Greenridge Crescent boys’ deaths: 48-year-old father further remanded for psychiatric observation

SINGAPORE — Xavier Yap Jung Houn, the father of two 11-year-old boys found dead two weeks ago at a playground in Upper Bukit Timah, has been placed under further remand for psychiatric observation.

Yap, 48, is accused of the murder of one of his sons, Ethan Yap E Chern, between 4.23pm and 6.25pm on Jan 21 at a covered canal near a playground along Greenridge Crescent. 

He was charged on Jan 23, two days after the alleged killing, and has been in remand since then. Last Thursday, he was taken by police officers to the scene where the bodies were found.

Yap was scheduled to reappear in court on Monday (Jan 31), but his case was brought forward to Jan 29, a spokesperson for the State Courts told TODAY.

He remains in remand at Changi Prison’s Complex Medical Centre for psychiatric observation, the spokesperson said. His case will be heard again on Feb 18.

No charges have been tendered against him for the death of his other son, who has been identified by The Straits Times as Aston Yap Kai Shern.

Court documents did not specify whether any weapon was allegedly used.

Under the penal code, the offence of murder carries the death penalty.

The police previously said that they had received a call for assistance from Yap at 6.25pm on Jan 21. 

Police officers arrived and found the two boys lying motionless near the playground and were pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic.

“The police followed up on all possible leads and conducted round-the-clock investigations, which eventually led to the arrest of the man,” they said in an earlier statement. 

The 2m-wide canal where the boys' bodies were found cuts through a small, secluded playground at the edge of a residential neighbourhood, and leads to a forested plot of land behind it.

Residents in Greenridge Crescent told TODAY previously that the entire playground and the surrounding forested area were cordoned off by the police from around 7pm that Friday night.

One resident said that she saw more than a dozen police vehicles and ambulances and many officers combing through the area with searchlights and search dogs.

Two days later, members of the public lined the canal with candles and flowers. Representatives from six religious organisations also held an inter-faith prayer session.