SINGAPORE — Convinced that a pimp had stolen S$6,500 from him, a brothel operator allegedly bludgeoned him with a dumbbell rod and killed him, the High Court heard yesterday.

Chan Lie Sian, 53, is on trial for murdering 35-year-old William Tiah Hung Wai between 11am and 2.30pm on Jan 14, 2014.

He allegedly struck the victim on the head at least eight times with the metal rod, which was 40cm long and weighed about 1.46kg.

Tiah died from his injuries in hospital a week later, just before he turned 36. If convicted, Chan faces the mandatory death penalty.

The court heard that Chan was operating a brothel at Lorong 18 Geylang. On the day of the attack, he called Tiah at around 11am to tell him to show up at the brothel.

He believed that the pimp — who was in the same secret society as him — had stolen the sum of money from his shorts pocket the previous night while he was sleeping.

The prosecution’s case is that Chan used the rod to hit Tiah during the meeting. Blood was found on the floor, wall, ceiling, and a dish rack on a dining table in the living room. More stains were also found on the floor, walls and bed in one of the brothel’s rooms.

Deputy Public Prosecutor April Phang said: “One of these eyewitnesses … will testify that even though the deceased was lying on the bloodied bed and room in an unresponsive and incapacitated state, the accused still used a metal rod to hit the deceased on his hands and legs.”

Chan apparently said in Hokkien that he would hit Tiah until he was dead, and if he did not die from the blows, he would break his limbs.

Other eyewitnesses would testify that Tiah was badly injured as he lay on a bed in one of the rooms.

Chan apparently admitted to them that he was the assailant, and that he had used a metal dumbbell rod during the attack.

The prosecution also charged Chan with taking “systematic” steps to evade detection by cleaning up the scene — asking another secret society member to dispose of the rod — and to prevent the offence from being reported.

When the police arrived at the scene, Chan supposedly lied to them that he had found Tiah lying along the road pavement, and that he had moved the latter to the front porch to prevent vehicles from running over him.

A consultant neurologist is expected to testify that Tiah was in a coma when he arrived at Tan Tock Seng Hospital after 6.30pm that day. He was bleeding from multiple cuts on his head, and he also had numerous skull fractures.

An autopsy found that Tiah was struck on the head at least eight times, with each blow being dealt with “considerable force sufficient to cause multiple lacerations … and the extensive skull fractures”.

Chan had light injuries, including a 10cm bruise on his upper back and a 1cm bruise over his left elbow.

The trial continues today.