Blood Lust Read online

  One or two days later, Augustine went with Andrew and Peter and four of the gang got into a van belonging to Stephen Lee’s father, and Alex Yau drove them to inspect a place in Changi said to be suitable for disposing of dead bodies. This place was not far from the Reformative Training Centre. After passing the centre, one of the tyres on the van punctured. They phoned David Chou and he drove them back to Serangoon Garden Circus where a taxi driver was persuaded to take them back to the stranded van to fit on another tyre.

  Nothing happened until 29 December when at about 5:00 pm that afternoon Andrew phoned Augustine at his home and told him to get the boys ready as 120 gold bars were due to be delivered that night. So Augustine went to Stephen Lee’s place to warn him to round up the boys. Augustine went to the Chous’ house and borrowed Peter Lim’s car and drove to Beng Swee Place where he met Stephen Lee and hired a Ford Cortina. This was the car to collect the boys and, after the murder, to take away the bodies. Augustine returned in Peter’s car to prepare for the arrival of the three victims. He helped the Chou brothers and Peter to remove a punching bag which was hanging by a long, green nylon rope from a tree in the garden. The Chou brothers cut the nylon rope into two or three pieces. They went to the covered backyard and moved the dining table and chairs to one side, leaving a space in the middle of the backyard. Then Augustine and Peter went back to Beng Swee Place in Peter’s car. The gang used the hired car and Peter’s car to drive back to the Chous’ house. They parked the cars at the rear of the house, and all of them went into the backyard and there they were told to stand near the dining table. Andrew lifted a food cover on the table and said: “There are ropes, a roll of plaster and a towel.” Then they all went into the hall.

  Augustine’s own words: “After that, Andrew said that we must all remain in the kitchen. Andrew told me to be nearer to the kitchen door, and that when he called ‘Ang’, I was to come out from the kitchen to the backyard and take out a bag from a small cupboard, and count the gold. After that all of us went into the kitchen except for Andrew and David. After a short while I heard Andrew calling me, ‘Ang’. So I went out of the kitchen. I heard the sound of a motorcar round about midnight. All of us then were in the kitchen, except David and Andrew. Then after a short while I heard Andrew calling ‘Ang’, so I went into the backyard. Andrew asked me to take out the bag from the cupboard. Andrew asked me to count the gold bars. So I squatted near the cupboard, the centre cupboard, I saw Ngo standing on my right and Leong on my left. Andrew was standing behind Ngo. David was standing behind Leong. I was facing them, my back was to the cupboard … Before I could count the gold I saw Andrew and David pounce on Ngo and Leong. Andrew put both his hands around Ngo’s neck like this (the left arm round the neck and the right hand on the wrist of the left hand). David did the same thing to Leong. After this I quickly put the bag into the cupboard and I pushed the kitchen door open and shouted to the boys to come out … I saw Andrew still with his hands round Ngo’s neck, and Ngo was kicking and moving his legs, in other words, struggling. I got hold of Ngo’s legs and pressed them down. Ngo’s face was upwards … he was lying on the ground. As I was pressing on Ngo’s legs I saw David pulling the rope that was around Leong’s neck. Leong was on the floor. After a short while David came over and took over from Andrew. As Andrew released his hands from Ngo’s neck David put his hands round Ngo’s neck … I walked out to the small path which was near the side of the house running from front to back, past the porch. I saw a man lying on the path, lying sideways, his face facing the back road. His legs were near the fence. I then saw Andrew using his feet stamping on the body of the man. I also saw Andrew applying karate chops on the man’s neck and to the right temple. I saw a block of wood which was round and I took the wood and hit the man’s face several times. I heard the man calling for help. In Hokkien, he said ‘Tolong m’thang phat wa.’ He was saying: ‘Please, please don’t hit me. Let me go!’ He also said ‘Phang wa kie.’ I heard the sound of cars at the front of the house. David shouted in Chinese to his brother: ‘Guan, Guan, the neighbours are back.’ I can’t remember who took the third man at the path into the backyard. I went into the backyard and saw three bodies covered with cloths. Andrew called me and some of the other boys to stand facing him. He took an empty bottle (I don’t know from where), and held it. At the same time I heard David wishing his neighbours. I didn’t hear exactly what he said. The neighbours were walking by the side of their house, just next to Andrew’s house, by the side of the fence. Andrew was telling us something about his captain. He was holding the bottle and said: ‘Whether my captain likes it or not.’ It was an empty aerated water bottle ... I was facing Andrew: four or five other persons were facing him. Andrew was facing the neighbour’s house. Andrew broke the bottle and left it in the small drain ... I saw a Volkswagen parked near the back gate. I went to the car ... David took a cloth and covered up the three bodies in the car. They were piled up. The front seat next to the driver was pushed forward. One of the bodies was very close to the door and David asked me to help him to push the door: he couldn’t close it. As I pushed the door, David pushed the body away from the door. Then Alex got into the Volkswagen. Peter and the rest of the boys got into the Cortina. The two cars left. Andrew, David and I stayed in Andrew’s house. We took pails of water and washed the floor of the backyard as there was blood on the floor.”

  Then Andrew, David and Augustine went to Changi to dispose of Ngo’s Mercedes. David drove it and Andrew and Augustine followed in Andrew’s Datsun. They abandoned the Mercedes in a kampung area and returned in the Datsun. When they got to the house, at Andrew’s request, Augustine telephoned Mrs Tay to expect them, and then David and he took 115 gold bars to her flat. Then they returned to Chepstow Close. Andrew was still washing the backyard and David and he gave him a hand. Then they went into the hall where Andrew complained about an injury to his hand. David gave him some medicine and bandaged his hand. Then they went to sleep. After Mrs Ngo’s visit, Andrew, David and he went to work as usual. Later Peter phoned to say that ‘the buyer’ would like to buy the gold. He went to Mrs Tay’s flat. Peter was already there. They took 10 bars and went to the shop in North Bridge Road where Tan Kay Hwa examined the bars and said they were worth $39,400. Tan Kay Hwa paid Augustine $29,400 in cash and an IOU for $10,000. They returned to Tay’s flat where Augustine handed the cash and the IOU to Tay. That night he returned to Tay’s flat. Peter was there. Peter told him that he had heard over TV news that the police had found the bodies. Peter asked him for some money for the boys. They took $10,000 from Tay and gave it to Peter. Together they drove to Waterloo Street. The rest of Augustine’s evidence dealt with the police recovery of the gold. Fernando Lee gave evidence that he and a man, a Chinese called Anchor, were approached on 20 November 1971 (Hari Raya Puasa) by Alex Yau and Stephen Lee. Alex told them about ‘a certain matter that would require five persons’. At Beng Swee Place they met Peter and he drove them to the Chous’ house. There they were introduced to Augustine Ang. He told them he needed five people ‘to get rid of one to three men’ and they would be paid $20,000 or $4,000 each. Later, together with the Chou brothers and three girls, they all went to Changi and sat at a coffee stall. Fernando asked David Chou why the three men were to be beaten to death. David told him ‘they were old revenge’. He was told that the men would come at midnight. They were to be beaten to death: No weapons except wood and rope. The job was to be done clean and quiet. No bloodshed. David told them to stand by on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at Beng Swee Place. After the men were beaten to death, their bodies were to be dumped. Fernando asked for $500 and was given $45. Two days later, Peter gave him another $45. On the night of 23 November, Augustine Ang and Peter came to Beng Swee Place, and he went with them to the Chous’ house where more details of the plot were discussed. He saw Augustine again for the last time early in December at Beng Swee Place. Augustine gave Anchor $100 and told them that the job was probably on during the week: they were to stand by. Fernando said
that right from the beginning he and Anchor had no intention of doing the job. He later asked Stephen Lee to tell Augustine that one of the two friends of Anchor had been picked up by the police. In the circumstances, they could not do the job.

  Lim Tee Kiat, the officer in charge of the gold department of the United Overseas Bank, testified that Ngo had acted as a mandatory in buying gold bars for Gui Liat Kok, a non-resident of Singapore. In December 1971, Ngo bought 707 kilograms of gold bars.

  Choi Pui Ching, a businessman, gave evidence that he bought gold bars in Singapore on behalf of a resident in Hong Kong. He would export through a pilot of Air Vietnam. Choi would deliver the bars to Andrew who would put them on the Air Vietnam plane. Payment for the bars would be handed by the pilot to Andrew who would pass the money to him. At first, the gold bars were handed to Andrew at the airport. Later, Andrew asked that they be handed over at his house. In October 1971, the money was missing. Eventually it was recovered. After that, he had only one more deal with Andrew.

  Early after lunch on 31 December 1971, police found a length of insulated electrical wire tied to a dustbin cover. The dustbin was outside the front gate of the house. Later, this piece of wire and the wire tied to the legs of Ngo were sent to the government chemist, Manesh Chandra Dutt. He examined them and formed the opinion that they were parts of the same piece of wire. Pieces of rope found on the bodies of the three murdered men came from a piece of rope also found in the house.

  Between 2 and 12 January, Peter Lim, Alex Yau, Stephen Lee, Richard James and Konesekaram made cautioned statements, Peter, Alex and Stephen to Inspector Oh Chye Bee, Richard James and Konesekaram to the magistrate, Mr R.R. Magnus, and Ringo Lee and Stephen Francis to the magistrate Mr Chandra Mohan. All these statements were retracted at the trial, and their admission in evidence was contested. A trial within a trial was held on the issue of the admissibility of these statements. The Judges decided to admit them ‘as having been voluntarily made and were substantially in accordance with the Judges’ Rules’.

  In his statement Peter Lim admitted he was at the Chous’ house. He was asked by the Chou brothers to stay in the kitchen. In the kitchen with him were Augustine, Alex, Stephen, a Chinese boy, and three Indian boys. Suddenly a voice called for Augustine. There was a fight behind the kitchen. He saw the Chou brothers assaulting three men. The people in the kitchen were called to come out and help. They all came out of the kitchen, and all of them started to kick and punch the three men. The Judges noted that Peter Lim said he regretted what he had done.

  Alex Yau in his statement said he had been brought to the house by Augustine and Peter. Augustine had hired a car and Alex was to drive the car ‘with a few boys’ to dump some persons after Andrew, David, Ang, and ‘the boys’ had knocked them out. When the three men arrived, Andrew, David and Ang knocked them down and the boys helped to tie and gag them. The three men were carried to the Volkswagen. He drove the Volkswagen and followed the Cortina driven by Peter. They drove to a place off Changi Road, and the boys dumped the bodies there. Alex said he took no part in the killings.

  Ringo Lee, in his statement to the magistrate, said two weeks before 29 December, he heard there was an opportunity to make $8,000 to be shared among six persons. Augustine told them to carry the bodies and throw them away. In the kitchen, he heard sounds of assault and cries of pain in the backyard. Andrew called them out from the kitchen. In the backyard, he gave two or three blows to the abdomen of one of the three men. The man shouted. Two or three persons were ‘already knocked out, unable to move, and were lying on the floor’. When he heard the man shout, he ran out of the house. When he came back he saw that the man was ‘also finished’. Andrew asked him and the Chinese boy, Stephen, ‘to make sure that they were dead … each of us pulled one end of the rope’. He saw that the man he had hit was motionless. “Konis and Francis Stephen strangled another man who was already dead.” Then, said Ringo, “I tied the hands of the person I had strangled.” At the ninth milestone, Changi, he, Konis, Stephen Francis and Chinese Stephen threw away the bodies. They left the Volkswagen at the Tanah Merah car park.

  Richard James, in his statement to the magistrate, said on 29 December he was with Ringo, Konis, Stephen Francis, and they saw Augustine who said: “It is on today. It is business trouble.” Augustine said they would knock them down. “You just carry the bodies. We will pay $8,000. Six persons share ... ” They went to the Chous’ house and into the kitchen. After a while, he heard a sound ‘like someone who has been choked’. The five of them (he, Stephen Francis, Alex, Ringo and Konis) came out of the kitchen. He saw two bodies behind the back door of the kitchen, one body near the fence. He kicked the nearest body and there was no sound. He stooped down and gave a few punches. There was still no sound. The body at the fence was shouting something in Chinese, and Andrew, Augustine, Peter and David were at the body. He saw Andrew and David using karate chops on the neck. They drove to Bedok and threw away the bodies. On 31 December, he went to Beng Swee Place with Konis, Ringo and Stephen Francis, where they saw Alex and Stephen. “Stephen said they had been given only $6,000. Stephen handed over $3,000 for himself, Konis and Ringo and he gave Stephen Francis $1,000, and he gave Ringo $1,000.”

  In his statement, Stephen Francis said that when he came out of the kitchen he saw a body and he kicked it in the face ... David asked him to take the string which was next to the body and to tie the neck. He kicked the body: no sound came from it. He and Konis took the string ‘and pulled his neck with the string’. David said, ‘Faster. Tie his hands also.’ They tied the hands and the legs. He saw David and Augustine kneeling down … David used a karate chop on the neck of the body which was making some noise. After that there was no noise. David and Augustine pulled a third body from the fence.

  The eighth accused, Konesekaram, commenced his statement to the magistrate: “About murder of three persons. The four people, David, Andrew, Augustine and Peter—accused that we, six of us, did the murder. We did not do it.” His English was not good. What he was really saying was that the accusation that six of them killed was not true. When Augustine told them there was a chance to make $8,000 he said they had to remove three dead bodies and bury them. They were in the kitchen when David, Andrew, Augustine and Peter went outside. Later he heard ‘the noise of beating and of strangulation’. David called them to come out. They did, and helped to tie up the three men and to help load them into the Volkswagen.

  Stephen Lee said much the same. He waited in the kitchen with the others. They were shown some rope and plaster. About midnight, the three victims came and went to the back near the kitchen. Andrew, David and Augustine ‘knocked them out and then all of us rushed out to help them’. Stephen said he put his hand round the neck of one of the men ‘to press him down’. The other two men shouted and Stephen saw Andrew and David going to them: they kicked and punched them. The three men were tied up and Stephen went with the rest of the boys to dump the bodies at Changi. Stephen swore he did not lay hands on any of the three men. “I only put my hand around the neck of one of them to keep him down.”

  “At the close of the case for the prosecution,” said the Judges, “we had to consider whether a case against each of the accused had been made out which, if unrebutted, would warrant his conviction. The only witness whose evidence implicated all the accused was Augustine Ang, who was a self-confessed murderer and was undoubtedly an accomplice. We looked to see if there was corroborative evidence which confirmed in some material particular not only the evidence of Augustine Ang that the crime or crimes were in fact committed, but also his evidence that each of the accused committed the three offences charged. There was clearly no corroboration of Augustine Ang’s evidence. We therefore warned ourselves of the danger of acting on the uncorroborated evidence of Augustine Ang ... he struck us as a truthful witness notwithstanding the role he played in the whole affair. We had no hesitation in acting upon his evidence.”

  Continued the Judges: “ ... we were of the opinion th
at the prosecution had made out a case against each of the accused … accordingly we called upon all of them to enter upon their defence … ”

  Andrew Chou gave evidence on oath. He joined Air Vietnam towards the end of 1969. He was first introduced by a captain or flight engineer, to the gold dealers, Ngo Cheng Poh, Vincent Lee and Lee Bor in early 1971. They needed his assistance in the delivery of gold to the airport. It was finally agreed that the gold would be delivered to his house to be taken to the airport for loading onto the aeroplane. For his efforts he would be paid US$10, or the equivalent, by the crew members and $5 by the Singapore gold dealer for each gold bar weighing one kilogram. Ngo usually delivered round about midnight accompanied always by his employee, Leong Chin Woo, and they would come in two cars, Leong in his Volkswagen. Usually, Ngo or Leong would phone and say something like ‘We have work for you tonight’ before going to his house. He was never told the quantity of the delivery. His brother David never knew of these transactions. Andrew said that Augustine Ang was introduced to him by David. They became ‘very close and intimate friends and we confided in each other in most things’. Augustine came to know about his gold activities in March 1971. From that month, Ang used to accompany him when he delivered the gold. On most occasions Ang was present when the gold was received. Later he collected his commission for him. In the middle of October 1971 the captain of the flight handed him a bag of money belonging to the syndicate to be brought into the city. He handed the bag to one of the tractor drivers and the bag was stolen. Ang helped him to search for the bag which contained about US$235,000. They interviewed a number of people and finally about US$180,000 was recovered. Ngo gave him $5,000 for recovering it. He gave Ang $1,000. Gold deliveries were suspended during the investigations to recover the stolen money. After the recovery of part of the stolen money, Ngo resumed gold deliveries.