S'porean Ram Tiwary acquitted of double murder

QX179R SG

SYDNEY: An appeals court in Australia has acquitted Singaporean Ram Puneet Tiwary, who was twice convicted of murdering his two flatmates in Sydney.

The 33 year old has spent more than eight years behind bars and will likely go free.

Tiwary was accused of murdering fellow Singaporeans Tay Chow Lyang and Tony Tan Poh Chuan, both aged 26, in 2003. The two were stabbed and clubbed to death with a baseball bat.

All three were studying at the University of New South Wales at the time.

Tiwary was convicted of both murders in 2006 and given a life sentence without parole.

He successfully appealed, but faced a retrial in 2009. He was again found guilty, and this time, handed a jail term of 48 years.

Tiwary has maintained his innocence, claiming he was asleep at the time of the brutal attacks.

But prosecutors said Tiwary killed his flatmates over money he owed in rent, said to be more than US$5,000.

The three-judge panel in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal on Thursday quashed both murder convictions and acquitted him on both counts.

The appeals court is expected to reveal the reasons for the acquittal at a later date.

- CNA/al

Army 21 SG

doesnt sound singaporean.

Army 21 SG

i think he was framed.no singaporean would kill another over $5k!thats only meant for sri lankans or vietnamese with little schooling.$5k is small money to any singaporean to even kill a cat for that amount!should look at tiwarys girlfriend and galfriends boyfriends as the likely source.

Jacky Woo SG

I seriously think this is a miscarriage of justice if he is the killer.

what a gross injustice to the victims and families.

Army 21 SG

I seriously think this is a miscarriage of justice if he is the killer.

what a gross injustice to the victims and families.

well tiwarys galfrend was a white.suppose if the white gals jilted boyfrend took revenge and framed tiwary which is very common in white society and aussie police are known to make big mistakes from terrorists to mistaken identity of a wheelbrake as a shotgun even.

all they ever need to do is to to throw a bloodied baseball bat at some foreign dude and possibly let him take the wrap.i should say DNA evidence in oz has been compromised as i watched tv on real life happenings in oz with their CSI units.a negro immigrant from africa a few years ago was blamed for a crime he did not commit as the dna from csi was compromised.

the only way,he could come clean is he approCH THE PARENTS OF DECEASED AND TELL THEM THE TRUTH.

Army 21 SG

DO U KNOW OF ANY EDUCATED SINGAPOREAN in spore who killed people over $5k???

i know of many aussie white people who would kill over a few thousand dollars only and even for the smallest reason.

TehJarVu SG

lynch him

Army 21 SG

the evidence so far:

Defence counsel Peter Doyle got Dr Friedman and, later, crime scene investigator Philip Elliott to concede that they would have expected to find DNA of both victims on the weapons.

Detectives suggest that the blood from Mr Tay, who was attacked first, was washed off the weapons before they were later used on Mr Tan.

But if the killer had the presence of mind to wash the bat and knife the first time, why did he not do the same after killing Mr Tan?

Crime scene investigator Christopher Clarke said there was no sign of blood being washed down the sinks in the flat. Justice Adams also pointed out there were no water marks on the weapons to suggest they had been washed.

Mr Doyle has suggested that the baseball bat and knife the police seized were not the murder weapons, at least not those used on Mr Tay.

If the jury agrees, it means there could be another murder weapon and killer still out there, which would greatly weaken the prosecution�s case.

Mr Doyle argued in his closing submissions that the absence of Mr Tay�s DNA on the accused was the �most striking feature of the crime scene�, and indicated his client was innocent.

The issue, and what Justice Adams calls the �clincher evidence�, is how the blood got onto Tiwary.

When police arrived at the apartment after the murders, several red specks were on Tiwary�s hands, feet, T-shirt and shorts. Only those on his hands were obvious to the naked eye.

The police say the other stains were too small for the accused to notice, hence he did not get rid of them. As for the blood on his hands, they claim Tiwary left it there to corroborate his story about checking Mr Tan�s pulse.

They say the blood got there when Tiwary atacked Mr Tan, but Tiwary claims he was checking Mr Tan for a pulse when his dying flatmate coughed blood out onto him.

Justice Adams says this was a �crucial and decisive� area that could swing the jury�s decision.

Blood splatter analysts could not agree on what the stains indicate. To Sgt Elliott, the blood spots were of �medium velocity� type or �impact splatter�, the pattern of stains created when the body is struck with force. The same kind of bloodstains were found on the wall behind where Mr Tan was assaulted, and on his feet. The police say this suggests two possibilities: Tiwary was the killer, or at the very least he was in �very close proximity� when the victim was struck.

If the jury concludes that it got there when Tiwary was trying to save his friend, or think there is sufficient doubt over how it got there, Tiwary will walk free.

Justice Adams says: 'Simply because they are mysterious issues does not mean they are not significant. They may be telling you that something went on here that we still don't know about.'

Army 21 SG

tiwary may be a rascal and a normal playful guy who was a sign on officer but i doubt he would kill over $ or even the condition of a bed as he hardly would do the housework kinda guys but i doubt he could do murder.

he isnt the only sign on regular officer who is a ranger tag or some almighty course,theres another sporean navy sword of honour officer who is about to be lynched by australian court on singapores national day next month over criminal activity in some australian defence barracks.

Army 21 SG

SYDNEY: The trial of Singaporean Ram Tiwary, who is accused of murdering two of his fellow countrymen in Sydney in 2003, is drawing to a close in the New South Wales Supreme Court.

Tiwary has pleaded not guilty to murdering his fellow flatmates, Tony Tan Poh Chuan and Tay Chow Lyang, who were all engineering students at the University of New South Wales.

In the final day before closing statements begin, the jury was told that the defendant tried to rub blood from around his fingernails while being questioned by police.

One of the police officers who met Tiwary on the day of the murder said he told him to stop trying to remove the blood from his hands, as they spoke outside the apartment where Mr Tan and Mr Tay had just been brutally beaten to death with a baseball bat.

Tiwary stopped the action but started doing it again as he was being driven to the police station to be interviewed. He was again ordered to refrain from rubbing the blood from around his nails and this time he complied.

The court also heard how a witness had reported seeing a car being driven at high speed in the suburb where the murder happened at around the time of the incident.

It wasn't a joyrider, the witness told police. The car was doing more than 100 kilometres an hour.

mancha SG

I think the police work is not up to mark.

Firstly they took nearly 6mts before they arrested and charged him.

And still can't firmly pin the killing on him.

They should know the standard of evidence required is high and there should be no reasonable doubt.

TehJarVu SG

Sept 15, 2003: Ram

Tiwary's flatmates, Mr Tay Chow Lyang, 26, and Mr Tony Tan Poh Chuan, 27, were found dead at the apartment in a Sydney suburb.

They had been beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed. Tiwary ran out of the house and called the police, telling them that he found his flatmates dead when he woke up. Police said then that he was not a suspect.

May 28, 2004: Tiwary was arrested by New South Wales police for the murder of his flatmates.

May 29, 2004: He appeared in court for the first time, and was refused bail.

Aug 4, 2004: Tiwary was hit with 11 more charges, including possessing child pornography, breaking into a university student dormitory and stealing a computer, making a false statement to obtain money and receiving stolen goods.

May 16, 2006: Tiwary's murder trial began; he pleaded not guilty.

June 21, 2006: He was found guilty of the murders by a jury.

Aug 5, 2006: Tiwary's lawyers filed a notice saying that he intended to appeal against the verdict.

Nov 7, 2006: Tiwary was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Dec 18, 2008: An Australian Court of Appeal upheld his appeal and ordered a re-trial.

Aug 31, 2009: Tiwary returned to court for the re-trial, pleading not guilty.

Oct 7, 2009: Tiwary was found guilty again by a jury.

Dec 18, 2009: He was sentenced to a maximum of 48 years in prison, to be backdated to 2004, when he was arrested. He appealed against the conviction.

July 26, 2012: Tiwary's convictions were overturned by a three-judge panel in the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal.

TehJarVu SG

i couldn't get pass sequence no. 1
two people died such a brutal death and he was in the house and he slept through it???

Jacky Woo SG

he has a streak of violence in him. it doesnt have to be money, anything can spur him to commit murder, esp when one is filled with anger, one is unable to think clearly and logically.

if you live with someone, you have to put up with their peculiarities and habits, which differs from one.

I dunno who is the killer, but if he is, it is a gross miscarriage of justice and a mockery of the justice system in Australia.

mancha SG

A white car was seen leaving the scene of the crime. Occupants unknown.

If Tiwari did not kill those two, he is innocent, then who did it.

If he did kill those two, it can't be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Poor police work.

Jacky Woo SG

A white car was seen leaving the scene of the crime. Occupants unknown.

If Tiwari did not kill those two, he is innocent, then who did it.

If he did kill those two, it can't be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Poor police work.

the police there dunno do what fark lar. convicted then acquited, what the fark is the courts in Australia doing?