His friend had been close to his family and had interacted warmly with his three young children and bought them toys.

But last Friday, 35-year-old Mr Lim, who declined to give his full name, not only found out that his friend had died, but also that his friend had allegedly broken into his flat and stolen $7,000 worth of items before his death.

The 25-year-old man is believed to have fallen from the eighth storey of a Housing Board block early that morning after a housebreaking through a kitchen window.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force was alerted to a call for assistance at Yishun Street 51 at 6.07am that day. The police were alerted at 7.27am after the man was pronounced dead at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

The police are investigating the unnatural death.

As the incident happened early in the morning, many residents said they did not hear anything unusual.

The man was believed to be leaving the flat with the loot through the kitchen window when he fell.

He was said to have had a cardiac arrest.

The Straits Times visited the block yesterday and noticed that Mr Lim's kitchen window was located between an air-conditioner ledge and the corridor parapet.

Mr Lim, a sales manager, told The Straits Times yesterday that he had not locked the grills on his kitchen windows on Thursday night.

He said the police had gone to his flat on Friday morning to ask if any of his belongings were missing. That was when he realised that his gold chain with an amulet and mobile phone were missing.

He only found out about the death of his friend later that day.

Mr Lim, who expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased, said his friend had recently started contacting him more often.

The friend had told Mr Lim that he was a student at a private university and had recently got a job near Mr Lim's flat.

He visited Mr Lim four or five times in the last two months, and played with his children.

But Mr Lim said there were instances when he noticed money missing from his wallet after the man's visits. He then began to distance himself from the friend, according to Shin Min Daily News.

The night before the incident, the man went to Mr Lim's flat to give him several bottles of wine. Mr Lim was not at home. His wife accepted the gift.

The next day at around 3am, the man texted Mr Lim to ask if he had drunk the wine, but Mr Lim did not see the text.

Since the incident, Mr Lim has been diligent in ensuring that his doors and windows are locked at night.

He has also warned others to be careful and to lock their doors and windows.

Neighbours told The Straits Times that they were not concerned about safety issues as their kitchen windows were not located like that of Mr Lim's.