NSF pleads guilty to fatal stabbing on woman in Woodlands in 2010

Soh Wee Kian was led to the second floor of the multi-storey carpark at Woodlands Drive, overlooking the path near where Madam Hoe Hong Lin’s body was found. Soh pleaded guilty to one count of culpable homicide for killing the mother of two. -- NP
Soh Wee Kian was led to the second floor of the multi-storey carpark at Woodlands Drive, overlooking the path near where Madam Hoe Hong Lin’s body was found. Soh pleaded guilty to one count of culpable homicide for killing the mother of two. -- NP FILE PHOTO: JONATHAN CHOO

A full-time national serviceman who knifed four women in a span of nine months in the northern part of Singapore in 2010, killing one of them, was convicted in the High Court on Tuesday.

Soh Wee Kian, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of culpable homicide for killing mother of two Hoe Hong Lin, 32, in Woodlands, as well as one count of causing grievous hurt with a weapon for stabbing Ms How Poh Ling, 28, in Sembawang.

The court heard that Soh would wander around HDB blocks, with a glove and a knife in his pockets, looking for women with long hair and wearing short skirts. He would follow them and fantasise about stabbing them in the back and touching their breasts and kissing them.

Soh originally faced a murder charge for Madam Hoe's killing but escaped the gallows after his lawyers made written representations to the prosecution to reduce the charge to culpable homicide. He is expected to be sentenced on Thursday and faces either life imprisonment and caning, or up to 20 years' jail and a fine or caning. Two other charges, for slashing Ms Ooi Li Li and Ms Lam Hui Lin, will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

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