The man from the Circuit Road Murder Trial, who killed a woman in 2016, was found guilty and was imprisoned for life on Friday, February 7.
Boh Soon Ho, 51, killed 28-year-old nurse, Zhang Huaxiang, by strangling her in his apartment in 2016 after which he tried to have sex with her corpse. Dubbed as the Circuit Road Murder Trial, it had spanned over a long time to understand all the dimensions of the case because there was no proper perspective from the victim's side.
The man claimed that they had a relationship and he had considered her as his girlfriend after knowing her for a few years. The woman, on the other hand, had never made claims about the same to the man before she died.
Boh fled soon after killing the woman
The man said that he tried to rape the corpse because the woman wouldn't have sex with him. So, he killed her after she confirmed her being intimate with someone else and left the scene soon after for Malaysia. The body was found by the landlord who reported it to the police immediately.
He had stripped her clothes off before trying to have sex with her and clicked pictures of the corpse lying on his bed. He then tried to have sex with the corpse but was not able to perform. Boh Soon Ho then continued to put their clothes for washing and switched on the air conditioning so that the corpse won't decompose. He left for Malaysia after telling his employer that he had to leave urgently.
After reaching Malaysia he had contacted his landlord. This was how he was captured by the police. He got arrested while he was in a restaurant and brought back to Singapore. The defence continued to maintain the argument that the man was in love with her and an avalanche of emotions including jealousy is what prompted him to kill the woman.
He was checked for any mentally unstable conditions
Upon listening to the story of his emotions and the way he killed the woman he was put through medical diagnosis to see if he was going through any unstable condition mentally. But the man was clear of any such signs.
Throughout the trial, the defence had argued that the man was provoked by the woman and he had diminished responsibility for his action. The judge, Justice Pang Khang Chau accepted the prosecution's argument and the murder charges were made out. The Justice did admit that the man had lost control but it was not because of intense provocation.
The defence said that Boh was deeply remorseful for his actions. The prosecution believed that the woman and Boh were platonic friends, who had not even kissed which could prove the intentions of a relationship.
Man believed they were dating
The man believed that they were dating because they had gone out with each other several times and he had taken care of her expenses during several of their outings. He also believed that she had liked him because she was 'caring' towards him.
The defence had not argued most of the events except for the part leading up to the murder where they said that he had stood there contemplating killing her. The Defense told a prominent news channel that they would appeal against the conviction and sentence. Since Boh is 51, he cannot be canned for his actions but for murder, he could have faced life imprisonment or death.
