Cabby already dead when

SINGAPORE - When cabby Yuen Swee Hong, 58, failed to return to his Serangoon home

from his shift on April 11, 2009, Madam Chan Oi Lin called her husband's mobile phone

and was met with a threat from a man with a mainland Chinese accent.

He said that he had kidnapped Mr Yuen and that the cabby "is going to die".

He demanded $150,000 in ransom.

But unknown to Mdm Chan, her husband was probably already dead.

Opening the prosecutor's case in the High Court murder trial against Chinese national

Wang Wenfeng, 32, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Eugene Lee also told the court that

the cabby had up to five stab wounds on his shirt and his taxi - found in a multi-

storey carpark in Canberra Link - was splattered with blood.

DPP Lee added that it was Wang who led the police to Mr Yuen's decomposed body,

hidden in a forested area in Sembawang on April 17, 2009.

He also led the police into a forested area at Nee Soon Road where a haversack

containing two knives and other items such as gloves, cable ties and nylon rope were

found.

In court, Mdm Chan recalled the shock and anguish when the ransom demand was made.

The widow told the court that she received another call and managed to reduce the

ransom amount to $80,000.

Their son alerted the police.

The next day, Mdm Chan and the male caller settled on a sum of $5,000, to be

delivered at Marsiling MRT station.

There, she received a text message to remit the money into a China Construction Bank

account.

She refused as she wanted to hear her husband's voice first.

She waited there for many hours without avail and went home.

The man called again and asked her if she had remitted the money.

"I replied again that I did not know how to do so. He replied that he did not care

and ended the call abruptly. That was the last time I heard from the male caller,"

said Mdm Chan.

The vctim's brother, Mr Yuen Peng Yin, who was with Mdm Chan at that time, told the

court that they did not remit the money as they thought it was a scam.

Wang's wife, Mdm Gong Wenying, testified that her husband "was stressed over money"

and "appeared to be desperate" to raise money for his mother's cancer treatment.

Wang, a general worker, had also mentioned selling his organs to raise money.

"I was not sure if he was serious but I advised him that we had time to make money as

we were still young," said Mdm Gong.

Wang's co-tenant, Mr Chen Yongquan, said that on April 10 - the night before the

alleged murder - Wang left the flat with a haversack and claimed that Wang said he

"needed to do something outside".

When Mr Chen commented that it was already late, Wang replied "robbery".

"I thought he was joking," said Mr Chen.

Wang was arrested at People's Park Complex on April 13, 2009 after he collected a

one-way ticket to Xiamen, China.

The hearing continues.