By yahoosingapore – October 16th, 2010
Soh Wee Kian, 20, in restraints, has been charged with murder. (Shin Min Daily News)
Full-time national serviceman, Soh Wee Kian, 20, has been charged with the murder of a Malaysian woman last month in Woodlands.
The slim-built man sporting close-cropped hair showed little emotion as he was charged in court on Saturday morning for stabbing Madam Hoe Hong Lin, 32, at a basketball court near Woodlands Drive 50 at about 1035pm on September 22.
Madam Hoe, a clerk and permanent resident here, had been celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival with her family near Block 898B, Woodlands Drive 50 in Woodlands where they lived.
She was on her way back to meet her family at a playground after dropping off her 11-year-old nephew at her sister’s nearby flat when she was attacked by Soh.
According to The Straits Times, Soh is also believed to have slashed a woman jogger in Yishun earlier this year.
Soh was arrested last Friday after he was tracked down by the police. Among the evidence recovered was a 12cm blade, which broke off from the handle when the Madam Hoe struggled with her attacker.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said on Saturday that Soh serves in the Navy and was under military custody for going AWOL when he was handed over to the police.
Soh has no criminal record and lives in Woodlands. He also has no known history of mental illness but police are now also investigating if he could be linked to two other knife attacks against women, also in the northern part of the island.
All four women who were attacked since the start of the year were Chinese, in their 20s or early 30s, slim and had shoulder-length hair. Nothing was stolen from them and the mode of attack was similar: they were approached from behind and then stabbed.
Chinese daily Shin Min Daily News even led with a frontpage headline on its Saturday edition that said ”Hates long-haired woman?” next to a photo of Soh in restraints and being led away in a car.
In the Woodlands case, Madam Hoe was stabbed to death next to a basketball court in Woodlands Drive 50. Her personal belongings, which included a cellphone, cash, watch and jewellery, were all found near her body.
Police said the series of violent knife attacks in the north began in January when a 31-year-old sales assistant was slashed at a void deck in Yishun Avenue 7. She escaped with wounds on her hands, back and neck.
Less than a week later, a 23-year-old jogger was slashed at the Khatib Bongsu Park connector, less than 1.5km away from the first attack. She sustained cuts on her face and upper body.
In May, another Chinese office administrator, 25, was stabbed at Montreal Drive, off Sembawang Road. The attack left her kidney damaged.
