Man convicted of murdering ex-wife at ITE College Central’s car park over matrimonial assets

• Seet Cher Hng, 69, was found guilty of a capital murder charge after a brief hearing
• He stabbed his ex-wife Low Hwee Geok to death in a car park at her workplace
• He was unhappy about the division of their matrimonial assets and ascribed their divorce to her infidelity
• The prosecution said they would not object to life imprisonment

SINGAPORE — For several years after their divorce, Seet Cher Hng demanded money from his ex-wife and became increasingly depressed when she did not respond, believing that he had not received his fair share of their matrimonial assets.

Seet also attributed his separation from Low Hwee Geok to her alleged infidelity.

Things came to a head on July 19, 2018, when he ambushed her in the car park of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College Central in Ang Mo Kio, where she worked. 

He stabbed her to death before wounding himself.

Seet, now 69, was on Tuesday (Sept 14) found guilty of a capital murder charge in the High Court. 

No witnesses were called to the stand and he was convicted after an hour-long hearing.

Having been held on remand since the killing, he will return to court on Sept 22 for sentencing submissions. 

The prosecution told the court that they would not object to life imprisonment. Murder carries either life in jail or the death penalty under the Penal Code.

His lawyers Wendell Wong and Felicia Ang of law firm Drew and Napier said that their client wished to plead guilty to protect his daughter and others from reliving the tragedy. 

Accused persons are, however, not allowed by law to plead guilty to capital charges.

ENGRAVED KNIFE WITH DATES OF ALLEGED AFFAIR

At the time of her death in 2018, Low was 56 and a divisional director of the examinations division at ITE College Central. 

The couple married in 1993 and divorced in mid-2011. 

Seet retired from his job at ITE’s headquarters in June 2017 and relied on monthly payouts from his Central Provident Fund Life savings account, living with his sister and mother in Clementi West.

Based on facts agreed between the prosecution and his lawyers, Seet was unhappy with the division of their matrimonial assets. 

This concerned a Jurong West condominium unit that the couple bought when they were still married.

Between 2011 and 2018, Seet sent many demands to Low via email, seeking S$200,000 to S$500,000.

Sometime before Chinese New Year in February 2018, he also left a letter on her car windscreen at ITE College Central, demanding S$500,000 and threatening to start legal proceedings.

She did not reply to any of these attempts and he became increasingly isolated, upset and depressed.

Two days before the murder, he booked a car through Car Club, a car-sharing service. 

He drove it to ITE College Central on the day of the killing, taking with him a haversack containing three knives, a spanner and a note dated April 12, 2018, which was addressed to the police. No further details were given about the note.

One of the knives was engraved with “010609” and “020609” — the dates when he believed he had caught Low having an alleged extramarital affair.

He arrived at ITE College Central at about 4.30pm, driving around until he spotted her car. He parked and waited for her to knock off work.

When he saw Low around 7.30pm, he got into her car through the front passenger door. 

She screamed and he grabbed her arm to try to stop her from fleeing.

She broke free and fell as she stepped out from the car. 

Getting out, he stabbed her repeatedly, inflicting eight wounds on her upper chest and back.

He then stabbed himself on his upper torso repeatedly with the same knife, before collapsing on top of her.

She was pronounced dead at the scene and he was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Novena under police escort. 

He inflicted 13 wounds on himself and underwent surgery, before he was transferred to Changi General Hospital in Simei.

A psychiatrist later found that he did not suffer from any major mental disorder and was not of unsound mind at that time.