Oct 14, 2006
The Straits Times
MR HUI Soon Fook broke down in tears in a New Jersey court
yesterday as he remembered his murdered wife's final hours - and
his broken friendship with the man now on trial for killing
her.
Mr Hui took the stand on the second day of the trial of Singaporean
Teo Sheng Kwee, who faces a maximum of life imprisonment for
killing Ms Tan Nee Nee.
Teo confessed to beating and strangling 35-year-old Ms Tan to death
in her home on Nov 11, 2004.
In the county court of Middlesex, the area where he and Ms Tan
lived, Mr Hui yesterday told the jury that the two men's close
friendship had been strained by Teo's gambling habit and constant
requests for money.
The two old school friends had shared an apartment in New York for
two years when Teo moved to the United States in 1992. Mr Hui also
gave Teo his first job, as a runner in his restaurant, and took
care of him when he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2001.
Under the direction of the county's assistant prosecutor Christie
Bevacqua, Mr Hui testified that Teo had moved to New York to
'escape his gambling debts'.
'He wanted to settle down with a new life, start everything fresh,'
he said.
But he said that a few years after moving to the US, Teo stopped
coming to work and started gambling heavily on sports and
horse-racing.
'He started asking me for money,' he said. Mr Hui, who now owns
three thriving eateries, said he helped him because they were
childhood friends. But he finally cut Teo off in 2003 after he
bought a home with Ms Tan whom he married in 2000. They were
planning to come to Singapore for a traditional wedding in
end-2004.
It is not clear if Teo had been in debt at the time of the murder,
but in his confession he told police he had gone to Mr Hui and Ms
Tan's house that night to borrow money to pay for his medical
expenses.
Mr Hui broke down when asked about his wife's last day.
'The day started like every day,' he said. 'We had breakfast, and
left for work together.'
Mr Hui said his wife had asked him in the morning to go with her to
a town meeting in the evening, but he had already made plans to
entertain a friend at his restaurant.
He last spoke to her at 10.30pm, when he called to say he would be
home soon.
'Everything seemed fine. She told me she bought me some maple
syrup. She was a bit upset that I missed the meeting, so she asked
me to buy her a lottery ticket on my way home.
'That always made her happy,' said Mr Hui, in between tears.
He arrived home around midnight and said he was surprised to find
his wife's Lexus missing from the driveway. But surprise turned to
panic when he saw smoke coming out of the garage.
He ran into the house, yelling for his wife. When he couldn't find
her, he called the police.
It was only after the police arrived and searched the house that Mr
Hui saw her body, covered with a bedsheet, on the floor of their
kitchen.
'I put my hands on her face and tried to wake her. She was still so
warm, but she wasn't breathing.'
The trial continues on Monday
