JOHOR BARU: A 55-year-old businessman was found murdered in his bungalow in the posh Stulang Laut residential area here yesterday.
Police identified the man as Francis Clement D’Cruz, who is said be among those involved in the construction of the Holiday Plaza Shopping Complex here about 25 years ago.
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D'Cruz: Found dead in his bedroom. |
The complex, among the first shopping arcades in Johor, was then the longest in South-East Asia.
D’Cruz’s body was found in a pool of blood in his bedroom at 8am. It has been sent to the Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA) mortuary for a post-mortem.
Johor Baru (South) Deputy OCPD Supt Idris Ismail said D’Cruz died of serious head injuries believed to have been caused by several hard blows with a blunt object.
“We recovered a hammer and a chopper at the murder scene.
“An injured Indonesian woman was also found in the bungalow. The woman, who was working as a maid, has been sent to HAS for treatment,” he added.
Supt Idris said initial investigations revealed that the deceased was sleeping in his bedroom on the upper floor of the two-storey bungalow, when he was attacked.
“The assailant had earlier attacked the maid in her room on the ground floor.
“He then went to the deceased’s room, hit him with a blunt object and fled with his Subaru van,” he told newsmen at the scene.
Supt Idris said there was also some ‘charcoal writing’ on the wall inside the house which read: ‘Clement cheated me’.
“We believe revenge was the motive for the murder,” he added, saying they were looking for D’Cruz’s business partner, an Indian national to help in their investigation.
Supt Idris identified him as Joraphy Gabriel, 39.
“Gabriel has been staying with the deceased for about a month,” he added.
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