Murder of Lee Kok Yin

On 22 January 1995, two policemen patrolling near a construction site in Woodlands, Singapore, discovered the body of 47-year-old taxi driver Lee Kok Yin inside his taxi, which had been abandoned with its engine still running. Lee had a fatal knife wound to the right side of his neck; a forensic pathologist attributed his death to excessive blood loss. His watch, cash, wallet, and a bloodstained cap were left in the vehicle, leading police to believe the attackers had posed as passengers before attempting to rob and kill him. Lee was married with two children and had worked as a taxi driver for seven to eight years. He had previously survived an unrelated robbery by surrendering his valuables.

The Singapore Police Force, with an investigation led by Inspector Richard Lim Beng Gee and an operation involving 150 officers under Commander Heng Swee Keat, questioned nearly 300 foreign workers living in dormitories near the crime scene. Four months later, on 8 May 1995, Kraisak Sakha, a 25-year-old Thai worker, was arrested. Twelve days later, on 20 May 1995, Pracha Thanomnin, 28, was arrested and charged. Two other alleged participants, known only as "Wan" and "Dorn," were never apprehended.

At trial before the High Court beginning 8 January 1996, Kraisak admitted being present but said Pracha inflicted the fatal stab wound while Wan restrained the victim; Kraisak claimed he tried to withdraw from the robbery. Pracha denied involvement and offered an uncorroborated alibi. On 30 January 1996, Judicial Commissioner Amarjeet Singh convicted both men of murder, finding they shared a common intention to rob Lee that made each responsible for his death, and sentenced both to death.

On appeal, decided 24 May 1996, the Court of Appeal (Justices M Karthigesu, L P Thean, and Goh Joon Seng) overturned Kraisak's murder conviction, finding reasonable doubt as to whether he shared the intention to kill; he was reconvicted of attempted robbery and sentenced to five years' imprisonment and six strokes of the cane, backdated to his arrest date. In September 1996, after prison doctors found him medically unfit for caning due to an unspecified terminal illness, the Court of Appeal spared him the caning without extending his prison term. Pracha's appeal was rejected the same day as Kraisak's, with the court finding sufficient evidence he intentionally inflicted the fatal wound. Pracha was hanged at Changi Prison on the morning of 10 January 1997. As of the source's reporting, "Wan" and "Dorn" remain at large.