Farmer charged with murder over fatal shooting of 3 at Johor restaurant

KOTA TINGGI – A 71-year-old farmer has been charged at a Magistrate’s Court in Kota Tinggi over a triple murder on April 19 involving two men and a woman.

Lim Lian nodded to indicate that he understood the charges when they were read to him in Mandarin before Magistrate Nurkhalida Farhana Abu Bakar on April 27.

However, no plea was recorded, as murder cases are under the purview of the High Court.

Earlier in the day, the accused arrived at the court complex at about 9.15am under police escort from the Kota Tinggi district police headquarters.

According to the charge sheets, Lim is accused of murdering two Malaysian men, Mr Wong Poh Soon, 61, and Mr Chen Kwai Hwa, 64, as well as a foreign woman, Ms Tran Thi Trang, 37.

He allegedly committed the offence at a restaurant, Kedai Chan Fong Moi, in Jalan Delima in Taman Kota Jaya at about 1.30pm on April 19.

He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment of up to 40 years and a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane upon conviction.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Eizlan Azhar prosecuted the case while lawyer Belinda Low represented the accused.

DPP Eizlan asked the court to set a mention date within two weeks to allow the prosecution to obtain consent to transfer the case to the High Court.

No bail was offered as the charge is a non-bailable offence.

The court fixed May 13 for the case mention pending the transfer of the matter to the High Court.

It was previously reported that the three victims died after being shot with a Benelli M/super shotgun. Investigators believe a debt of about RM50,000 (S$16,120) may have been the motive behind the shooting.

The suspect was arrested about 200m from the scene shortly after the incident and was remanded for seven days before being charged.

The police had also confirmed that the accused possessed a valid firearm licence. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK