Murder of Lim Lee Tin

On the morning of 28 January 1989, the body of 26-year-old Lim Lee Tin was discovered in a drain at Choa Chu Kang Christian cemetery, a Chinese cemetery in Singapore. Lim, a Chinese Singaporean who often dressed and behaved in a masculine manner and was known to friends as "Jack," had left her family's Ang Mo Kio flat the previous afternoon and was last known to have received a phone call from an acquaintance that evening. Police investigators from the Criminal Investigation Department, led by Inspector T. Maniam, took charge of the case. Forensic pathologist Wee Keng Poh found seven knife wounds on the body, five of which were fatal, and determined during autopsy that Lim had female sex organs, a fact confirmed by her family, who said she had long presented as male and used binding to conceal her figure.

Investigations led police to Chin Seow Noi, a 29-year-old Malaysian housewife who had gambled with Lim and rented a room in the same flat as Lim's family in 1988. Chin was arrested on 1 February 1989 and confessed that she had asked two men to "get rid of" Lim, who she said had harassed her for money over an extended period. Chin's brother, Chin Yaw Kim, a 27-year-old insurance agent, was arrested in Johor, Malaysia, on 4 February 1989 and extradited to Singapore. Chin Seow Noi was charged with abetment of murder on 3 February 1989, and Chin Yaw Kim was charged with murder on 7 February 1989. A third suspect, 25-year-old Ng Kim Heng, evaded capture in Malaysia for over two years before being apprehended on 20 July 1991 and handed to Singaporean authorities.

At trial in the High Court beginning 28 September 1992, prosecutors presented testimony from Lim's family and friends alongside confessions from all three accused, though the men gave differing accounts of who inflicted the fatal stab wounds. All three defendants disputed the confessions' implications during proceedings and exercised their right to remain silent in their defence. On 9 October 1992, Judicial Commissioner Amarjeet Singh found the prosecution's case persuasive, particularly citing forensic evidence that contradicted Chin Yaw Kim's account of the stabbing, and convicted all three of murder or abetment of murder. Singh sentenced each to death, the mandatory penalty for murder under Singapore law.

The trio appealed, and in May 1993, Singapore's Court of Appeal dismissed their appeals, affirming the convictions and issuing a significant ruling on the admissibility of a co-accused's confession as sole evidence for conviction. Amnesty International appealed to the Singapore government for clemency in February 1994. All three convicted persons were hanged at Changi Prison on 31 March 1995. The appellate ruling in the case, Chin Seow Noi and Others v Public Prosecutor, later influenced subsequent Singapore capital cases regarding the use of co-accused testimony.