Kovan Double Murders

The Kovan Double Murders was a high-profile double murder case that occurred on 10 July 2013 at Hillside Drive. The murders were commiited in a home of one of the victims, 67-year-old Tan Boon Sin. The other was his 42-year-old son Tan Chee Heong, whose body was dragged under the car driven by the killer (to run away) for 1 km before being dislodged outside Kovan MRT Station, thus giving birth to the title of this case. The killer, who was a police officer, was arrested and tried for the murders, and eventually, the police officer, Iskandar bin Rahmat, was condemned to hang for the murders.[1]

Kovan Double Murders

Date	10 July 2013 (2013-07-10)
Location	Hillside Drive, Singapore

The crime

The horror at Kovan MRT Station

On the afternoon of 10 July 2013, drivers and pedestrians would be greeted by a gruesome scene which was to be set at Kovan MRT Station. At the area nearby the station, a silver Toyota Camry with the licence number SGM 14J drove past it on the road like any other car, but what was more horrifying to those who witnessed it, was a body of a man being dragged face-down under the car itself, with his belt stuck to the underside of the car and a trail of blood following it. Seeing this, about 15 to 20 cars honked at it to stop but to no avail. It was only when the car drove past the MRT station then the body was completely dislodged outside the station. Police were contacted and the body was later found to have head injuries and neck injuries. There were also a total of 20 stab wounds found on the body, 17 of them were mainly at the head, neck and chest.

The police followed the blood trail, which stretched over 1 km and ended outside a house in Hillside Drive. The police were greeted by another corpse, that of an elderly man with a total of 27 knife wounds on his body, mostly at his head, neck and chest. There were sock prints found in a linear path, stained in blood. A lane along Upper Serangoon Road and roads leading to Hillside Drive were closed by the police, leading to a massive traffic jam. Crowds also gathered around the house and where the first body was found. Both places were cordoned off for more than eight hours.[2]

Investigations: identification of the suspect

The next day, the Toyota Camry, which belonged to the older victim, was found parked outside an apartment in Eunos. By then, the police had classified the case as murder, and established the identities of the victims. The older victim was 67-year-old Tan Boon Sin, while the younger victim found at Kovan MRT Station was his 42-year-old elder son Tan Chee Heong. The elder Tan was described by his family, friends and neighbours as a very nice and hard-working person, and a kind, jovial and even-tempered man who was close to his wife and children and never smoke or gamble, while his son, the younger Tan was a university graduate married with two sons, both aged 10 and 3 respectively at the time of his death. The younger Tan was also described as a responsible family man to his wife and sons, and also a filial son to his parents.[3][4]

The investigations also revealed that the elder Tan was last seen alive at around 1 pm on that fateful afternoon, according to an employee who told police that the older victim had told him he had to leave and that he had reportedly withdrawn some items from the safe deposit box. By then, there were speculations over the motive behind the murder by the media, including a possible business dispute, but Tan's car workshop business was strong and healthy, which dismissively refuted this particular theory.[5] The subsequent investigations by the police later revealed, in an unexpected turn of events, that the suspect was actually one of their own - a 34-year-old police officer from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in the Bedok Police Division. The police also found that the suspect, Senior Staff Sergeant Iskandar bin Rahmat, had applied for a day's leave on the day of the murders from his supervisor and at 11 pm on the night itself, Iskandar had left Singapore into Johor, Malaysia by crossing the Causeway on a scooter.

Arrest of the suspect

After the establishment of the identity of the suspect, the Singaporean authorities notified the Royal Malaysian Police to help trace his whereabouts, but kept the identity of the suspect secret from the public for professional reasons. And on 12 July 2013, the law has finally caught up to police officer Iskandar bin Rahmat after a 54-hour manhunt.

Iskandar was discovered to be eating in Restoran Singgah Selalu, a popular seafood restaurant visited by Singaporeans in Danga Bay, Johor Bahru. Receiving this information, the local authorities in Johor Bahru sprung into action and at the restaurant (where Iskandar himself was a regular customer), the plainclothes policemen from the Royal Malaysian Police managed to arrest Iskandar for his alleged involvement in the double deaths at Kovan. Upon receiving the news of the suspect's arrest, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean thanked the Royal Malaysian Police, saying this was “an excellent example of the close and deeply valued partnership the law enforcement agencies of both countries have built over many decades”.[6]

Extradition and charges: Reactions to arrest

Soon after his arrest, Iskandar bin Rahmat was extradited back to Singapore on 13 July, and two days later, he was charged in the Subordinate Courts of Singapore for the murders of Tan Chee Heong and his father Tan Boon Sin.[7][8] By then, the Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Police Commissioner Ng Joo Hee had addressed the public and reporters about his arrest in a press conference, and for the first time, they revealed Iskandar's identity. This revelation brought a shock to all Singaporeans that a police officer was involved in the double killings at Kovan.

Not only did Teo offered his condolences to the bereaved families of the victims, he also expressed his shock over the first time when he heard that the suspect was a police officer, and his actions had tarnished the reputation of the Singapore Police Force. Teo also reiterated that there is zero tolerance for police officers who broke the law and his confidence that justice will be impartially served and asked the Police Commissioner to tell every police officer to perform their duties diligently and faithfully to maintain the bonds of trust between the public and the police.

Ng Joo Hee similarly stated that the identity of the suspect as a police officer made the investigators more resolved to crack the case. He stated in the press conference that it was painful to discover that a police officer was involved, and they would investigate why a policeman who sworn to fulfill his duty to uphold the law had broke it "in the most grievous way". He also acknowledged that due to the actions of Iskandar (which vilified every member of the police force), there would be a public outcry, critically questioning the integrity and quality of the police force, but he stated that they would take every criticism in their own stride. He said that they will "prosecute him (Iskandar) to the greatest and maximum extent", and will ensure that they will not allow the tragedy to cause the public to lose their trust in the police.[9][10]

Remand of suspect: funeral of Kovan victims

After he was charged, Iskandar was remanded in police custody for further investigations. He was also taken to the crime scene to make an re-enactment of the alleged double murders. At the same time, a funeral was conducted for both the Kovan victims and they were cremated on 16 July 2013. More than 100 relatives and friends attended the funeral, and several plainclothes policemen were deployed to inform reporters to keep their distance from the family.

According to The Straits Times, the unnamed widow of the younger victim Tan Chee Heong, was devastated and inconsolable as her husband's coffin was pushed into the cremation chambers of Mandai Crematorium. Ong Ah Tang, the widow of the elder victim Tan Boon Sin, with whom she was married for 40 years, was too distraught to take part in the Buddhist funeral rites. She sat at the side, sobbing into the arms of one of the Tans' relatives. Before her husband's coffin was cremated, she said in Mandarin while crying, “Get reborn into a good family and live a good life.” Tan Chee Wee, the younger brother of the younger Kovan murder victim, tearfully made a promise to his father and brother in Hokkien that he will take on the responsibility to take care of the family, and to treat his brother's children as his own.[11]

On 26 July 2013, Iskandar was remanded at the Changi Prison Complex Medical Centre for psychiatric evaluation. He also reportedly told his lawyers that he wanted to claim trial to all the charges against him.[12]

The suspect: Iskandar bin Rahmat

Iskandar bin Rahmat, a Singaporean of Malay descent, was born on 3 February 1979. He was the only son of his family and had a sister. Not much is known about Iskandar's childhood or early life before his career and the murders. It is inferred from his FaceBook page (which was eventually deleted) that he was very close to his family and that he also had a grandmother who died in 2009; an unnamed family friend told Channel NewsAsia that Iskandar was single and works to support his family financially. Iskandar was known to have a hobby of collecting vintage bikes (including the scooter which he used to flee Singapore). After completing his 4-year secondary school education and O-levels at Victoria School, Iskandar was enrolled in Singapore Polytechnic, where he studied for a year before dropping out. He then went on to serve National Service in the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and in March 1999, he formally joined the force as a corporal.[13]

Iskandar served with the Bedok Police Division and in 2007, Iskandar successfully applied to become an investigation officer. The SPF sponsored his diploma studies in management and police studies in Temasek Polytechnic, which he completed in 2012.[14] He was an investigation officer until January 2013 and was said to have performed well in his work and received many commendations. A letter of appreciation from a Bedok resident had once praised Iskandar for his "outstanding work" when the resident filed a complaint about "noise pollution" in the neighbourhood and how Iskandar managed it well. This also led to the commanding officer praising him as "deserving of being the pride of Bedok North NPC". By the time of the double homicide case in Kovan, Iskandar had attained a rank of senior staff sergeant in the SPF.

Iskandar was said to be crippled by debt and in deep financial trouble before and at the time of the murders. The debt was incurred from his previous marriage with an unnamed woman in 2003, where he made three bank loans - a housing loan, a renovation loan and a car loan - from Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC). After his divorce in early 2005, Iskandar sold his car and HDB flat to pay off some of his debts, and went to live with his parents and sister, and he also went on to pay off his debt by part-payments. As of June 2013, Iskandar owed the bank about S$61,599.66. A bankruptcy application was filed against Iskandar on 4 October 2012 and it was served on him at his workplace on 25 October 2012. In January 2013, Iskandar failed to declare his financial situation and difficulties like he did annually (it is a requirement for civil servants in Singapore to declare annually that they are not financially embarrassed like facing debt or undischarged bankruptcy). This led to disciplinary hearings held against Iskandar, and as a result, he was reassigned to perform administrative duties and barred from carrying arms.[15]

An out-of-court settlement was offered by Iskandar to the bank's lawyer on 3 July 2013, when he would make a full payment of $50,000. It was agreed, but Iskandar was ordered to pay it the next day. Later on, it was negotiated that Iskandar would pay the agreed amount by 11 July 2013 if he want to avoid bankruptcy. However, Iskandar did not pay by that deadline, hence he was declared bankrupt on 11 July, the day after he killed Tan Boon Sin and Tan Chee Heong.[16]

At the same time, due to his financial embarrassment, Iskandar faces a possible dismissal from the police force. Iskandar told the officers in his disciplinary hearing that he would borrow money from his cousin to pay off the debt (in fact, Iskandar did not have a cousin). The officer in charge had also mentioned to Iskandar that discharging his debts would help mitigate the consequences if he was found guilty of his failure to declare his financial problems. It was then Iskandar recalled the older victim Tan Boon Sin, who made a police report in November 2012 over a case of theft in his safe deposit box at Certis Cisco and him being the investigating officer of the case before it was reassigned to another police officer. This made Iskandar, from his recount of the events, out of desperation, decided to form a plan to rob the old man of his money in order to pay off his debts.

Trial

The trial of Iskandar bin Rahmat began on 20 October 2015.[17] Iskandar stood trial for the double charges of murder, which came under Section 300(a) of the Penal Code, which constitutes an offence of murder with intention to kill, and thus carries the mandatory death penalty if found guilty. Iskandar, whose case was heard before High Court judge Tay Yong Kwang of the High Court, was represented by a defence counsel of six lawyers, led by Mr Shashi Nathan. The trial received significant media attention, and there were more than 100 witnesses testifying in the trial.

Forensic evidence and murder weapon

One of these witnesses, was associate professor and senior forensic consultant pathologist Dr Gilbert Lau from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), who conducted an autopsy on the deceased father and son. Dr Lau testified in court that the elder victim Tan Boon Sin sustained 12 stab wounds and 15 incised wounds, which included five wounds to the neck, seven to the chest and nine to the face or scalp. All the wounds were likely to have been inflicted by a sharp instrument like a knife. What caused the elderly man's death were a deep and gaping incised wound that measured 8cm by 5cm across the front of the neck, which would have caused severe bleeding, and a 13 cm deep chest wound. There were four defensive wounds on the arms of the elder victim.

As for the younger victim Tan Chee Heong, he sustained seven stab wounds and 13 incised wounds. There were four wounds to the neck and 13 to the face or scalp. A deep neck wound on the younger Tan, whch measured 7 to 8 cm deep, was the injury that killed him. He had three defensive wounds on his forearm and also some injuries that resulted from the dragging by the car. The younger Tan's tooth was found outside the house, though it is not known how it was dislodged.

Iskandar described that the knife used to stab the victims was a normal kitchen knife; he said that the knife had a grooved blade. From the handle to the tip, it was slightly shorter than the breadth of an A4-sized piece of paper. He also drew a sketch of what the knife looked like, drawing many small circles along the entire length of the cutting edge. He would later on say in his defence that the elder Tan used it to attack him when discovering his plan to rob him, and that he did not arm himself with a knife. However, the knives owned by the Tan family were all flat-edged. The fishing knives owned by the elder Tan, who liked to go fishing, were also too short. The murder weapon as described by Iskandar was never recovered, even from the location where Iskandar told police he disposed the weapon. It was the case of the prosecution, from the above evidence, that the knife belonged to Iskandar and he armed himself with it to commit robbery and murder; however the defence argued that Iskandar was never armed and for the issue of who owned that particular knife, the defence lawyers representing Iskandar had subjected the elder Tan's widow to extensive cross-examination.[18]

Iskandar's version of the case

At the trial, Iskandar's recount of the events was consistent with his police statements, and he maintained that the deaths were a result of a poorly conceived robbery that gone wrong. He claimed that his intention was only to rob the elder victim Tan Boon Sin by cheating him, grab the money and run. He also stated he was sorry and regretful for killing the victims. He recounted that day when he contacted the elder Tan, pretending to be an intelligence officer and wanting to conduct a sting operation to catch the thief. He then took a dummy surveilance camera with him and a wristlet before meeting up the elder Tan, whom he convinced to take out his valuables from the Certis Cisco and at the place, he installed the dummy surveillance camera and offered to escort the elder Tan back home; on the way he pretended to be talking to his "partner" on a fake walkie-talkie, which was made out of the wristlet he took from his home. It was at this juncture when Iskandar claimed, after they reached the elder Tan's house in Hillside Drive, his ploy was seen through and as a result, the elder Tan turned aggressive and went at him with a knife. Iskandar claimed that he acted in self-defence out of fear for his life and fatally injured the elder Tan, who collapsed next to the house's organ.

The younger victim Tan Chee Heong, who had just arrived at his father's home, had discovered the murder of his father. At sight of his father's body and Iskandar, the younger Tan went at Iskandar, and out of panic, Iskandar claimed that he swung the knife wildly and was engaged in a sudden fight with the younger Tan. He stabbed him out of self-defence. The younger victim collapsed after he staggered out of the house through the gates. He then quickly get onto the elder Tan's car and used it a get-away to escape the house; unknowingly to Iskandar, the belt of the younger Tan was caught under the car, which led to the dragging of the younger victim's body for 1 km before its complete dislodge at Kovan MRT station. He thought that the cars honked at him due to the bloodstains on the side of the car.[19]

The defence's arguments

Iskandar's lawyer Shashi Nathan argued about his client's lack of intention to kill, urging the court to accept both his defences of a sudden fight and self-defence and to convict him of a lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which carries the penalty of life imprisonment or up to 20 years' imprisonment. He said that, even if Iskandar had exceeded his right to self-defence and had committed murder, he should be convicted of a lesser limb of murder with lack of intention to kill under Section 300(c) of the Penal Code, which constitutes an act where a person intentionally inflict a bodily injury on another person, and the bodily injury itself is sufficient in the ordinary cause of nature to cause death, for which the punishment is either a sentence of death or life imprisonment with/without caning.

"I'm not asking you to acquit him of murder. He knows he has killed two people. He knows he has to suffer the consequences," Nathan told the court. "He did intend to cause injuries to get away from them... He never intended to kill them." Additionally, Nathan also said that the large number of injuries did not mean an intention to kill. He noted that there was no concrete evidence to show that his client had armed himself beforehand and the benefit of the doubt must be given to his client. He pointed out that if Iskandar had been searching the house, his bloodstained sock prints would be in all directions but in this case, they were in a linear path.

The prosecution's arguments

As for the prosecution's case, the events before the murders were largely similar to that of the defence's case, and to Iskandar's police statements. However, the prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lau Wing Yum of the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), argued that the double killings were premeditated. They argued that Iskandar should be convicted as charged for committing murder with intention to kill. They pointed out that Iskandar had intended to commit murder by arming himself with a knife, and that the number of stab wounds on the body, the location of the knife wounds (on the head, chest and neck), and the nature of these injuries were altogether an irreversible indication that Iskandar had intended to kill and silence the victims should his plot be discovered. They argued that the trail of sock prints could only mean that Iskandar had went to search for the valuables after killing the elder Tan before the arrival of the elder Tan's son (as there was only the DNA of the elder victim found on the sock prints) instead of looking for a towel to clean himself as what he claimed in the statements. They also claimed that the ex-police officer in fact hid in ambush and waited for the younger victim to enter the house before killing him.[20]

They pointed out that the elder victim Tan Boon Sin has a completely degenerated cartilage at his right knee, which made him having difficulty to walk or getting up from a sitting position. This also shown that the elder victim could not have possibly be able to charge at Iskandar. Besides, the younger victim Tan Chee Heong was 30 kg lighter than Iskandar (even though he was 4 cm taller than the 173-cm-tall Iskandar), so there is no doubt that the harm done was excessive for self-defence since the younger victim was not really physically threatening to him. They pointed out the absence of defensive wounds on Iskandar, other than a bite wound on his left hand and deep cut on his right palm, which further disputed the defence of self-defence or sudden fight. The prosecution also conceded that even if there was no intention to kill from the onstart, this formed when the plan began to fall apart which might risk expose his identity and robbery plan. His lack of explanation of why he inflict so many wounds on the victims and the inconsistencies between his account and the objective evidence were also included in the arguments of the prosecution in favour of a conviction of murder.

After a nine-day trial, the defence and prosecution made their closing submissions on 23 November 2015, and the judgement was reserved till a later date.[21]

Verdict

On 4 December 2015, more than 2 years after the deaths of both Tan Boon Sin and Tan Chee Heong in the tragic Kovan murders, Justice Tay Yong Kwang delivered his verdict, with around 60 people (including the victims' families and Iskandar's family) sitting in the courtroom to hear it. The judge found 36-year-old Iskandar bin Rahmat guilty of murder under Section 300(a) of the Penal Code, and sentenced him to death. In convicting Iskandar of murder, Justice Tay found that he had attacked the victims "cruelly and relentlessly with the clear intention of causing death". He did not believe that the elder victim would suddenly turn aggressive and wield a knife after welcoming him to his home. He also said that the younger Tan was "collateral damage" and Iskandar killed him to silence him for witnessing the murder of his father. Justice Tay thus rejected the defences put up by Iskandar, and he also pointed out in the judgement that there are four golden opportunities for Iskandar to be able to grab the money and run without having to attract the attention of the elder Tan if it was true that he indeed had no intent to hurt anyone or merely to just take the money and run. Despite his dismissal of Iskandar's account and defence, he did accept that Iskandar did not ambush the younger Tan and kill him based on the review of the forensic evidence and that he had no intention of using the car as a "mean murder machine" to deliberately get the younger victim's body to be dragged under the car to kill him while he drove it to escape the crime scene.

Nearing the end of his judgement, Justice Tay commended the police officers in charge of the investigation for their part in the swift arrest of Iskandar (as assisted by the Royal Malaysian Police), and their unbiasedness and objective attitudes in the investigations of the double deaths at Kovan despite the accused being a police officer. He also gratefully addressed both the prosecution and the defence for their efforts, professional attitude and conduct in the course of the trial, allowing the trial's conclusion to take place within a short period of time.

Iskandar was reportedly emotionless as the High Court found him guilty and convict him of the murders. Everyone in the courtroom was told to stand as the judge pronounced and passed the mandatory death sentence on Iskandar. Shashi Nathan later confirmed that his client will be appealing against his sentence and conviction.[22][23][24]

Appeal

Hearing of the appeal

On 26 October 2016, Iskandar's appeal was heard in the Court of Appeal, before three judges, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Judges of Appeal Chao Hick Tin and Andrew Phang. The defence presented the arguments they made in the original trial to the Court of Appeal. Not only did they raised the original defences of sudeen fight and self-defence, they also raised a new defence of diminished responsibility by submitting a psychiatric report that diagnosed that Iskandar was suffering from adjustment disorder and acute stress reaction at the time of the murders, and he was depressed by his potential bankruptcy and dismissal from the police force. The judgement was reserved until 3 February 2017; this date happened to be that of Iskandar's 38th birthday.[25]

Appeal dismissed

On 3 February 2017, the same day Iskandar turns 38, the Court of Appeal released their decision, with Justice Andrew Phang delivering the court's decision. By an unanimous decision, the Court of Appeal dismissed Iskandar's appeal, and upholding and finalizing his death sentence. They found Iskandar had intended to kill both Tan Boon Sin and Tan Chee Heong and described his account as "incredible" and "unbelievable". Justice Phang read out, "Even if his incredible account of a rob-and-run ploy were true, any right of self-defence belonged to the younger victim (Tan Chee Heong), who came home to the sight of his slain and bloodied father on the floor." He stressed in the court's judgement that the intention of murder “need not be pre-planned or premeditated, and can be formed on the spur of the moment”. Like Justice Tay Yong Kwang in the original trial, they rejected Iskandar's defences of sudden fight and self-defence. Especially on the part of the younger victim, Justice Phang said that “(The younger Tan) had just witnessed (Iskandar) lowering his father’s limp and bloodied body on the floor. Furthermore, (Iskandar), who was much heavier than (Tan), was still holding on to the knife at the time. It would have been only natural for (Tan) to try and apprehend (Iskandar) and defend his father”.

The judges also rejected the newly-raised defence of diminished responsibility, questioning why it was not brought up in the original trial or during Iskandar's time of psychiatric remand. They said, “Accused persons should and are expected to put their best case forward at the earliest time possible. Indeed, this court might exercise its discretion to reject such drip-feed applications in the future”. After hearing the appeal verdict, Iskandar was given the chance to speak to his 16 family members and friends, including his parents and sister. Some of them wept. The family declined to speak to the media, and the victims' families were not present to hear the decision.[26][27][28]

The only hope left for Iskandar, was to file for clemency. Should he be pardoned by the President, he will escape the gallows.

Clemency plea and aftermath

After the dismissal of his appeal, Iskandar filed for clemency from the President of Singapore in January 2018. Similarly, in February 2018, Iskandar's family also filed for clemency in hopes to have his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Both petitions were received by the President's Office to be reviewed and considered.

In July 2019, more than 18 months after the submission of the clemency petitions, the Istana Office informed Iskandar's new lawyer, Mr Peter Ong Lip Cheng (who was the lawyer of the 15-year-old youth whom notorious killer Anthony Ler Wee Teang hired and manipulated to murder his wife)[29], that President Halimah Yacob, on the advice of the Cabinet, decided to dismiss Iskandar's clemency plea, effectively condemning the former police officer to hang for the Kovan double murders.[30] Iskandar later filed a complaint against his original lawyers to have them subject to disciplinary tribunal for not handling the case ethically and properly. But it was dismissed in October 2019.[31]

As of August 2020, Iskandar, now 41 years old, still remains on death row in Changi Prison. His date of execution has yet to be scheduled. So far in 2020, there were no executions carried out in Singapore, possibly due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore.

References

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