Murder of Iordanka Apostolova

On 13 January 1998, a fisherman discovered the body of a young woman in a canal near Tanah Merah Ferry Road, Singapore. She was identified as 26-year-old Iordanka Apostolova, a Bulgarian student who had arrived in Singapore in October 1996 and had befriended members of the Singapore Amateur Boxing Association. Forensic pathologist Chao Tzee Cheng determined she had died from neck wounds and had been alive when placed in the canal.

Police investigation, led by Richard Lim Beng Gee, traced a receipt found near the canal to a petrol station, where CCTV footage showed two men making a purchase. Inquiries identified one as 22-year-old Shaiful Edham bin Adam, a friend and business associate of Apostolova who worked as a trade director at a firm where she was a client. Questioned on 15 January 1998, Shaiful confessed to killing Apostolova on 11 January 1998. Bloodstains found in the Depot Road flat he rented from his employer, Kevin Walter Hector, matched Apostolova's DNA. Shaiful was charged with murder on 19 January 1998. Two days later, 26-year-old Norishyam s/o Mohamed Ali, identified as the second man in the CCTV footage and a friend of Shaiful from National Service, surrendered to police and was charged with murder on 22 January 1998.

The two men stood trial jointly in the High Court of Singapore beginning 29 July 1998. The prosecution, led by DPP Francis Tseng, argued the men shared a common intention to kill Apostolova, partly over a financial dispute involving a car purchase for which Apostolova had transferred roughly $40,000. Witnesses testified that Shaiful had sought to recruit others, offering money to help commit the killing. The defence argued the men believed Apostolova was already dead when they disposed of her body. Shaiful and Norishyam gave conflicting accounts of the killing, each attributing greater responsibility for the fatal act to the other. Hezlinda binte A. Rahman, Shaiful's wife, testified in support of her husband but admitted she would lie to protect him from the death penalty.

On 14 August 1998, Justice Kan Ting Chiu found both men guilty of murder and imposed mandatory death sentences, ruling that both shared common intention despite their differing accounts. Their appeals were dismissed by the Court of Appeal of Singapore on 11 January 1999. Both men were hanged at Changi Prison on 2 July 1999.

Separately, Hezlinda was charged in the district courts with abetting the disposal of the body and failing to report the murder. On 29 January 1999, she was found guilty and sentenced to six years' imprisonment by senior district judge Richard Magnus, who described her conduct as reprehensible and noted her role as a lookout during the killing.

The case was later re-enacted in Singapore's Crimewatch (1999), True Files (2002), and Whispers of the Dead.