It seems that there has been a lot of murder cases happening recently and that’s definitely not how I thought we would end 2019 and begin 2020.
Unfortunately, the most recent one was of a 43-year-old lady who was found unresponsive in her third-floor apartment in Esparina Residences, a condominium in Buangkok on Friday, 3 January. The police received a call for assistance at around 12.07pm that day. Upon arriving at the scene, the lady was pronounced dead by paramedics.
A 48-year-old man by the name of Paul Leslie Quirk is believed to have committed the murder of his wife, Christina Khoo Gek Hwa, and was subsequently arrested.
The Court Hearing
Quirk turned up to court wearing a red shirt and had his wrists in handcuffs. He remained expressionless throughout his court proceedings.
The prosecutor asked for him to be remanded in Changi Prison’s medical centre so that they could observe his behaviour and his psychiatric health.
District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan ordered him to be remanded for three weeks and he will have to return to court on 24 January.
If Quirk is convicted of murder, he will be sentenced to the death penalty.
Eyewitnesses’ Accounts
Despite it not being said in the official court documents, Quirk is probably from Australia as it is written on his Facebook profile while his wife seems to be from the Philippines.
He also previously worked in podiatry.
According to eyewitnesses to the incident, the couple was talking at around 11am in their apartment’s balcony. This later escalated into an argument that lasted for more than 15 minutes. This prompted a domestic helper to tell her employer, who then informed the condo’s security management team.
Security officers were seen approaching the couple’s unit.
The argument apparently ended after a dog was heard barking. Residents then shared that they saw the man appear at the balcony, this time carrying a dog. He then mercilessly threw the dog over the balcony onto the pavement of the ground floor.
The white dog was covered in a pool of blood and residents said that the dog died.
Hopefully the truth will be revealed and justice will be served. We also hope that the victim rests in peace and we send our condolences to the victim’s family.
