Heavily laden with debt due to his gambling addiction, a local man resorted to killing his wife with his own hands so that he could lay claim to her Employee Provident Funds (EPF) savings almost four years ago.
For this heinous crime, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison after the High Court found him to have failed in raising reasonable doubt.
M’sian man chokes wife to death in KL apartment
According to a report by China Press, the accused, 51-year-old Chua Chenhe (transliteration), allegedly strangled his wife, Liu Meifeng, between 2.30am and 9.30am on May 9, 2021, at an apartment in Setapak, KL.
Chua was later chargedunder Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, where he faces the death penalty or a prison sentence of 30 to 40 years, along with no more than 12 cane strokes if convicted.
However, he was spared from the caning as Section 289 of the Criminal Procedure Code exempts those who are over 50 years old from said punishment.
In making the court ruling, Judge Muniandy noted that the 11th prosecution witness confirmed that Liu was choked to death, which was consistent with signs of being smothered by another person.
One of Chua’s children, who was the 14th prosecution witness, testified in court saying that his mother told him and his siblings that she wanted to divorce Chua and asked who they wanted to live with in the future.
The next day, the children woke up to find Liu lying dead in the bedroom.
Jailed for 30 years
After hearing arguments from the prosecution and defense, as well as victim impact statements from Liu’s sister and youngest son, Judge Muniandy sentenced Chua to 30 years in prison, which starts from the date of his arrest on May 11, 2021.
The judge also added Chua failed to raise any reasonable doubt against the prosecution as he didn’t deny being in the same bed with Liu on the night of her death and was unable to explain how she sustained the injuries before she died.
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