Authors: Alex Josey
Then Andrew, David and Augustine went to
Changi to dispose of Ngo’s Mercedes. David drove it and Andrew and Augustine
followed in Andrew’s Datsun. They abandoned the Mercedes in a kampung area and
returned in the Datsun. When they got to the house, at Andrew’s request,
Augustine telephoned Mrs Tay to expect them, and then David and he took 115
gold bars to her flat. Then they returned to Chepstow Close. Andrew was still
washing the backyard and David and he gave him a hand. Then they went into the
hall where Andrew complained about an injury to his hand. David gave him some
medicine and bandaged his hand. Then they went to sleep. After Mrs Ngo’s visit,
Andrew, David and he went to work as usual. Later Peter phoned to say that ‘the
buyer’ would like to buy the gold. He went to Mrs Tay’s flat. Peter was already
there. They took 10 bars and went to the shop in North Bridge Road where Tan
Kay Hwa examined the bars and said they were worth $39,400. Tan Kay Hwa paid
Augustine $29,400 in cash and an IOU for $10,000. They returned to Tay’s flat
where Augustine handed the cash and the IOU to Tay. That night he returned to
Tay’s flat. Peter was there. Peter told him that he had heard over TV news that
the police had found the bodies. Peter asked him for some money for the boys.
They took $10,000 from Tay and gave it to Peter. Together they drove to
Waterloo Street. The rest of Augustine’s evidence dealt with the police
recovery of the gold. Fernando Lee gave evidence that he and a man, a Chinese
called Anchor, were approached on 20 November 1971 (Hari Raya Puasa) by Alex
Yau and Stephen Lee. Alex told them about ‘a certain matter that would require
five persons’. At Beng Swee Place they met Peter and he drove them to the
Chous’ house. There they were introduced to Augustine Ang. He told them he
needed five people ‘to get rid of one to three men’ and they would be paid $20,000
or $4,000 each. Later, together with the Chou brothers and three girls, they
all went to Changi and sat at a coffee stall. Fernando asked David Chou why the
three men were to be beaten to death. David told him ‘they were old revenge’.
He was told that the men would come at midnight. They were to be beaten to
death: No weapons except wood and rope. The job was to be done clean and quiet.
No bloodshed. David told them to stand by on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at
Beng Swee Place. After the men were beaten to death, their bodies were to be
dumped. Fernando asked for $500 and was given $45. Two days later, Peter gave
him another $45. On the night of 23 November, Augustine Ang and Peter came to
Beng Swee Place, and he went with them to the Chous’ house where more details
of the plot were discussed. He saw Augustine again for the last time early in
December at Beng Swee Place. Augustine gave Anchor $100 and told them that the
job was probably on during the week: they were to stand by. Fernando said that right
from the beginning he and Anchor had no intention of doing the job. He later
asked Stephen Lee to tell Augustine that one of the two friends of Anchor had
been picked up by the police. In the circumstances, they could not do the job.
Lim Tee Kiat, the officer in charge of the
gold department of the United Overseas Bank, testified that Ngo had acted as a
mandatory in buying gold bars for Gui Liat Kok, a non-resident of Singapore. In
December 1971, Ngo bought 707 kilograms of gold bars.
Choi Pui Ching, a businessman, gave evidence
that he bought gold bars in Singapore on behalf of a resident in Hong Kong. He
would export through a pilot of Air Vietnam. Choi would deliver the bars to
Andrew who would put them on the Air Vietnam plane. Payment for the bars would
be handed by the pilot to Andrew who would pass the money to him. At first, the
gold bars were handed to Andrew at the airport. Later, Andrew asked that they
be handed over at his house. In October 1971, the money was missing. Eventually
it was recovered. After that, he had only one more deal with Andrew.
Early after lunch on 31 December 1971,
police found a length of insulated electrical wire tied to a dustbin cover. The
dustbin was outside the front gate of the house. Later, this piece of wire and
the wire tied to the legs of Ngo were sent to the government chemist, Manesh
Chandra Dutt. He examined them and formed the opinion that they were parts of
the same piece of wire. Pieces of rope found on the bodies of the three
murdered men came from a piece of rope also found in the house.
Between 2 and 12 January, Peter Lim, Alex
Yau, Stephen Lee, Richard James and Konesekaram made cautioned statements,
Peter, Alex and Stephen to Inspector Oh Chye Bee, Richard James and Konesekaram
to the magistrate, Mr R.R. Magnus, and Ringo Lee and Stephen Francis to the
magistrate Mr Chandra Mohan. All these statements were retracted at the trial,
and their admission in evidence was contested. A trial within a trial was held
on the issue of the admissibility of these statements. The Judges decided to
admit them ‘as having been voluntarily made and were substantially in
accordance with the Judges’ Rules’.
In his statement Peter Lim admitted he was
at the Chous’ house. He was asked by the Chou brothers to stay in the kitchen.
In the kitchen with him were Augustine, Alex, Stephen, a Chinese boy, and three
Indian boys. Suddenly a voice called for Augustine. There was a fight behind
the kitchen. He saw the Chou brothers assaulting three men. The people in the
kitchen were called to come out and help. They all came out of the kitchen, and
all of them started to kick and punch the three men. The Judges noted that
Peter Lim said he regretted what he had done.
Alex Yau in his statement said he had been
brought to the house by Augustine and Peter. Augustine had hired a car and Alex
was to drive the car ‘with a few boys’ to dump some persons after Andrew,
David, Ang, and ‘the boys’ had knocked them out. When the three men arrived,
Andrew, David and Ang knocked them down and the boys helped to tie and gag
them. The three men were carried to the Volkswagen. He drove the Volkswagen and
followed the Cortina driven by Peter. They drove to a place off Changi Road,
and the boys dumped the bodies there. Alex said he took no part in the killings.
Ringo Lee, in his statement to the
magistrate, said two weeks before 29 December, he heard there was an
opportunity to make $8,000 to be shared among six persons. Augustine told them
to carry the bodies and throw them away. In the kitchen, he heard sounds of
assault and cries of pain in the backyard. Andrew called them out from the
kitchen. In the backyard, he gave two or three blows to the abdomen of one of
the three men. The man shouted. Two or three persons were ‘already knocked out,
unable to move, and were lying on the floor’. When he heard the man shout, he
ran out of the house. When he came back he saw that the man was ‘also
finished’. Andrew asked him and the Chinese boy, Stephen, ‘to make sure that
they were dead … each of us pulled one end of the rope’. He saw that the man he
had hit was motionless. “Konis and Francis Stephen strangled another man who
was already dead.” Then, said Ringo, “I tied the hands of the person I had
strangled.” At the ninth milestone, Changi, he, Konis, Stephen Francis and Chinese
Stephen threw away the bodies. They left the Volkswagen at the Tanah Merah car
park.
Richard James, in his statement to the
magistrate, said on 29 December he was with Ringo, Konis, Stephen Francis, and
they saw Augustine who said: “It is on today. It is business trouble.”
Augustine said they would knock them down. “You just carry the bodies. We will
pay $8,000. Six persons share ... ” They went to the Chous’ house and into the
kitchen. After a while, he heard a sound ‘like someone who has been choked’.
The five of them (he, Stephen Francis, Alex, Ringo and Konis) came out of the
kitchen. He saw two bodies behind the back door of the kitchen, one body near
the fence. He kicked the nearest body and there was no sound. He stooped down
and gave a few punches. There was still no sound. The body at the fence was
shouting something in Chinese, and Andrew, Augustine, Peter and David were at
the body. He saw Andrew and David using karate chops on the neck. They drove to
Bedok and threw away the bodies. On 31 December, he went to Beng Swee Place
with Konis, Ringo and Stephen Francis, where they saw Alex and Stephen.
“Stephen said they had been given only $6,000. Stephen handed over $3,000 for
himself, Konis and Ringo and he gave Stephen Francis $1,000, and he gave Ringo
$1,000.”
In his statement, Stephen Francis said that
when he came out of the kitchen he saw a body and he kicked it in the face ...
David asked him to take the string which was next to the body and to tie the
neck. He kicked the body: no sound came from it. He and Konis took the string
‘and pulled his neck with the string’. David said, ‘Faster. Tie his hands
also.’ They tied the hands and the legs. He saw David and Augustine kneeling
down … David used a karate chop on the neck of the body which was making some
noise. After that there was no noise. David and Augustine pulled a third body
from the fence.
The eighth accused, Konesekaram, commenced
his statement to the magistrate: “About murder of three persons. The four
people, David, Andrew, Augustine and Peter—accused that we, six of us, did the
murder. We did not do it.” His English was not good. What he was really saying
was that the accusation that six of them killed was not true. When Augustine
told them there was a chance to make $8,000 he said they had to remove three
dead bodies and bury them. They were in the kitchen when David, Andrew,
Augustine and Peter went outside. Later he heard ‘the noise of beating and of
strangulation’. David called them to come out. They did, and helped to tie up the
three men and to help load them into the Volkswagen.
Stephen Lee said much the same. He waited in
the kitchen with the others. They were shown some rope and plaster. About
midnight, the three victims came and went to the back near the kitchen. Andrew,
David and Augustine ‘knocked them out and then all of us rushed out to help
them’. Stephen said he put his hand round the neck of one of the men ‘to press
him down’. The other two men shouted and Stephen saw Andrew and David going to
them: they kicked and punched them. The three men were tied up and Stephen went
with the rest of the boys to dump the bodies at Changi. Stephen swore he did
not lay hands on any of the three men. “I only put my hand around the neck of
one of them to keep him down.”
“At the close of the case for the
prosecution,” said the Judges, “we had to consider whether a case against each
of the accused had been made out which, if unrebutted, would warrant his
conviction. The only witness whose evidence implicated all the accused was
Augustine Ang, who was a self-confessed murderer and was undoubtedly an
accomplice. We looked to see if there was corroborative evidence which
confirmed in some material particular not only the evidence of Augustine Ang
that the crime or crimes were in fact committed, but also his evidence that
each of the accused committed the three offences charged. There was clearly no
corroboration of Augustine Ang’s evidence. We therefore warned ourselves of the
danger of acting on the uncorroborated evidence of Augustine Ang ... he struck
us as a truthful witness notwithstanding the role he played in the whole
affair. We had no hesitation in acting upon his evidence.”
Continued the Judges: “ ... we were of the
opinion that the prosecution had made out a case against each of the accused …
accordingly we called upon all of them to enter upon their defence … ”
Andrew Chou gave evidence on oath. He joined
Air Vietnam towards the end of 1969. He was first introduced by a captain or
flight engineer, to the gold dealers, Ngo Cheng Poh, Vincent Lee and Lee Bor in
early 1971. They needed his assistance in the delivery of gold to the airport.
It was finally agreed that the gold would be delivered to his house to be taken
to the airport for loading onto the aeroplane. For his efforts he would be paid
US$10, or the equivalent, by the crew members and $5 by the Singapore gold
dealer for each gold bar weighing one kilogram. Ngo usually delivered round
about midnight accompanied always by his employee, Leong Chin Woo, and they
would come in two cars, Leong in his Volkswagen. Usually, Ngo or Leong would
phone and say something like ‘We have work for you tonight’ before going to his
house. He was never told the quantity of the delivery. His brother David never
knew of these transactions. Andrew said that Augustine Ang was introduced to
him by David. They became ‘very close and intimate friends and we confided in
each other in most things’. Augustine came to know about his gold activities in
March 1971. From that month, Ang used to accompany him when he delivered the
gold. On most occasions Ang was present when the gold was received. Later he
collected his commission for him. In the middle of October 1971 the captain of
the flight handed him a bag of money belonging to the syndicate to be brought
into the city. He handed the bag to one of the tractor drivers and the bag was
stolen. Ang helped him to search for the bag which contained about US$235,000.
They interviewed a number of people and finally about US$180,000 was recovered.
Ngo gave him $5,000 for recovering it. He gave Ang $1,000. Gold deliveries were
suspended during the investigations to recover the stolen money. After the
recovery of part of the stolen money, Ngo resumed gold deliveries.
It was during one of the gold deliveries
that Ang suggested to Andrew the idea of robbing Ngo of the gold. In evidence
Andrew thought Ang was making an idle remark. They were on the way to the
airport. “I told him I was making good money on these gold deliveries. There
was no reason for me to rob Ngo. Augustine was also aware that I had started
making inquiries about a new job. I was contemplating leaving Air Vietnam. Ang
told me not to be selfish. I should think of him also. The discussion was
basically over his anxiety to get rich. He knew that if I left Air Vietnam the
idea of the gold robbery would no longer exist.”