Man charged with killing former air stewardess to plead guilty to culpable homicide

SINGAPORE — A 28-year-old man accused of murdering his ex-air stewardess girlfriend said on Tuesday (Oct 10) he intends to plead guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide.

The development came at what would have been the first day of Neo Chun Zheng’s murder trial on Tuesday, where he told the court he was “sorry for everything”. He is accused of killing Ms Soh Yuan Lin outside his Boon Lay Drive flat two years ago.

The victim, who was 23, is believed to have been stabbed in the neck between 8.07pm and 8.17pm on Nov 26, 2015, shortly after neighbours reported hearing them quarrelling. The former Scoot employee was pronounced dead in hospital about three hours later.

If he is convicted of culpable homicide, Neo will not be hanged. Instead, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment and caning, or up to 20 years’ jail, caning or a fine.

The court was told that defence lawyer Mr R Thrumurgan had made representations to the prosecution last Wednesday. They offered to reduce the charge to culpable homicide on the condition that Neo pleads guilty.

Neo will appear in court again next Tuesday to enter his plea.