A 37-year-old woman was charged today (9 May) with the murder of a 56-year-old man, but she told the court that she had not intended to murder him, calling it a case of “manslaughter”.
Li Ye, a Chinese national, is accused of murdering Mr Lim Lai Guan in a unit at the Citygate Residences condominium in Beach Road at around 1:30am on 8 May.
Li appeared in court via video link and said, through a Mandarin interpreter, “It’s actually manslaughter. I did not intend to murder this person.”
Li is a shareholder of a company called Pingye that deals with the retail sale of items such as apparel and footwear. The company is located in a unit at Parklane Shopping Mall in Selegie Road.
What Happened
Last night (8 May), police said in a statement that they were alerted to a call for assistance at a residential unit along Beach Road.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the deceased was lying unconscious inside the unit. He was conveyed to the hospital, where he subsequently passed away.
Li was arrested at the scene, and a knife, believed to be used in the incident, was seized.
Police said the two were known to each other, though the nature of their relationship was not revealed. The two are believed to be romantically involved.
No bail is offered, and the prosecution requested that Li be kept in remand for a week, to revisit the incident scene.
She will return to court on 16 May.
Murder VS Manslaughter
Curious about why she wanted to clarify that she committed manslaughter and not homicide?
Reader: Ya sia, killing is killing what. No difference leh.
Actually, there are slight differences.
All intentional killing is culpable homicide, and murder is a subset of culpable homicide.
Murder
Murder is when someone intentionally causes the death of another person. It is also murder if that person should have known their acts were likely to cause serious injury or death.
I don’t think I need to give examples, but for illustration purposes, an example would be Amy shooting Ben with the intention of killing him, and Ben dies. Amy has committed murder.
If the offender is not found guilty of murder, he or she may be found guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which is basically Singapore’s equivalent of manslaughter.
Mansalughter AKA Culpable Homicide Not Amounting To Murder
Culpable homicide will not amount to murder if one of several partial defences to murder are present, such as diminished responsibility, and grave and sudden provocation.
Here’s an example.
Amy and Ben are married to each other, and Ben has been physically and mentally abusing her for a long period of time.
One day, Ben provokes Amy, causing her to lose self-control and she kills Ben soon after being provoked. Although the provocation, when viewed in isolation, would not amount to grave and sudden provocation, it was the last of a series of prolonged physical and mental abuse of Amy by Ben.
It was her “last straw”, if you will.
An ordinary person in Amy’s position would have lost self-control and have done what she did, therefore Amy has committed only culpable homicide and not murder.
Still confused? It’s okay, because the difference between murder and culpable homicide not amounting to murder isn’t the key point here.
What’s important is the difference in their penalties.
Why The Difference Between Murder And Manslaughter Is Important
Murder under Section 300 of the Penal Code carries the mandatory death penalty or life imprisonment, depending on what it falls under.
On the other hand, culpable homicide not amounting to murder carries a punishment of life imprisonment or a jail term of up to 20 years and caning.
If convicted of murder, Li faces the death penalty.
However, if Li is found guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, instead of murder, she will not be subjected to the death penalty. Moreover, she may only be in jail for up to 20 years.
By claiming she committed manslaughter and not murder, Li may have a chance to escape the death penalty.
Similar to Li, another Singaporean denied murder but admitted to manslaughter.
Fong Soong Hert, 50, admitted to being involved in the death of his wife in a luxury apartment in Newcastle, England, while they were on their holiday in December 2021.
He allegedly suffocated her with a pillow to stop her from “nagging him”, the jury had been told.
Fong appeared in court in March 2022 and denied a charge of murdering his wife, Pek Ying Ling, 51. Instead, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
He was later handed a life sentence in a British prison, and will serve 12.5 years before being considered for parole.