A SEAFOOD stall boss was sentenced to hang on Tuesday for killing his China lover three years ago.

Can't claim to right of defence DEPUTY Public Prosecutors Winston Cheng and Stella Tan argued that Eu could not claim the right of private defence as he had strangled her to death after she was rendered helpless by the stab wounds. There was also no evidence that indicated a violent struggle. ... more

Eu Lim Hoklai, 55, was found guilty by Justice Kan Ting Chiu of strangling Madam Yu Hong Jin, 29, after stabbing her in an Ang Mo Kio massage parlour she ran.

During the trial last year, he had told the High Court that Madam Yu had stabbed him first after he refused to pay her $30,000 for breaking up with her.

He said that he had seen a man leaving her flat in Ang Mo Kio four days earlier. As she refused to stop seeing the man, he decided to end the relationship.

Eu claimed that he paid for her trips to China and spent about $20,000 on her.

When the single mother of a son moved her massage parlour from Serangoon to Ang Mo Kio, he gave her $8,500 for her business.

He said he also paid her rent but she had never allowed him into her flat.

They had sex about four times in hotels from March or April 2005 to June 2006.

When things soured between them, he said that she had threatened to create trouble with his family unless he compensated her with money.

They argued almost daily and when he went to see her on June 18, 2006, which was Father's Day, she slapped him.

He said that when he tried to leave, she stabbed him. She could have been stabbed during the struggle that ensued, he added.

He then throttled her until she became still, after which, he said, he passed out.

When the police arrived, she was dead on a massage bed, knife in hand.