Man on trial for murder of housemate in Teck Whye flat after argument over rent

• Mohammad Rosli Abdul Rahim stabbed Mohammad Roslan Zaini, 35, in the chest with a kitchen knife
• The duo had quarrelled over payments for their flat rent and utilities
• Roslan’s ex-girlfriend, whom Rosli treated like a sister, was also upset with Roslan for not taking care of her
• Rosli admitted to stabbing the other man but said he did not mean to kill him
• If convicted of murder, he faces life imprisonment or the death penalty

SINGAPORE — A 51-year-old man who admitted to stabbing his housemate in the chest with a kitchen knife, but has maintained that he did not intend to kill him, went on trial for murder on Tuesday (Feb 16).

Mohammad Rosli Abdul Rahim is accused of causing 35-year-old Mohammad Roslan Zaini’s death on Aug 16, 2017 at their fourth-floor unit at Block 165A, Teck Whye Crescent.

When Rosli was arrested, he gave statements to investigators where he confessed to using the knife, which had a 17cm-long blade, on Roslan to hurt him. 

Rosli was angry with him for allegedly insulting his mother, and the duo had argued over payments for the flat rent and utilities.

According to court documents, the knife ultimately penetrated Roslan’s heart and caused “acute internal bleeding” within the chest. 

Prosecutors charged that the stab wound was sufficient in the ordinary nature to cause death and that Rosli intended to inflict the injury. 

Roslan managed to run out of the flat and collapsed in a bloodied state on a grass patch in front of the block. A bus driver on the way to work found him there and called the police.

If convicted of murder under Section 300(c) of the Penal Code, Rosli could receive the death penalty or life imprisonment. The latter punishment also carries the possibility of caning but those aged 50 or above cannot be caned under the law.

Rosli appeared in the High Court on Tuesday with greying hair, clad in a purple prison jumpsuit. He has been in remand since the killing.

HOW IT BEGAN

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Yang Ziliang told the court that Rosli, known to his acquaintances as “Trojan”, was initially homeless around November 2016. 

He slept at void decks in Bukit Batok, before sleeping outside an acquaintance’s unit at the third floor of the Teck Whye block.

Roslan eventually approached him and suggested that they co-rent his flat on the fourth floor. They registered their names with the Housing and Development Board as co-tenants and agreed to split the monthly rent.

In August 2017, Rosli began to suspect that Roslan was overcharging him for the rent. 

At the same time, Roslan broke up with his girlfriend Rohazlin Jumar, whom Rosli regarded as a sister and had known for more than a decade.

The couple were at East Coast Park for a gathering during National Day when Rozhalin — who was married to another man — fell and fractured her knee. 

Roslan did not accompany her to Tan Tock Seng Hospital but her husband did.

Rohazlin grew upset with Roslan for not taking care of her and the alleged neglect was the precursor to their breakup, said DPP Yang.

Before the alleged murder, Rosli visited Rohazlin and she complained about Roslan. In turn, Rosli shared his own unhappiness towards Roslan about the flat rent.

FLED AFTER STABBING

Around 1am on that fateful day, three others, including a friend of Roslan’s, watched a movie with the two men in their flat. 

One of the others left at about 2am and had not observed any dispute. The group continued watching movies.

Around 4am, Rosli and Roslan began arguing over money. Rosli grew angry at Roslan’s comments, retrieved a knife from the kitchen and walked back to the living room, where he stabbed the other man in the chest.

“The stab was delivered with such force that the knife penetrated the deceased’s sternum and perforated the right ventricle of the heart, terminating at a depth of approximately 11 to 13cm,” DPP Yang told the court.

Roslan tried to fend off the “violent one-sided lethal attack” with his bare hands but Rosli stabbed him twice more in the forearm and thigh, leaving wounds at least 11cm deep, DPP Yang added.

Upon witnessing the attack, the two others fled, running to their sister’s unit nearby and telling her to call the police.

Roslan then fled and turned towards the lift lobby, struggling down four flights of stairs and collapsing at a grass patch.

The bus driver who found him saw him lift his head and cough once, before his head dropped to the ground and he remained motionless. She then called the police.

Paramedics pronounced Roslan dead at the scene.

Rosli did not pursue him down the stairs but returned to the flat. He cleaned the blood stains on the floor with a piece of cloth and washed the knife at the kitchen sink.

He then left with bags containing his clothes, personal items and drugs. Police camera footage captured him escaping down a separate flight of stairs away from the lift lobby, avoiding police officers who had arrived at the scene.

Rosli was arrested at about 10.15am later that day at the void deck of Block 6, Teck Whye Avenue.

He gave statements during investigations where he stated: “I wanted to use the knife to hurt (the deceased) as I was angry with him for cursing my mother. I did not have the intention to kill him.”

He also said: “I lost my patience reasoning the matters with him. I only wanted to injure him to teach him a lesson. I have no intention to kill him.”

NOT OF UNSOUND MIND: PSYCHIATRIST

A pathologist from the Health Sciences Authority will testify that the chest stab wound was “overwhelmingly lethal in nature”, and that the other injuries were unlikely to have been fatal.

Including the pathologist, prosecutors will lead evidence from 56 witnesses.

Dr G Kandasami, a senior consultant with the department of addiction medicine at the Institute of Mental Health, issued three psychiatric reports, saying he was not of unsound mind at the time.

During interviews with Dr Kandasami, Rosli admitted to taking Nitrazepam — a type of sleeping pill. The psychiatrist found that this did not significantly influence Rosli’s mental state or impair his responsibility for Roslan’s death.

“There can be, and is, no doubt that the accused caused the deceased’s death by stabbing him, and that he intended to cause such stab wounds. None of the defences in the Penal Code or any exceptions to murder apply in this case,” DPP Yang told the court.

The trial continues on Tuesday afternoon before Justice Dedar Singh Gill.

Rosli is represented by lawyers Anand Nalachandran, Low Chun Yee and Adeline Goh.