Man arrested after five-year-old son found dead in bedroom

Belgian Philippe Graffart, 41, was arrested after his five-year-old son Keryan was found dead in Graffart's home on Oct 6, 2015. PHOTO: PHILIPPE GRAFFART/FACEBOOK

It was just after 5am yesterday when police found an injured 41- year-old man outside Bukit Timah Neighbourhood Police Centre.

An hour later, they made a more shocking find in a bedroom of the man's home in the posh D'Leedon condominium located 2km away - the body of his five-year-old son.

The boy, Keryan, is understood to have been strangled. Hand-shaped bruises were supposedly found all over his neck.

Classifying the case as murder, the police have arrested the man - Mr Philippe Graffart, a Belgian.

He is head of the Singapore investment management arm of Nordea, a company that describes itself as the largest financial group in northern Europe.

It is believed that Mr Graffart had been fighting for custody of the boy with his former wife.

The dramatic series of events began when police found an injured Mr Graffart at 5.11am outside the police centre.

The nature of his injuries, believed to have been self-inflicted, has not been revealed.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force was alerted at 5.15am and Mr Graffart was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for treatment.

Police then went to D'Leedon near Farrer Road. In the 32nd-storey apartment in Block 3, the boy was found lying motionless inside the bedroom.

He was pronounced dead by paramedics at 6.17am.

From early morning until noon, police officers and at least five police vehicles were seen entering and leaving the estate.

At about 9am, a woman in her early 40s, believed to be a relative of the boy, was seen at the foot of the block looking distraught.

She walked to the security guard post at the condominium entrance before being escorted away by security officers.

A police hearse arrived at about 11am and left 15 minutes later with the boy's body.

Several consular officers were also present, although the Belgian Embassy has declined to comment on the case.

Many residents, who began moving into the condominium from January this year, went about their daily activities unaware of what had happened.

Mr Graffart's Facebook page showed a father and son who shared a loving relationship.

A post dated Aug 24 showed him taking his child to a fire station. He had posted then: "It is so good to finally see you, my son."

A few days later, Mr Graffart put up a picture showing him embracing Keryan at the Canadian International School. The boy, dressed in his school uniform, was pictured beaming widely.

Mr Graffart wrote: "I am very proud of you Keryan, you are a big boy now."

Another photograph and a video taken by Mr Graffart show his son celebrating his fifth birthday two weeks ago, playing with balloons and blowing out candles on his birthday cake.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 07, 2015, with the headline Man arrested after five-year-old son found dead in bedroom. Subscribe