KUALA LUMPUR: A former contractor was ordered to enter his defence by the High Court here over the murder of his wife who was suffocated using a comforter.
Justice K. Muniandy made the order after ruling that the prosecution had successfully proven a prima facie case against 50-year-old Chuah Chin Hoe yesterday.
“At the end of the prosecution’s case, with the evidence tendered, which this court had viewed in totality and given a maximum evaluation, the court has concluded that the accused was the last person together with his deceased wife in their room the night before and on the morning after she was found dead,” he said.
The judge opined that the chain of circumstances relied on by the prosecution to prove the charge against the accused had been the most compelling one.
“It is a material consideration as a circumstance against the accused.”
This, the judge said, called for an explanation by the accused.
“The court decides to order the accused to enter his defence to the charge preferred against him pursuant to Section 180(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code,” he said.
Chuah’s lawyer Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent told the court that his client chose to give testimony under oath from the witness stand.
The court then fixed a two-day defence hearing on April 24 and 25.
According to the charge sheet, Chuah was accused of murdering Lau Bee Hong, 46, at a condominium unit in Jalan Genting Klang, Setapak, between 2.30am and 9.30am on May 9, 2021.
He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries a death sentence if convicted.
A total of 17 prosecution witnesses, including the couple’s two children, were called to testify during the trial that began on Oct 11, 2022.
Deputy public prosecutor Zaileen Nadia Zubir prosecuted.
The accused was also represented by lawyers Lavinia Raja and Revin Kumar.
