Cover image via China Press
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The Shah Alam High Court has sentenced a man to death after finding him guilty of murdering his girlfriend's parents and her two young nephews in the 2017 Tanjung Sepat case
Kang Chang Heng, 46, who is deaf, was also convicted of voluntarily causing hurt to an 11-year-old boy with a knife during the same incident. For that charge, he received nine years in prison, backdated to his arrest on 13 December 2017.
Judicial Commissioner Suriyati Hasimah delivered the verdict today, 24 November, after hearing closing submissions from both prosecution and defence earlier this month.
She ruled that all five charges against Kang had been proven, reported China Press.
According to the four murder charges, Kang killed pig farmer Chia Tee Nang, 73, his wife Lim Mai Shak, 68, and their two grandsons
The grandsons were Chia Zeng Xi, aged 9, and 3-year-old Chia Yuan Bin.
The crime was committed between 4am and 5am at their home on Jalan Tepi Laut, Tanjung Sepat, on 13 December 2017.
The charges fall under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
Kang was also charged under Section 324 of the Penal Code for injuring an 11-year-old boy, another nephew of his girlfriend, who managed to escape and later became the prosecution's first witness.
At the time of the murders, Kang was in a relationship with the victims' youngest daughter, Chia Hui Lin, with whom he shared a daughter
The woman, who is also deaf, testified as the 22nd prosecution witness during the trial.
This case saw a major turn in 2022, when Kang was acquitted and discharged after the High Court found that the prosecution had not established a prima facie case.
However, in September 2024, a three-judge Court of Appeal panel overturned that decision, ruling that a prima facie case did exist for all five charges.
The matter was sent back to the High Court, where Kang was ordered to enter his defence.
Kang gave sworn evidence from the witness stand on 30 September this year.
As he is deaf, a sign language interpreter was appointed to translate questions from both sides and convey his responses in Bahasa Melayu.
With today's ruling, Kang now faces the mandatory death penalty for the four murder convictions, while the nine-year sentence for causing hurt runs from the date of his arrest.
