officers from the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP). Investigations by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) had established that the suspect was a 34-year-old police officer, Senior Staff Sergeant Iskandar bin Rahmat from the SPF in the Bedok Police Division. This information was revealed only after Iskandar was brought back to Singapore. Iskandar had applied for a day's leave on the day of the murders from his supervisor and at 11 pm on the night itself, Iskandar had left Singapore into Johor, Malaysia via the Causeway on a scooter. Iskandar and some of the RMP officers involved were regulars of the seafood restaurant, which was a popular eating spot for Singaporeans who came into Malaysia across the Woodlands Checkpoint.

Upon receiving the news of the suspect's arrest, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean thanked the RMP, saying this was “an excellent example of the close and deeply valued partnership the law enforcement agencies of both countries have built over many decades”.[11][12]

Soon after his arrest, Iskandar was extradited back to Singapore on 13 July, and two days later, he was charged in the State Courts of Singapore for the murders of the father and son, Tan Boon Sin and Tan Chee Heong.[13][14] By then, the DPM Teo Chee Hean and Police Commissioner Ng Joo Hee had addressed the public and reporters about his arrest in a press conference, and for the first time, they revealed Iskandar's identity. This revelation brought a shock to all Singaporeans, including former police officers, MPs and netizens, that a senior policeman was involved in the double deaths at Kovan.

Not only did Teo offered his condolences to the bereaved families of the victims, he also expressed his shock over the first time when he heard that the suspect was a senior policeman, and his actions had tarnished the reputation of the Singapore Police Force. Teo also reiterated that there is zero tolerance for police officers who broke the law and his confidence that justice will be impartially served and asked the Police Commissioner to tell every police officer to perform their duties diligently to maintain the trust between the public and the police.

Ng similarly stated that the identity of the suspect as a policeman made the investigating officers more resolved to solve the case. He stated in the press conference that it was painful to discover that a policeman was involved, and they would investigate why a policeman who sworn to fulfil his duty to uphold the law had broke it "in the most grievous way". He also acknowledged that due to the actions of Iskandar, there would be a public outcry, critically questioning the integrity and quality of the police force, but he stated that they would take every criticism in their own stride. He said that they will "prosecute him (Iskandar) to the greatest and maximum extent", and will ensure that they will not allow the tragedy to cause the public to lose their trust in the police.[15][16]

Additionally, the residents at Hillside Drive expressed their relief to reporters when the suspect is arrested.[17]

After Iskandar was charged, District judge Kessler Koh adjourned the case to the following week's Monday (22 July 2013) and Iskandar was remanded in police custody for further investigations. He was also taken to the crime scene to make an re-enactment of the alleged double murders, and was given an suspension from duty without pay by the police force. At the same time, a funeral was conducted at Teochew Funeral Parlour in Ubi for both Kovan victims and they were cremated on 16 July 2013. More than 100 relatives and friends attended the funeral, and several plainclothes policemen were deployed to inform reporters to keep their distance from the family. More visitors, including the long-time customers of the elder Tan's car workshop and the Workers' Party Members of Parliaments (MPs) Sylvia Lim (from Aljunied GRC) and Lee Li Lian (from Punggol East) also came to the funeral to pay their respects.[18] Additionally, the police commissioner Ng Joo Hee also attended the funeral to offer his condolences to the family.[19]

According to The Straits Times, the unnamed widow of Chee Heong, was devastated and inconsolable as her husband's coffin was pushed into the cremation chambers of Mandai Crematorium, and Chee Heong's unnamed elder son, who only received news of his father's death a few days later, also teared up when it was his turn to carry his father's photo while the younger son innocently waved at the coffins and say goodbye to his father. Ong Ah Tang, the widow of Boon Sin, with whom she was married for 40 years, was too distraught to take part in the Buddhist funeral rites. 39-year-old Tan Chee Wee, the younger son of Boon Sin, tearfully made a promise to his father and brother in Hokkien that he will take on the responsibility to take care of the family, and to treat his brother's children as his own.[20][21] The drawings made by the Chee Heong's two sons were placed in the two victims' coffins before they were cremated. 49-year-old Ong Boon Kok, an uncle of Chee Heong, also thanked the police for their part in investigations and the members of the public (including the eye-witnesses) who assisted in investigations.

On 26 July 2013, Iskandar was remanded at the Changi Prison Complex Medical Centre for psychiatric evaluation. He also reportedly told his lawyers that he wanted to claim trial to all the charges against him.[22]

One of these witnesses, was associate professor and senior forensic consultant pathologist Dr Gilbert Lau from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), who conducted an autopsy on the deceased father and son. Dr Lau testified in court that the elder victim Tan Boon Sin sustained 12 stab wounds and 15 incised wounds, which included five wounds to the neck, seven to the chest and nine to the face or scalp. All the wounds were likely to have been inflicted by a sharp instrument like a knife. What caused the elderly man's death were a deep and gaping incised wound that measured 8cm by 5cm across the front of the neck, which would have caused severe bleeding, and a 13 cm deep chest wound. There were four defensive wounds on the arms of the elder victim, and some defensive injuries on his fingers.

As for the younger victim Tan Chee Heong, he sustained seven stab wounds and 13 incised wounds. There were four wounds to the neck and 13 to the face or scalp. A deep neck wound on Chee Heong, which measured 7 to 8 cm deep and had cut through three major blood vessels, was the injury that killed him. He had three defensive wounds on his forearm and also some injuries that resulted from the dragging by the car. The younger Tan's tooth was found outside the house, though it is not known how it was dislodged. When asked about the sequence of injuries inflicted, Dr Lau reportedly replied, "Stabbings are just so dynamic. Various injuries could have been inflicted in various ways. It is very difficult to determine the precise sequence... it may be possible on CSI, but not in real life."

As he was testifying and presenting his autopsy findings in court on the third day of the trial (26 October 2015), Dr Lau faced a severe cross-examination from defence lawyer Shashi Nathan, who put it to him that Iskandar had done the stabbing out of self-defence, which the pathologist rejected on the stand. Dr Lau, in return, stated that should it be the case that Boon Sin indeed attacked Iskandar, he would have conducted an autopsy on Iskandar instead. He said it would really require the inquiry of why Iskandar did the stabbing for twelve times instead of once, twice or thrice, labelling it as an excessive form of self-defence.[28]

Iskandar described that the knife used to stab the victims was a normal kitchen knife; he said that the knife had a grooved blade. From the handle to the tip, it was slightly shorter than the breadth of an A4-sized piece of paper. He also drew a sketch of what the knife looked like, drawing many small circles along the entire length of the cutting edge. He would later on say in his defence that the elder victim Tan Boon Sin used it to attack him when discovering his plan to rob him, and that he did not arm himself with a knife. However, the knives owned by the Tan family were all flat-edged. The fishing knives owned by Boon Sin, who liked to go fishing, were also too short. The murder weapon as described by Iskandar was never recovered, even from the location where Iskandar told police he disposed the weapon. It was the case of the prosecution, from the above evidence, that the knife belonged to Iskandar and he armed himself with it to commit robbery and murder; however the defence argued that Iskandar was never armed and for the issue of who owned that particular knife, the defence lawyers representing Iskandar had subjected Boon Sin's widow Mdm Ong Ah Tang to extensive cross-examination.[29]

Regarding the issue of the knife while Dr Lau took the stand, Deputy Public Prosecutor Lau Wing Yum (unrelated to Dr Gilbert Lau) of the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), who led the 4-member prosecution team, asked Dr Lau if the alleged murder knife could have caused the injuries. Dr Lau said that it could cause most of the injuries, but if the sketch was up to scale, the 9.2cm-long blade would not have been able to cause two wounds on the older Mr Tan that were 11cm and 13cm deep. He also did not rule out the possibility of two knives being used during the murders, when cross-examined by the defence counsel.[30]

At the trial, Iskandar's recount of the events was consistent with his police statements, and he maintained that the deaths were a result of a poorly conceived robbery that gone wrong. He claimed that his intention was only to rob Tan Boon Sin by cheating him, grab the money and run. He also stated he was sorry and regretful for killing the victims. He recounted that day when he contacted Boon Sin, he introduced himself as Rahman instead of his real name Iskandar bin Rahmat, and pretended to be an intelligence officer wanting to conduct a sting operation to help Boon Sin catch the thief. He then took a dummy surveillance camera with him and a wristlet before meeting up with Boon Sin, whom he convinced to take out his valuables from the Certis Cisco and at the place, he installed the dummy surveillance camera and offered to escort Boon Sin back home; on the way he pretended to be talking to his "partner" on a fake walkie-talkie, which was made out of the wristlet he took from his home. It was at this juncture when Iskandar claimed, after they reached Boon Sin's house in Hillside Drive, his ploy was seen through and as a result, Boon Sin turned aggressive and went at him with a knife. Iskandar claimed that he acted in self-defence out of fear for his life and fatally injured Boon Sin, who collapsed next to the house's organ.

The younger victim Tan Chee Heong, who had just arrived at his father's home, had discovered the murder of his father. At sight of his father's body and Iskandar, Chee Heong went at Iskandar, and out of panic, Iskandar claimed that he swung the knife wildly and was engaged in a sudden fight with Chee Heong. Iskandar stabbed him out of self-defence. Chee Heong collapsed after he staggered out of the house through the gates. He then quickly get onto Boon Sin's car and used it a get-away to escape the house; unknowingly to Iskandar, the belt of the younger Tan was caught under the car, which led to the dragging of the younger victim's body for 1 km before its complete dislodge at Kovan MRT station. He thought that the cars honked at him due to the bloodstains on the side of the car.[31]

On the day of the killings, according to Iskandar's superior, he received a request from Iskandar to have an urgent leave because he wanted to meet up with his cousin, which the superior agree and asked Iskandar to update him about it. The next day, through WhatsApp, Iskandar informed his superior that he fled to Malaysia because he knew he would be made a bankrupt, and wanted to resign from the police force despite attempts by the superior to dissuade him. The superior was said to be shocked over Iskandar's arrest for the alleged murders he committed at Kovan.[32]

According to Iskandar's police statements, during the two days on the run, he went to seek treatment for his wound on his right hand in a clinic in Johor. After lying to the doctor that the injury was a result of knocking into a lamp post while falling off his motorcycle, the doctor sutured his wounds and prescribed some antibiotics for him. Other than that, Iskandar spent his time living in hotels in Johor Bahru before his arrest at Restoran Singgah Selalu.[5]

Iskandar's lawyer Shashi Nathan argued about his client's lack of intention to kill, urging the court to accept both his defences of a sudden fight and self-defence and to convict him of a lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which carries the penalty of life imprisonment or up to 20 years' imprisonment, with the offender liable to caning or a fine. He said that, even if Iskandar had exceeded his right to self-defence and had committed murder, he should be convicted of a lesser limb of murder with lack of intention to kill under Section 300(c) of the Penal Code, which constitutes an act where a person intentionally inflict a bodily injury on another person, and the bodily injury itself is sufficient in the ordinary cause of nature to cause death, for which the punishment is either a sentence of death or life imprisonment with/without caning.

"I'm not asking you to acquit him of murder. He knows he has killed two people. He knows he has to suffer the consequences," Nathan told the court. "He did intend to cause injuries to get away from them... He never intended to kill them." Additionally, Nathan also said that the large number of injuries did not necessarily mean an intention to kill. He noted that there was no concrete evidence to show that his client had armed himself beforehand and the benefit of the doubt must be given to his client. He pointed out that if Iskandar had been searching the house, his bloodstained sock prints would be in all directions but in this case, they were in a linear path.

As for the prosecution's case, the events before the murders were largely similar to that of the defence's case, and to Iskandar's police statements. However, DPP Lau Wing Yum argued that the double killings were premeditated. They argued that Iskandar should be convicted as charged for committing murder with intention to kill. They pointed out that Iskandar had intended to commit murder by arming himself with a knife, and that the number of stab wounds on the body, the location of the knife wounds (on the head, chest and neck), and the nature of these injuries were altogether an irreversible indication that Iskandar had intended to kill and silence the victims should his plot be discovered. They argued that the trail of sock prints could only mean that Iskandar had went to search for the valuables after killing Boon Sin before the arrival of Chee Heong (as there was only Boon Sin's DNA found on the sock prints) instead of looking for a towel to clean himself as what he claimed in the statements. They also claimed that Iskandar in fact hid in ambush and waited for Chee Heong to enter the house before killing him.[33]

They pointed out that Tan Boon Sin has a completely degenerated cartilage at his right knee, which made him having difficulty to walk or getting up from a sitting position (it was earlier revealed that Boon Sin was due to go for a knee operation not long after 10 July 2013, according to Boon Sin's orthopaedic surgeon Dr Kevin Lee). Despite the fact that his weight and height was comparatively close to those of Iskandar's, Boon Sin was much older than Iskandar, which made him a whole lot less agile in his lower limb movements. This also shown that Boon Sin could not have possibly be able to charge at Iskandar. Besides, in Chee Heong's case, even though he was 4 cm taller than the 173-cm-tall Iskandar, Chee Heong, whose weight is 56 kg, was 27 kg lighter than Iskandar, whose weight is 83 kg, so there is no doubt that the harm done was excessive for self-defence since Chee Heong was not really physically threatening to him.

The prosecutors also pointed out the absence of defensive wounds on Iskandar, other than a bite wound on his left hand and deep cut on his right palm, has further disputed the defence of self-defence or sudden fight. The prosecution also conceded that even if there was no intention to kill from the start, this formed when the plan began to fall apart which might risk expose his identity and robbery plan. Iskandar's lack of explanation of why he inflict so many wounds on the victims and the inconsistencies between his account and the objective evidence were also included in the arguments of the prosecution in favour of a conviction of murder.

After a nine-day trial, the defence and prosecution made their closing submissions on 23 November 2015, and the judgement was reserved until 4 December 2015.[34]

On 4 December 2015, more than 2 years after the deaths of both Tan Boon Sin and Tan Chee Heong in Kovan, Justice Tay Yong Kwang delivered his verdict, with around 60 people (including the victims' families and Iskandar's family) sitting in the courtroom to hear it. Justice Tay found Iskandar bin Rahmat guilty of murder under Section 300(a) of the Penal Code, and sentenced him to death. In convicting Iskandar of murder, Justice Tay found that he had attacked the victims "cruelly and relentlessly with the clear intention of causing death". He did not believe that Boon Sin would suddenly turn aggressive and wield a knife after welcoming Iskandar to his home. He also said that Chee Heong was "collateral damage" and Iskandar killed him to silence him for witnessing the murder of his father. Justice Tay thus rejected the defences put up by Iskandar, and he also pointed out in the judgement that there are four golden opportunities for Iskandar to be able to grab the money and run without having to attract the attention of Boon Sin if it was true that he indeed had no intent to hurt anyone or merely to just take the money and run. Despite his dismissal of Iskandar's account and defence, he did accept that Iskandar did not ambush Chee Heong and kill him based on the review of the forensic evidence and that he had no intention of using the car as a "mean murder machine" to deliberately get Chee Heong's body to be dragged under the car to kill him while he drove it to escape the crime scene.

Nearing the end of his judgement, Justice Tay commended the police officers in charge of the investigation for their part in the swift arrest of Iskandar (as assisted by the Royal Malaysian Police), and their unbiasedness and objective attitudes in the investigations of the double deaths at Kovan despite the accused being a police officer. He also gratefully addressed both the prosecution and the defence for their efforts, professional attitude and conduct in the course of the trial, allowing the trial's conclusion to take place within a short period of time.

Iskandar was reportedly emotionless as the High Court found him guilty and convict him of the murders. Justice Tay pronounced and passed the mandatory death sentence on Iskandar as everyone in the court was told to stand and keep silent while the judge did so. Shashi Nathan later confirmed that his client will be appealing against his sentence and conviction.[35][5][24]

On 8 December 2015, 4 days after the conclusion of the murder trial, a press conference was held by the bereaved Tan family. Tan Boon Sin's 42-year-old daughter Tan Siew Ling, son Tan Chee Wee and their uncle Ong Boon Kok spoke to reporters from the Straits Times in the Hillside Drive house (where the murders took place), telling them about their feelings towards the case. Chee Wee said that the verdict was expected but its outcome could not heal the pain continually endured by the family from the incident, and in his words, he reportedly said, "A happy family was broken in seconds. Life has changed for us totally." The widow of Boon Sin, who was not present at the time of the media interview, continued to live alone in the house after the murders. The family also expressed their gratitude to the police officers and the prosecution for bringing Iskandar to justice, as well as the kindness and condolences of many strangers.[36]

As for Iskandar's family, it was reported that they were saddened to hear that Iskandar was sentenced to serve a mandatory death sentence for the double murder.[37]

On 26 October 2016, Iskandar's appeal was heard in the Court of Appeal, before three judges, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Judges of Appeal Chao Hick Tin and Andrew Phang. The newly-appointed defence counsel (led by defence lawyer Wendell Wong) presented the arguments which were made in the original trial to the Court of Appeal. Not only did they raised the original defences of sudden fight and self-defence, they also raised a new defence of diminished responsibility by submitting a psychiatric report that diagnosed that Iskandar was suffering from adjustment disorder and acute stress reaction at the time of the murders, and he was depressed by his potential bankruptcy and dismissal from the police force. The prosecution, in turn, argued that the medical report is ought to be rejected, describing it as "self-serving". The judgement was reserved until 3 February 2017.[38]

On 3 February 2017, the same day when Iskandar celebrated his 38th birthday, the Court of Appeal released their decision, with Justice Andrew Phang delivering the court's decision. By an unanimous decision, the Court of Appeal dismissed Iskandar's appeal, and upheld his death sentence. The three-judge panel found Iskandar had intended to kill both Tan Boon Sin and Tan Chee Heong and described his account as "incredible" and "unbelievable". Justice Phang read out, "Even if his incredible account of a rob-and-run ploy were true, any right of self-defence belonged to the younger victim (Tan Chee Heong), who came home to the sight of his slain and bloodied father on the floor." He stressed in the court's judgement that the intention of murder “need not be pre-planned or premeditated, and can be formed on the spur of the moment”. Like Justice Tay Yong Kwang in the original trial, they rejected Iskandar's defences of sudden fight and self-defence. Especially on the part of the younger victim, Justice Phang said that “(Chee Heong) had just witnessed (Iskandar) lowering his father’s limp and bloodied body on the floor. Furthermore, (Iskandar), who was much heavier than (Chee Heong), was still holding on to the knife at the time. It would have been only natural for (Chee Heong) to try and apprehend (Iskandar) and defend his father”.

The judges also rejected the newly-raised defence of diminished responsibility, questioning why it was not brought up in the original trial or during Iskandar's time of psychiatric remand. They said, “Accused persons should and are expected to put their best case forward at the earliest time possible. Indeed, this court might exercise its discretion to reject such drip-feed applications in the future”. After hearing the appeal verdict, Iskandar was given the chance to speak to his 16 family members and friends, including his parents and sister. Some of them wept. The family declined to speak to the media, and the victims' families were not present to hear the decision.[39][40][41]

After the dismissal of his appeal, Iskandar filed for clemency from the President of Singapore in January 2018. Similarly, in February 2018, Iskandar's family also filed for clemency in hopes to have his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Both petitions were received by the President's Office to be reviewed and considered.

In July 2019, more than 18 months after the submission of the clemency petitions, the Istana Office informed Iskandar's new lawyer, Mr Peter Ong Lip Cheng (who was the lawyer of the 15-year-old youth whom notorious killer Anthony Ler Wee Teang manipulated to murder his wife),[42] that President Halimah Yacob, on the advice of the Cabinet, decided to dismiss Iskandar's clemency plea, which effectively finalized Iskandar's death sentence and thus condemning the former police officer to hang for the Kovan double murders.[43]

When asked about the outcome of the clemency petition, Mr Ong, who runs his own law firm, Peter Ong Law Corporation, said to the newspaper The Straits Times, "This has been a very challenging task, given the circumstances of the case, and I tried my best."[44]

Simultaneously, while he was under a sentence of death, Iskandar filed a complaint against his original lawyers to have them subject to disciplinary tribunal for not handling the case ethically and properly. But it was dismissed by the Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc) in June 2019. Later on, Iskandar filed an appeal against this decision to the High Court, asking for a review of LawSoc's decision, but the High Court dismissed the appeal in October 2019.[45] The judgement for this appeal to the High Court was released on 28 February 2020. Inside the judgement, High Court judge Valerie Thean, who heard the appeal, commented that the ex-police officer's "true discontentment, it seemed, was that the trial defence team had not prolonged his trial by use of all means imagined.". She also said that there is "no prima facie case of ethical breach or other misconduct" in the case of Iskandar's former lawyers to warrant a formal investigation on them.[46][47]

On 8 January 2021, it was reported that Iskandar was given an approval by the Court of Appeal to proceed with his appeal against the High Court's decision to dismiss his allegations of his former lawyers' misconduct, as the court ruled that the complainants who are pursuing disciplinary probes against lawyers have the right to appeal all the way to Singapore's highest court as they dismissed the application by LawSoc to strike out Iskandar's appeal. The appeal will be heard at a later date.[48] Due to this, it is for certain that for the time being, Iskandar will not be hanged while pending this particular appeal.