Geylang brothel owner appeals against death sentence for murdering pimp

SINGAPORE — When brothel owner Chan Lie Sian was whacking William Tiah Hung Wai with a dumbbell rod, he had no intention to kill the pimp for allegedly stealing money from him.

Rather, it was meant to be a lesson about “honour among brothers (and) not to steal from each other,” Chan’s lawyer told the court during a hearing on Wednesday (April 3) to appeal against Chan’s conviction and death sentence.

Lawyer Wendell Wong, who asked that Chan be sentenced to life imprisonment instead, added that physical punishment was not uncommon among “brothers” in Chan’s company when a wrong has been committed by one of them.

“It was not to teach a lesson in death,” he said.

Chan, now 55, also known as Seow Benny, was found guilty of murder with the intention to kill Tiah and was sentenced to death in May 2017.

On Jan 14, 2014, Chan had summoned Tiah to the brothel located along Geylang Lorong 18 to question him about the sum of $6,500 that he believed Tiah stole from him.

Tiah denied it and during their confrontation between 11am and 2.30pm, Chan struck Tiah on the head many times with the 40cm-long metal rod which weighed 1.46kg.

Tiah, who suffered multiple cuts on his head and numerous skull fractures, died from his injuries in hospital a week later, just before he turned 36.

At the scene of the crime, 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.

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

HIT HIS HEAD ‘BY ACCIDENT’

In his argument on Wednesday, Mr Wong sought to establish that there was more than a reasonable doubt that Chan did not intend to kill due to the nature of the single blow to the front of the head, located above the right eye.

As Chan was angry and the room was dim, he did not have a perfect recollection of the fight, the lawyer said.

Mr Wong added that his client believed he hit Tiah on the head two to three times, but this was by accident. He was targeting Tiah’s arms and legs, but failed to hit those spots as Tiah was fighting back.

In response, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon —who was presiding during the hearing with Judges of Appeal Andrew Phang and Judith Prakash — said that Chan must have “found himself to be the unluckiest man in the world” to have hit Tiah’s head several times if he did not mean to do so.

The defence pointed to expert evidence, which supports that Chan would not have known that the pimp had suffered fatal internal injuries simply from the appearance of Tiah’s external injuries.

Chan did not think that Tiah’s injuries were fatal, which was why he asked a subordinate to fetch a bucket of water so that they could revive Tiah with it. He also instructed them to treat his wounds with bandages.

In her rebuttal, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) April Phang pointed out that even after Tiah fell unconscious, Chan continued to strike him and had remarked in Hokkien that if Tiah did not die, Chan would break his limbs.

She added that Chan had actively dissuaded people from calling an ambulance for Tiah by threatening them with violence.

If he had a regard for Tiah’s life, he would have called for an ambulance immediately after seeing the blood splatters on the ceiling, she said.

“It was a long delay before he received medical assistance. The attack happened in the morning, and he only went to the hospital in the evening.”

Even then, the ambulance was called by someone who had disregarded Chan’s threats. At this point, Chan had no choice but to try to cover up his actions so that suspicion would not fall on him, DPP Phang said.

She added that the bucket of water Chan called for was not to revive Tiah, but to clean the blood stains in the room.

DPP Phang also reminded the court that Chan had instructed his subordinates to dispose of the dumbbell rod.

Chan, who was present during the hearing, sat emotionless as he followed the proceedings through a Chinese translator.

The judges reserved judgement and the court will release a decision at a later date.