The 56-year-old businessman who is facing trial for allegedly murdering his wife's former lover, denied all charges against him during the court hearing on Thursday.
It is reported that the accused, Chia Kee Chen said he did not kill the much younger man and pushed the blame to a mystery character named "Ali". Chia also told the court that he just wanted to procure the thumbdrive from the victim which contained the video of him having sex with the former's wife. The accused further said that he felt ashamed after he was informed by an anonymous phone call that the 37-year-old lover, identified as Dexmon Chua Yizhi, was circulating the sex tape among his colleagues.
However, during the earlier hearing, Chua Leong Aik (67), an acquaintance of the accused who was present when the murder happened, said that it was Chia who abducted Dexmon and murdered him in the back of a borrowed van. He also said that Chia smelled of blood when he came close to give the car keys and ordered him to drive the vehicle.
If found guilty, Chia will either face death penalty or life imprisonment. According to a The Straits Times reports, Chia told the court today that Ali, a Malaysian who he met years ago at a Johor coffee shop, killed the victim. He also revealed that Ali offered Chia that he will get the thumbdrive if he is paid RM5,000 (S$1,650). However, there was no mention of "Ali" in the account of Chua and another eyewitness called Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko.
Febi (34), who was detained by the police, said that Chia asked him to help kill the person who raped his wife and when he caught hold of the Dexmon, he repeatedly hit his face and banged his head against the floor of the van.
However, Chia repeatedly dismissed these allegations saying "I just wanted to get the thumbdrive back, the rest of the things I didn't want to know," according to the news portal.
The Lim Chu Kang murder took place on 28 December 2013 and police found the victim's decomposed body with severe head injuries from the area.
