SIBU, Aug 1 — Two men charged with murdering a woman in Pulau Kerto here in 2018 were sentenced to death by the High Court yesterday.

Jeeji Ting Kim Leong, 32, from Nanga Assan and Syahadan Othman Sabang, 29, from Kapit were convicted of causing the death of Ting Poh Sing, 58, at an unnumbered house in Pulau Kerto between 1am and 7.10pm on June 27 that year.

They were each charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same Code, which provides for the death penalty or imprisonment for a term of not less than 30 years but not exceeding 40 years, and if not sentenced to death, shall be punished with whipping of not less than 12 strokes, upon conviction.

In delivering his verdict, judge Datuk Christopher Chin said the prosecution had succeeded in proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

He said a forensic pathologist had testified that the woman’s death was caused by traumatic asphyxia and smothering, in addition to blunt force trauma to the chest and back causing multiple fractures to the right and left ribs.

"There is nothing in my mind to doubt the evidence of the forensic pathologist. The two accused are regular drug consumers, and they had a clear motive to rob the deceased for money to feed their drug habit.

"In fact, there is undisputed evidence that the upper portion of the deceased’s house was used by two accused with others as a drug den.

"The acts of the two accused were therefore done in furtherance of a common intention to rob the deceased as a result of which the murder occurred,” he said.

The judge also said the evidence given by the two accused in their defence was insufficient to cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case which had been established earlier.

"I find that Syahadan was the main perpetrator of the injury and smothering of the deceased. But I equally find that Jeeji had a common intention to commit murder as happened in this case.

"He made no direct attempts to save the deceased and in fact was found to have willingly taken a share of the spoils of the murder. There is no evidence to show that he did his best to distance himself from the events in the Pulau Kerto house resulting in the sad demise of the deceased.”

During mitigation, lawyer Yap Hoi Liong representing Jeeji said the accused regretted his action and hoped for a minimum sentence to be imposed.

Lawyer Ben Lau representing Syahadan said his client had shown his remorse in court and had submitted that his intention was merely to rob rather than kill the victim.

"It just happened that things went wrong in between. There was no reason for the second accused (Syahadan) to kill the deceased, knowing at that material time he was married and with a child of four years.

"The second accused hopes for the court to pass a custodial sentence on him so that he will still have the chance to see his child upon his release from prison,” said Lau.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Mark Kenneth Netto called on the court to impose the death sentence to reflect the seriousness of the crime.

He said the case was premeditated whereby the offenders invaded the sanctity of the deceased’s home.

"The offenders chose to diabolically attack the deceased when she was most vulnerable. After the commission of the offence, the offenders escaped leaving the helpless deceased behind, and then in cold-hearted fashion sold the deceased’s personal belongings at a goldsmith.

"Nothing can bring the deceased back to her family members and loved ones. No imprisonment term can begin compensating the loss that the family members and friends of the deceased have suffered.

"There is no imprisonment sentence that can be passed which can relieve the loss that these offenders have caused. Hence the sentence passed must reflect the seriousness of the crime and the need to deter others from committing it,” the DPP said. — Borneo Post Online