Elderly man found dead in condo pool could have slipped while walking in downpour: Coroner

SINGAPORE - Distressed that a domestic helper had accused him of inappropriate behaviour, an elderly man went for a late night walk but was later found motionless in his condominium pool.

Retiree Benson Tay, 73, was pulled out of the water but a paramedic pronounced him dead at 3.12am on Sept 2 last year.

In findings released on Wednesday (April 13), Coroner Christopher Goh ruled Mr Tay's death a misadventure.

He said: "It was raining heavily, and the floor was wet. As the deceased had a lot on his mind, he may not have paid close attention to where he was walking.

"This, together with the fact that the area was dark, Mr Tay may have slipped on the wet surface and hit his head before falling into the swimming pool."

The coroner also said that nobody saw this happen and the incident was not captured by the condo's closed-circuit television camera system.

Details about the maid's allegations were not disclosed in the findings, and court documents also do not state if the claims were true.

Coroner Goh noted that Mr Tay was concerned. But there was no indication that he wanted to take his own life.

An investigation officer, who recorded a statement from Mr Tay a few days before the tragedy, also did not notice anything amiss.

Family members had assured him that he would have legal representation.

On Sept 1 last year, Mr Tay was at home in the Cascadia condominium in Bukit Timah when he said he wanted to go for a walk as he was feeling stressed. It was around 10.45pm then.

He declined his wife's offer to accompany him.

At around 2am, she told their daughter that Mr Tay was still not back.

As it was raining heavily, the women assumed that he could have sought shelter somewhere. They went down to look for him.

His wife then spotted a human shape in the swimming pool and saw that it was Mr Tay.

The two women managed to pull him out of the water but could not flip him over. His daughter then ran to the condo's security post to ask for help.

A security supervisor and his colleague rushed to the poolside but could not use an automated external defibrillator on Mr Tay as his body was wet.

Instead, they took turns to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him.

Police officers and an ambulance arrived at the scene soon after.

A paramedic pronounced Mr Tay dead at the scene and an autopsy later revealed that he had drowned. No foul play is suspected.