Blood Lust (12 page)

Andrew then went on to relate from the
witness box Mrs Ngo’s visit. He told her that Ngo had not turned up. He went
off to work at 6:16
am
. He came
back home between 10:30 and 11:00
pm
.

Andrew said that when the police called at
his house on the evening of 30 December, he told them he had been expecting Ngo
but he did not turn up. He was shocked to learn from the police that Ngo and
Leong had been found murdered.

David also gave evidence on oath. He said
the first time he heard about Andrew’s gold transactions was in October after
the loss of a big sum of money. David said he helped Andrew and Augustine trace
the money. During this period he met Ngo and others.

On Hari Raya Puasa, Ang came to the house
and invited him to go for a joy ride to Changi. In the house were Ringo Lee,
Peter Lim, Alex Yau, Stephen Lee, his cousin, Bobby and three Chinese girls.
They went in three cars to a coffee stall in Changi. Everyone except Stephen
Lee, Bobby and the three girls got down. At the table he was introduced to
Fernando Lee and Anchor, but did not talk to them. They all left for home at
10:15
pm
. Next day, Ang casually
told him he had thought of a plan for a robbery. He did not say who he intended
to rob. David told Andrew that Augustine could not be serious. Andrew asked
David to join them, but David said he was not interested.

About 9:30
pm
on the evening of 23 November, he was home when Augustine and his friends came
to see Andrew. He lay down on the sofa while the group talked. He was not
paying close attention to what was being said. He heard Ang telling Fernando
that he required his men to help them in the robbery. Ang told Fernando Lee
that his men were to tie the legs of the men they were to rob. They were also
to tie their hands and gag them, and to bring them to a place to hide them and
later release them. It suddenly dawned on David that his brother and the others
were really making plans to commit robbery. “I asked Andrew what they were
really trying to do and Andrew replied that he and Augustine and his friends
are planning a robbery.” As the group left the living room, he pulled Andrew
and Ang to one side and advised them not to get involved in any robbery.

About the middle of December, around
midnight, Andrew telephoned to say he had a punctured tyre. He was stranded but
did not know where. Andrew passed the phone to Ang who told him to come to the
old Changi Road. Eventually he found Andrew, Augustine and Peter Lim on the
main road. They drove to Serangoon Garden Estate where they persuaded a taxi
driver to lend them a spare tyre. They all returned to the abandoned car. Then
they all drove to a small lane off Bencoolen Street.

David said: “On 29 December I returned home
from work about 5:00
pm
.
Augustine arrived at the house about 9:30
pm
.
Peter was already there. They left and returned about 11:30
pm
. Augustine whispered to me that the
robbery was on. I was very unhappy at hearing that. I told him I was upset and
unhappy. At that moment Andrew came home from work. He went straight to the
telephone. Then he went to his bedroom and I took Augustine into the kitchen to
try to persuade him to call the whole thing off. Andrew came into the kitchen
and in the backyard put pieces of cloth and rope, with which he said the men
were to be tied up and gagged, under the food cover on the dining table. I
again asked Andrew not to get involved. What if Mother should wake up? She
would faint from shock if she saw the robbery in our home. But Augustine and
Andrew seemed adamant. They were determined to carry out the robbery. I was
confused, still unhappy and upset. Andrew told me that all I had to do was to
help Augustine to catch one man. I did not have to be involved in the
robbery...”

David was hiding behind the chicks when he
heard footsteps.

Later he heard Andrew saying: ‘Ang, count the
gold.’ “The next thing I heard were scuffling sounds and a groan, a deep low
groan. I heard Augustine’s voice. He called: ‘David! Quick help me!’ I ran from
behind the chicks ... I saw a big man in a crouching position with both his
hands over his groin. I grabbed this man with both arms round his arms and
chest. Augustine held on to his legs. The next moment I fell into a kneeling
position, still holding the man’s arms and chest. I saw Andrew with one hand
over another man’s mouth, the other arm around his chest. The man I had caught
groaned. I was worried that my children might be awakened, and so I put both my
hands over the man’s mouth. At the same time Augustine punched him in the
abdomen. Then he pushed open the kitchen door and he told me to let go, that
his men would take over … I went to the back gate to see if there were any
passers-by. On my way back to the living room, I saw the big man with his legs
tied together, and hands tied together behind his back. He was gagged with a
piece of cloth … The smaller man was tied in a different way. Both his hands
were tied behind his back and the same piece of rope was tied round his ankles.
He was gagged with a piece of cloth. I went straight into my bedroom to check
that my children were asleep. I opened the door and found them asleep. I opened
the door of my mother’s bedroom and found that she was asleep. My sister was
also asleep. I went to the front windows of the living room facing the front
gate to see if there were any observers. I opened the front door and went into
the porch. I heard some scuffling noise. I turned around to my left and saw a
man lying on his back with someone sitting on his chest and someone else
holding his legs. Augustine was kneeling behind the man’s head. I saw Augustine
raise an object with both hands over his head and bring it down on the head of
the man being held. Augustine hit him several times. I was going to stop him,
when Andrew punched Augustine in the face, knocking him backwards. The man on
the ground was tied up and gagged. I saw Andrew running to the front gate. He
came back soon afterwards saying that the neighbours were back. I went to the
fence and greeted them. When they went into their house Andrew ran out of the
front gate and brought the Volkswagen to our back gate. I saw two men carried
to the Volkswagen, where they were placed in an almost sitting position, half
lying on their backs … before I shut the door I looked at the three men
individually. All three were breathing heavily, and I heard groaning sounds. The
Volkswagen was driven off by Alex. The rest of the men got into the white
Cortina. In the living room Augustine was making a phone call. I went to see if
my children were alright. Andrew laid himself down on the sofa. I then went
back to the backyard to shut the back gate. Augustine brought round the white
Mercedes and I helped him to put the bags of gold bars into the car. They were
very heavy. Augustine drove away. I shut the back gate and went into the living
room.”

The next morning, David said in his
evidence, he went to the backyard to feed his fishes and to hang up his bird
cages. He saw a little bundle in the drain. He thought it must be gold that had
fallen out the previous night. He put it into the car without opening it. He
tried to contact Augustine by telephone, but without success. So, when he went
to work he carried the bundle to the office and put it in a drawer of his desk.
Again he tried to contact Augustine, and in the end left a message asking him
to come and collect a little bundle he had picked up at the house. Ang never
called back.

David said he reached home between 5:00–6:00
pm
. Andrew was asleep. He woke
him up and told him about the bundle he had found. “It was stolen property. I
wanted nothing to do with the robbery … I was also anxious to find out from
Augustine where the three men were being kept, and when they would be
released.”

Peter Lim elected to make a statement from
the dock. He denied taking part in any assault on the men. Augustine had told
him that the plan was to rob some gold merchants. His job would be to keep the
gold for one day in the car after the robbery, and to leave everything else to
him. Augustine said that the gold would be taken out by aeroplane the same
night or one day later. The men would be tied and kept in a place for one
night. If later they went looking for the Chou brothers, then Augustine would
bargain with them. “He told me the police would not be informed because these
men were involved in gold smuggling.” Augustine told him not to worry since the
men did not know him.

On the fateful night at the house, he heard
the sound of motorcars coming. Then someone pushed the door of the kitchen and
they all rushed into the backyard. He saw David holding a fat man with his arm
round his chest and his left hand covering the man’s mouth. The man was
struggling. Andrew was holding a thin man in a similar position. Peter said he
rushed to the back gate and stood there for five minutes before he went to his
car and sat in the driver’s seat. He had earlier been told by Augustine to wait
in the car, and that when the boys had taken away the three men he was to go
back into the kitchen and collect the gold and keep it for a day. Augustine had
told him that the men would be kept for one day and then released. Augustine
did not say where the men would be kept. Then David asked him to drive the
Volkswagen. He refused. Augustine had told him that his job was to take the
gold and keep it for a day. David told him to drive the Cortina with the boys
and not to waste time. So he drove the Cortina containing Stephen Francis,
Ringo, Konese-karam, James and Stephen Lee. He was followed by Alex driving the
Volkswagen. He was directed to a road in Changj, then to some reclaimed land
until near the Reformative Training Centre when one of the boys asked him to
stop. All the persons in the Cortina except himself got out and went to the
Volkswagen. Later the five boys got back into the Cortina. Both cars were then
driven to Nicoll Drive where Alex left the Volkswagen and got into the Cortina.
Peter then drove to the Chous’ house, got into his own car and drove home.

On 30th December, Peter said, he met
Augustine at Mrs Tay’s flat. Augustine went up to the ceiling, saying he kept
the gold there. He brought down 20 bars. They went to a shop in North Bridge
Road to sell it … That night he was shocked to learn from television news that
the three men had died.

Alex Yau elected to make a statement from
the dock. He said he understood his role was merely to drive some ‘senseless or
helpless persons’, and to dump them in a secluded spot. He asked Augustine if
this was right and he confirmed this. He denied they all went to Changi to find
a well. On 29 December Augustine Ang and Peter Lim met him by accident at Beng
Swee Place. He said that Andrew had some business trouble, and Augustine asked
them to follow him to Andrew’s house ‘to render some help’. Ang asked him to
drive a Cortina in which the five boys were already crowded. Ang was in another
car with Peter Lim. The two cars were driven to the Chous’ house, where the
Chou brothers were waiting. They were ushered into the kitchen and told to wait
there. Ang was with them in the kitchen and was then called out. Not long
afterwards, said Alex, he heard a commotion in the backyard. He became very frightened
and confused and did not even think of peeping out to see what was going on. He
assumed there was a fight going on between the Chou brothers and Augustine on
one side and the persons who were to be rendered senseless and helpless on the
other. Soon the commotion subsided. Then someone pushed open the door and told
them to come out. He was still very frightened and confused. He ran through the
backyard and out of the back gate. He saw two men on the floor. It was quite
dark and he did not know if they were dead. They were motionless.

Alex said he ran to the Cortina and was
about to drive off when Richard James got into the car. He was so confused and
frightened that he drove round and round. Then he noticed a Volkswagen with
some people round it. Peter Lim was among them and signalled him to stop. Peter
asked him to drive the Volkswagen. He saw three human forms in the car, covered
by a cloth. Ang told him to follow the Cortina. They drove to some place in
Bedok where the three Indian boys and the two others carried the bodies out of
the Volkswagen ‘to some place’. Later they went to Tanah Merah Besar where
Peter Lim told him to abandon the Volkswagen. Before he did so, Alex said he
wiped the inside of the car with a piece of cloth because there were some red
patches which looked like bloodstains. He got some of the blood on his shirt
...

He could not sleep that night. He was
terrified at what had taken place. All that he had expected was that some
people were going to be knocked unconscious and hidden away somewhere … that
Andrew and David planned some kind of revenge on business rivals by giving them
a beating. The next morning, he went to Andrew’s house and Andrew gave him
$400. On New Year’s Day, he read in The Straits Times that the three men had been
killed. He was arrested the next day.

From the dock, Alex referred to the
cautioned statement he had made to the police. He explained that he had told
some ‘wicked lies’ because ‘I was hoping to be selected as a prosecution
witness. During the period of interrogation at the CID there were rumours that
one of us would be selected as prosecution witness and that this would depend
on what statements we made. This motivated me into stating untruths in my
cautioned statement. I am deeply sorry for this.’

Ringo Lee also made a statement from the
dock. He lived in Bencoolen Street and usually he spent his time at the
playground at Beng Swee Place. Sometimes he played football at St Joseph’s
School playground with some of the other accused. He was at Beng Swee Place on
29 December. Ang arrived and said he needed their help as his friend had some
business rivalry with someone. They got in the Cortina car and followed Ang to
a bungalow he’d never been to before. All six went into the kitchen. The Chou
brothers and Ang went into the backyard. He heard sounds of a scuffle in the
backyard, of persons falling down, and some groaning. Then all was quiet.
Someone opened the kitchen door and said: ‘You can come out now.’ The people in
the kitchen rushed out, but he and Stephen Lee remained behind. Stephen grabbed
him and asked him what was going on. Ringo said he didn’t know. They went into
the backyard and to his surprise saw two persons lying motionless, one on his
back, the other on his stomach. He became very frightened. He and Stephen stood
there helplessly. Andrew and David ordered them to carry the bodies to the car.
He dared not disobey. Then the neighbours came and they all stood round the
bodies to hide them so that they could not be seen by the neighbours. Then the
bodies were carried to the car. They were motionless. They were driven to a
dark place where the three bodies were dumped. He was arrested on 6 January. As
regards his statement to the magistrate, Ringo said: “In my confession I stated
I pulled the cord round the person’s neck. That is not true at all. I told this
to the magistrate under duress. A police officer threatened to torture me if I
did not say this.”