Briton McCrae pleads guilty to culpable homicide /video
By Rita Zahara, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : Briton Michael McCrae has been convicted of killing two
people at Pinewood Gardens in Balmoral Park four years ago.
He pleaded guilty to killing his driver, 46-year-old Kho Nai Guan,
and the driver's girlfriend, 29-year-old Chinese national Lan Ya
Ming, in his apartment in January 2002.
The court proceeded on two counts of culpable homicide not
amounting to murder, and one of disposing of evidence.
A fourth charge, also on disposing of evidence, was taken into
consideration.
Court proceedings took off with a bump.
Although 48-year-old Michael McCrae pleaded guilty to the three
charges, he objected to two lines in the statement of facts read
out to him: that he stamped on Lan Ya Ming's head while she was
lying on the bed, and that he told a third party he had to
"silence" Lan, as she had witnessed the incident.
Justice Choo Han Teck said he could not proceed with the plea of
guilt, neither could he ask the prosecution to delete those lines
or request McCrae to admit to the statement of facts.
After consulting his defence lawyer, McCrae changed his mind and
admitted to the statement of facts in its totality.
McCrae seems to have lost a lot of weight; according to his lawyer,
he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
McCrae was also hospitalised over the weekend for a hip injury
because of a fall due to the strong dosage of medication that he
had been taking.
McCrae's lawyer Kelvin Lim said, "He was discharged this morning
and I think he is going back again for observation. He's fine; he
looks okay but he feels weak and dizzy."
The bodies of the victims were found in a car on the seventh floor
of the Orchard Towers parking lot six days after they were
killed.
Autopsy reports showed that Kho had died of strangulation, while
Lan was smothered to death.
McCrae and Kho got into a fight after Kho passed a harsh remark at
McCrae's girlfriend.
During the fight, McCrae, putting his right arm around Kho's neck
and, holding him in an arm-lock from behind, punched his face till
he became motionless.
Audrey Ong, McCrae's former secretary and girlfriend, was convicted
in February 2003 of helping to dispose of the bodies and is serving
a 12-year jail term.
The case has been adjourned to Thursday, when Justice Choo is
expected to pass sentence.
McCrae faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail for the
culpable homicide charges, and a maximum of seven years for getting
rid of evidence related to the murders. - CNA /ct
