SINGAPORE : A High Court judge has cleared two men accused of killing used car dealer Bock Thuan Tong last April.
Instead, the court ruled that they were only trying to rob him.
Lim Poh Lye and Tony Koh have escaped the gallows.
Instead of being charged with murder, they are now facing a lesser charge of robbery with hurt.
And for that, Lim, a 45-year-old coffee shop assistant was sentenced to 20 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane, while 37-year-old Taoist priest Koh was given a 15-year jail term and 20 strokes of the cane.
They were part of a gang of three who had stabbed Bock, bundled him into the boot of his car and left him in a multi-storey car park at Boon Keng Road on 2nd April last year.
Their accomplice, Ng Kim Soon is still on the run.
Justice Choo Han Teck said based on the evidence, he is satisfied that the trio did not intend to kill Bock.
Their plan was to drug and rob the used car dealer and had brought knives to threaten him if necessary.
The men had forced Bock to write cheques for thousands of dollars and assualted him when he tried to escape.
Bock was stabbed seven times in the legs, one of these severed a main artery which resulted in uncontrolled and continuous bleeding that led to his death.
The judge also said it's not clear who had caused the fatal stab wound and forensic evidence might not be sufficient to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
"I am also mindful that in cases involving multiple accused persons, the granting of the benefit of doubt to one accused might result in the incrimination of another. So as far as the question of whether it was Ng or Lim who caused the fatal stab wound no. 2, I am left with some doubt as to who that might be. Forensic evidence might provide some indications as to the direction of the strike, but it is not sufficient in this case for me to make a finding on it on the basis of proof beyond reasonable doubt. No one was able to say or show how, if at all, the struggle by Bock had an impact on the way the stab wounds were caused," said Justice Choo.
Lim's brother who had urged him to surrender himself to the police last April was relieved when he heard the verdict.
But emotions were mixed for Bock's widow who was also at the hearing.
The sentencing of the two men will offer some form of closure but she will not accept their apologies.
"If the situation had been reversed, do you think the wife will accept an apology? We had a happy family, they wrecked it," said Tan Ai Wah, the victim's wife.
The prosecution had pressed for a maximum sentence to be given out. It has yet to decide if it will appeal. - CNA