Unsolved case · 1984
Also known as Ayakannu Marithamuthu · Ayakanno Marithamuthu
The short answer
Ayakannu Marithamuthu, a 34-year-old caretaker in Singapore, disappeared on 12 December 1984 and was never found. Six family members were charged with murder in 1987 but released when prosecutors admitted the evidence was insufficient.
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Suggest coverage for Death of Ayakannu MarithamuthuAyakannu Marithamuthu, born in 1950 and of Indian descent, worked as a caretaker overseeing Public Utilities Board-run holiday chalets along Biggin Hill Road in Changi, Singapore. From around 1980, he lived with his wife and their three children in a small house behind Orchard Road Presbyterian Church. He disappeared on 12 December 1984, allegedly killed just outside his home.
His wife, Nagaratha Vally Ramiah, filed a missing person's report at the Joo Chiat Police Station, stating that Marithamuthu had gone to the Genting Highlands to gamble. Police subsequently opened an investigation that led to the arrest of six people: Nagaratha, her three brothers — Rathakrishnana Ramayah, Shanmugam Chandra, and Balakrishna Ramiah — her mother, Kamachi Krishnasamy, and her sister-in-law, Mary Manuee (Rathakrishnana's wife). Police alleged that the first four had planned to kill Marithamuthu, while the remaining two had allegedly provided support.
Throughout the roughly two-year investigation, neither Marithamuthu's body nor any murder weapon was recovered. The case became known publicly as the "Curry Murder" due to allegations that his body had been cooked into a curry before being disposed of in garbage containers.
On 23 March 1987, the six suspects were formally charged and brought before the court to face trial for murder, an offence carrying a possible death penalty upon conviction. They were represented by lawyers Subbiah Pillai and Raj Kumar, and approximately two hundred people were reported to have been present in the courtroom. On the day of the trial, prosecutors admitted the evidence was insufficient, and the presiding judge released the six suspects with a discharge not amounting to an acquittal. Police stated that further investigations were ongoing and that the suspects could be recalled to court if more substantial evidence emerged.
On the same day they were released from the murder charge, the three brothers — Rathakrishnana Ramayah, Shanmugam Chandra, and Balakrishna Ramiah — were re-arrested under the Criminal Law Act and detained in Changi Prison for four years before being released.
Central Investigations Department director Jagjit Singh described the case as "one of the most unusual and bizarre cases we have ever handled." The case attracted lasting public and media attention in Singapore. In 1995, the Television Corporation of Singapore broadcast a 30-episode serial titled Doctor Justice, one episode of which depicted an exaggerated dramatization of the case. In 2004, the Singaporean documentary series Missing re-enacted the case, altering the names of the victim and suspects to protect their identities.
No one has ever been convicted in connection with Ayakannu Marithamuthu's disappearance and presumed death, and his body has never been located.
Ayakannu Marithamuthu is born.
Marithamuthu, his wife, and their three children begin residing in a small house behind Orchard Road Presbyterian Church, Singapore.
Marithamuthu disappears, allegedly killed just outside his home; his wife later files a missing person's report stating he had gone to Genting Highlands to gamble.
Six individuals — Marithamuthu's wife, her three brothers, her mother, and her sister-in-law — are brought in and charged in connection with his death; on the day of trial, prosecutors admit insufficient evidence and the judge grants the suspects a discharge not amounting to an acquittal. The three brothers are re-arrested the same day under the Criminal Law Act and detained in Changi Prison.
The three brothers are released from Changi Prison after four years of detention under the Criminal Law Act.
Television Corporation of Singapore broadcasts the serial Doctor Justice, including an episode depicting an exaggerated version of the case.
Singaporean documentary series Missing re-enacts the case with altered names to protect identities.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
34-year-old caretaker who disappeared on 12 December 1984 and was allegedly killed; his body was never recovered.[3]
Brother-in-law of the victim; charged with murder alongside five relatives in 1987 and given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (a formal release with the charges dismissed but not resulting in acquittal) after prosecutors admitted the evidence was insufficient; he and his two brothers were then re-arrested and preventively detained at Changi Prison until their unconditional release on 21 June 1991. No charges remain pending against him in this case; he was never convicted.[3]
Mother-in-law of the victim, alleged by police to have supported the plan to kill him (rather than directly planning it); charged with murder alongside five relatives in 1987, and released the same day via a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (a formal release with the charges dismissed but not resulting in acquittal), after prosecutors admitted the evidence was insufficient. No charges remain pending against her in this case; she has never been reconvicted or recharged.[3]
Sister-in-law of the victim, alleged by police to have supported the plan to kill him (rather than directly planning it); charged with murder alongside five relatives in 1987, and released the same day via a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (a formal release with the charges dismissed but not resulting in acquittal), after prosecutors admitted the evidence was insufficient. No charges remain pending against her in this case; she has never been reconvicted or recharged.[3]
Wife of the victim; charged with murder alongside five relatives in 1987 and released the same day via a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (a formal release with the charges dismissed but not resulting in acquittal) after prosecutors admitted the evidence was insufficient. No charges remain pending against her in this case; she has never been reconvicted or recharged.[3]
Brother-in-law of the victim; charged with murder alongside five relatives in 1987 and given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (a formal release with the charges dismissed but not resulting in acquittal) after prosecutors admitted the evidence was insufficient; he and his two brothers were then re-arrested and preventively detained at Changi Prison until their unconditional release on 21 June 1991. No charges remain pending against him in this case; he was never convicted.[3]
Brother-in-law of the victim; charged with murder alongside five relatives in 1987 and given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (a formal release with the charges dismissed but not resulting in acquittal) after prosecutors admitted the evidence was insufficient; he and his two brothers were then re-arrested and preventively detained at Changi Prison until their unconditional release on 21 June 1991. No charges remain pending against him in this case; he was never convicted.[3]
Director of the Central Investigations Department who commented publicly on the case's unusual nature.[3]
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Credit: DavidelitCC BY-SA 4.0SourceSOLVEDListenMacDonald House, Orchard Road, Singapore · 1960s
A nitroglycerin bomb planted by two Indonesian marines exploded at MacDonald House on Orchard Road, Singapore, on 10 March 1965, killing three people and injuring dozens amid the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.
UNSOLVEDListenCommonwealth Avenue near Queen's Circus, Queenstown, Singapore · 1970s
A 22-year-old seamstress was fatally shot by an unknown gunman while walking with her sister in Queenstown, Singapore in 1972; the case remains unsolved.
SOLVEDListenTanglin Halt, Singapore · 1980s
In May 1989, two men were fatally stabbed outside a flat in Tanglin Halt, Singapore, following a dispute over a Walkman; the killer was convicted of murder in 1992 and hanged after his appeal was dismissed.
Credit: Federal Bureau of InvestigationPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenFort Wayne, Indiana · 1988
April Tinsley, an eight-year-old girl from Fort Wayne, Indiana, was kidnapped, raped, and strangled to death on April 1, 1988. The killing went unsolved for more than three decades, marked by taunting notes from her killer, until forensic genealogy identified John D. Miller as the perpetrator in 2018; Miller pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 80 years in prison.
Image recordEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListenMatamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico · 1989
Mark Kilroy, a University of Texas at Austin student, was abducted during spring break in Matamoros, Mexico, in March 1989 and killed at a ranch used by a drug-trafficking cult led by Adolfo Constanzo; several cult members were convicted in 1993-1994 of homicide and other charges.
Credit: UnknwownEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListenNear Greeley, Colorado · 1984
A 12-year-old girl who disappeared from her Greeley, Colorado, home in 1984 was found dead in 2019, and a former Greeley resident was convicted in 2022 of her kidnapping and murder.
