Federal Court upholds acquittal of wife in murder of her bank manager husband
KUCHING: The Federal Court here yesterday has upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision to acquit and discharge Ling Hang Tsyr for abetting the murder of her husband, Wong Jing Kui, who was a former HSBC branch manager in 2012.
The unanimous decision was made yesterday by a three-judge panel comprising of the Chief Judge of Malaya (CJM) Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed Along, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak (CJSS) Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, and Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Sian against 41-yearold Hang Tsyr.
The Federal court agreed with the judgement of the Court of Appeal and held that it did not commit any error in giving its decision.
“In our judgement, even though the evidence put forward by the prosecution would risk a suspicion that the respondent (Hang Tsyr) was involved, the suspicion is not evidence and cannot be named a basis for conviction of the respondent on the charge against her.
“The Court of Appeal was right in reversing the conviction of the High Court.
“We agree that the conviction is not safe. We accordingly dismissed this appeal,” said Tan Sri Azahar.
He added that there is no evidence adduced by the prosecution or any pre-arranged plan made by Hang Tsyr and her boyfriend, Tiong King Guan, 36, who is still at large to hire Ling Hoe Ing to murder Wong.
In fact Hoe Ing did not know Hang Tsyr and never communicated or met her.
On June 14, 2012, Hang Tsyr and Tiong were accused of abetting Hoe Ing in killing Wong Jing Kui at his residence in Jalan Ulu Sg Merah, Sibu at about 1.30am.
Hoe Ing, who owed Tiong RM10,000 at the time, was jailed 16 years, after he pleaded guilty on Oct 1, 2013 to an alternative charge under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
A warrant of arrest was then issued against Tiong, after he failed to turn up in court following the reinstatement of the charge.
Both Hang Tsyr and Tiong faced an amended charge under Section 109 of the Penal Code for abetment, read with Section 302 for murder, which carries a mandatory death sentence, upon conviction.
The appeal was filed by Hang Tsyr after she was sentenced to death by the High Court in 2017.
After Hoe Ing pleaded guilty, the Court granted Hang Tsyr and Tiong a discharge not amounting to an acquittal of their abetment charge, but the charge was reinstated in February 2015 after the prosecution filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
A warrant of arrest was then issued against Tiong, after he failed to turn up in court following the reinstatement of the charge.
In Oct 2017, Hang Tsyr was sentenced to death by the High Court in Sibu after being found guilty of abetting the murder of her husband.
The offence was committed at Jing Kui’s house in Ulu Sg Merah about 1.30am on June 14, last year.
The pathologist report confirmed that Jing Kui died of multiple stab and slash wounds on his chest, neck and stomach, with defensive cuts on both his arms.
Police found the victim in a pool of blood in his bedroom and only Jing Kui’s widow and three-year-old son were at home then.
Her now 13-year-old son is now in the care of the Hang Tsyr’s family.
Hang Tsyr was represented by lawyers Roger Chin and Lim Heng Choo, while the case was prosecuted by deputy public prosecutors Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, Nahra Dollah and Muhammad Azmi Mashud.