Life sentence for man who stabbed roommate to death, left him bleeding on bedroom floor overnight

SINGAPORE — After arguing with his roommate who had borrowed money from him, Naing Lin was preparing food in the kitchen with a knife when he decided to repeatedly stab the other man with the weapon.

When Myo Kyaw Thu collapsed in his bedroom after the stabbing, Naing Lin left him there overnight. By the time he returned to the flat, the victim had died from his wounds.

On Thursday (Sept 22), Naing Lin, who worked as a cleaner in Singapore, was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty in the High Court to a murder charge.

The prosecution did not seek the death penalty for the 51-year-old Myanmar national, arguing that Naing Lin "did not exhibit viciousness or a blatant disregard for human life", while Justice Valerie Thean agreed that the facts of the case did not merit it.

The offence of murder here carries either a life or death sentence.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that Naing Lin shared a bedroom with Myo Kyaw Thu, a 49-year-old fellow Myanmar national who was on a short-term visitor pass.

On April 2 last year, both men drank alcohol with some friends in the Ubi area before Myo Kyaw Thu returned home alone.

When Naing Lin went home later, they got into a verbal argument about Myo Kyaw Thu's spending habits.

Naing Lin said it was shameful for Myo Kyaw Thu to borrow money from others despite being an engineer. The other man then replied that he would settle his own money issues without asking Naing Lin for money in the future.

Unwilling to continue the conversation, Naing Lin went to the kitchen and retrieved a knife to fry an egg and onion.

He then realised that he did not have his mobile phone with him. When he went to their bedroom to get it, Myo Kyaw Thu was still sitting on the bed using his own phone.

When Myo Kyaw Thu asked him why he was holding a knife and scolded him using a vulgarity, Naing Lin turned around and slashed his face with the weapon.

Myo Kyaw Thu then stood up before Naing Lin stabbed him four times in the chest, abdomen and upper arm.

After he collapsed on his bed, Naing Lin changed out of his Bermuda shorts into a sarong and left the bedroom around 6.20pm.

He then left the flat with his belongings without checking on his roommate’s condition, drove his company lorry a short distance away, and spoke to a female friend over Facebook Messenger.

He told her that he was waiting for the police to arrest him and also asked her to call Myo Kyaw Thu, who did not pick up.

The next morning, when Myo Kyaw Thu still did not respond to his calls and text messages, Naing Lin and a friend went to check on the unit.

They saw Myo Kyaw Thu lying motionless on the floor in a pool of blood. Naing Lin then went to Bedok South Neighbourhood Police Centre to surrender himself to the authorities.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Teo Lu Jia and Seah Ee Wei told the court that he cooperated significantly with the police and was intoxicated when he killed Myo Kyaw Thu.

However, he knew what he was doing and was aware that killing another person was wrongful, an Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist found. He had no major mental disorder.

Myo Kyaw Thu was also severely intoxicated at the time, which could account for the relative lack of movement, struggling or defensive injuries on his part, the court heard.