On 28 January 1989, 26-year-old Lim Lee Tin (), a Chinese Singaporean who was often dressed like a male, was found murdered at a Chinese cemetery in Choa Chu Kang, Singapore. The perpetrators were Lim's gambling partner and married housewife Chin Seow Noi (), Chin's brother Chin Yaw Kim (), and the siblings' friend Ng Kim Heng (). The three suspects, who were all Malaysians, were said to have plotted the murder to get rid of Lim, who often harassed Chin Seow Noi for money.
Between February 1989 and July 1991, the three suspects were arrested in both Singapore and Malaysia. Despite confessing to their roles in the crime, the three killers denied in the court proceedings that they were involved in killing Lim, and chose to remain silent during the defence phase of their trial. On 9 October 1992, Judicial commissioner Amarjeet Singh of the High Court judged the trio guilty of Lim's murder and sentenced them to death by hanging. In the aftermath, the Chin siblings and Ng were hanged at Changi Prison on 31 March 1995, and the case became a legal subject that touches on the validity of relying on a co-accused's statement to convict a person of murder.
Murder and investigation On the morning of 28 January 1989, 26-year-old Lim Lee Tin's body was found in a drain at Choa Chu Kang Christian cemetery (a Chinese cemetery). Upon receiving the police report, the police investigators from the CID, led by Inspector T. Maniam (who would become a victim of murder in 1999), took charge of the investigations. Forensic pathologist Wee Keng Poh, who arrived at the scene, tested the body first-hand and found that the deceased man, who have seven knife wounds on his body, had sustained five fatal knife wounds to his heart and lungs, and Lim may have been taken by surprise when he was stabbed.
At the start of the autopsy, Dr Wee discovered that Lim had female sex organs. According to Lim's mother Chan Giok Mui and other family members, Lim, who possessed masculine-looking facial features, often behaved and dressed like a man, and used elastic binding to wrap up her breasts. Due to her large man-like build, close-cropped short hair, manly appearance, and masculine mannerisms, Lim was often mistook as a man by her acquaintances and neighbours, and even the police officers prior to Dr Wee's discovery. Lim, who was also called "Jack" by her friends, was said to have wanted to go through a sex change operation prior to her murder. Singapore's The New Paper described Lim as "trans-sexual". She was unemployed and normally would help her parents to clean up the house and do house chores.
The police investigations also extended to Lim's acquaintances. It led to the arrest of 29-year-old housewife Chin Seow Noi, a Malaysian and gambling partner of Lim. Upon her arrest on 1 February 1989 at her Jurong East flat, Chin confessed during police custody that she hired two men to help her "get rid of" Lim, who apparently harassed her for money over a period of time and took over S$10,000 from her. She was also allegedly shocked to hear that Lim, her former lover, was not born male. One of the two men implicated by Chin was her younger brother Chin Yaw Kim, a 27-year-old insurance agent. Yaw Kim was arrested in Johor by the Royal Malaysia Police on 4 February 1989, and he was sent back to Singapore for investigations. Seow Noi was charged on 3 February 1989 with abetment of murder while Yaw Kim was charged on 7 February with murder. Under Singapore law, an offence of murder warrants the mandatory death penalty by hanging. On the same date Seow Noi was charged, she was charged in the same court with two other men, who both were involved in two separate murder cases.
The third culprit, identified as 25-year-old bus ticket seller Ng Kim Heng, was hiding in Malaysia as the authorities listed his name on the wanted list and traced his whereabouts. Ng spent two years living under fake names before he was caught by the Malaysian authorities on 20 July 1991, and turned over to the Singaporean police for investigations. He was the third and final suspect to be charged with murder in relation to Lim's death.
Court proceedings On 28 September 1992, the three suspects - Chin Seow Noi, Chin Yaw Kim and Ng Kim Heng - first stood trial in the High Court for the murder of 26-year-old Lim Lee Tin. Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Seng Kwang Boon led the prosecution team, and Judicial commissioner Amarjeet Singh presided the case hearing.
Prosecution's case Witnesses' accounts The prosecution first presented their case and cross-examined witnesses, including Lim's family members and friends. Lim's mother Chan Giok Mui () recounted that she first met Chin Seow Noi in February 1988, when she rented a room at their flat and lived in the same room with Lim. Chan said Chin lived at their flat for eight months until October 1988, the same month when Chin was married to her husband Siew See Kow (; aged 44 in 1995). Lim's father Lim Jer Min () told the police that on the afternoon of 27 January 1989, Lim Lee Tin, who was the second of his three daughters, went outdoors from the family's Ang Mo Kio flat at around 3 pm, but she did not tell him where she was going. That was the last time Lim's father saw her alive. The last phone call made by Lim was to her eldest sister Lim Yee Fan () on the night of 27 January at 9 pm, but Yee Fan did not take the call. She recounted that prior to her going outdoors and her murder, Lim told her she was asked to meet a loan shark, with whom a Malaysian friend of Lim (the friend was none other than Chin Seow Noi) borrowed from, and she was harassed to help pay the debt.
Another of these witnesses was Lim's friend Low Kum Swee, who appeared in court to testify that he first introduced Lim to Chin in late 1987 at a gambling den. Lau stated that ever since that day, Lim, who would sometimes come live at his flat, told him that she was apparently attracted to Chin and often talked about her. Lim even went as far as to make nuisance calls to Chin and would sometimes loiter around the HDB block where Chin resided. Low recalled that during the final week before her murder, Lim told him that Chin was harassed by two loan sharks for not paying back her loan of $4,000, and on the night of her murder, a few hours before Lim's death, Low received a phone call, in which the caller asked to meet up with Lim. Low recognised the caller as Chin's brother Chin Yaw Kim. After that phone call, Low last saw Lim departing his flat.
Chin Seow Noi's confession
The prosecution also based their case on the confessions of the Chin siblings and Ng. Firstly, according to Chin Seow Noi's confession, she stated that after meeting Lim, she was often asked by Lim to go on a date with her everyday. Chin, who was unaware of Lim's sex back then, agreed to do so but she eventually told Lim that she was married. At that time, Chin had registered her marriage with Siew in 1985, although she had not gone through the traditional Chinese marriage ceremony. Lim thus often harassed Chin, asking to borrow money from her from time to time. Chin, who was working as a factory worker at that time, had to also borrow money from her colleagues in order to lend Lim money. On 8 October 1988, the date of Chin's formal wedding, Lim even asked Chin to meet up with her on the night itself and lived with her for seven days before Chin returned to her husband's flat. Lim went on to make nuisance calls to Chin and would sometimes loiter around the void deck below Chin's flat.
The continued harassment led to Chin unable to endure it anymore. She thus asked her brother Chin Yaw Kim to come to Singapore to meet up with her for a plan to stop Lim from coming to her again. Yaw Kim roped in his friend and sworn brother Ng Kim Heng, also known as "Ah Heng", to help his sister in the plan to stop Lim's harassment. They came up with a plan to let Ng pretend to be a loan shark, and Ng would, according to the plan, confront Seow Noi in front of Lim, demanding for Seow Noi to pay back S$4,000 to Ng. Their plan was also to make Lim agree to help Seow Noi discharge her debt, in order to secretly get back some of the money Seow Noi lent to Lim. The plan was executed, and as the trio hoped, Lim agreed to help Seow Noi pay off the debt. However, Lim continued to harass Seow Noi. This led to Seow Noi deciding to call Yaw Kim and Ng, asking them to help her "get rid of" Lim.
Confessions of Chin Yaw Kim and Ng Kim Heng Ng Kim Heng and Chin Yaw Kim, the two men who killed Lim Lee Tin on the night of 27 January 1989, confessed that they were indeed together with Lim on the night of the murder. However, they gave contrasting accounts of who stabbed Lim and what happened before and after the stabbing.
Chin Yaw Kim, in his confession, stated that on the night of the murder, he met up with Lim over his sister's debt, and they eventually came up with the agreement that Lim would pay S$3,000 and Chin would pay the remaining S$1,000 to the "loan shark" Ng. Together, the pair met up with Ng, who remained disguising as a loan shark, and they drove to Choa Chu Kang Christian cemetery. Chin claimed that after they parked their car near a drain in the cemetery, he saw Lim and Ng getting out of the car and they both got into a heated argument about the debt issue. Yaw Kim, who stated that their plan was merely to assault Lim and warn her not to get near his sister again, said in his confession that he was shocked to see Ng taking out a knife and stabbed Lim while the latter was standing nearby the drain. This led to the duo having to abandon Lim's corpse into the graveyard drain.
Ng Kim Heng, in his individual confession, gave a different account of the murder on that fateful night. Ng said that despite having discussed about killing Lim, he was reluctant and apprehensive over the thought of killing a person. He stated that after Chin left the car for a smoke at the graveyard, he signalled to and told Lim that she was in danger and need to get to safety, but Lim, who was sitting on the front passenger seat, did not listen or leave. Ng also claimed he alighted the car and tried to dissuade Chin, but Chin was adamant about killing Lim to help his sister escape the harassment. Subsequently, after the men re-entered the car, Chin, whose right hand was paralysed in a past traffic accident, grabbed a knife with his left hand (his only good hand) and stabbed Lim multiple times until she died. Ng said that he prevented the corpse from falling over to avoid getting his car stained in blood and he was forced to help Chin dispose of the corpse in the nearby drain, and took away Lim's wallet and other belongings.
Defence's case However, in the trial, despite having confessed to their respective roles in the murder of Lim Lee Tin, the Chin siblings and Ng denied that they made these confessions, instead they claimed there was no case to answer.
Chin Seow Noi's lawyer Ronald Ng (unrelated to Ng Kim Heng) argued against the admission of the confession, stating that the prosecution proceeded with the charge of abetment of murder based on Seow Noi's confession as sole evidence against her but not other incriminating evidence. Ng also argued that Seow Noi's meaning of the three words "get rid of" did not actually mean that she wanted Lim to be killed during the discussion of the plot. He pointed out that there was no direct mentioning of Seow Noi procuring her brother Yaw Kim and Ng to help cause Lim's death.