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Adrian Lim Murders

In the early 1980s, the murders of two young children, Agnes Ng Siew Heok and Ghazali bin Marzuki, led to investigations that resulted in the capture of Singapore's most notorious muderers to date: Adrian Lim, his wife Catherine Tan Mui Choo, and his mistress Hoe Kah Hong. The trial turned out to be the second-longest murder trial in Singapore, lasting as it did for about eight weeks, and unveiling disturbing accounts of rites and rituals that were both cruel and perverse. The trio were ultimately sentenced to death and were hanged on 25 November 1988.

Background
The bodies of Agnes Ng Siew Heok and Ghazali bin Marzuki were found on 25 January 1981 and 7 February 1981 respectively, in similar locations at Toa Payoh Lorong 7. Agnes Ng was a 9 year old schoolgirl who attended the Holy Innocents Chinese Girls School, and was the youngest of nine children. Born to a Catholic family, she was last seen at the Church of Risen Christ in Toa Payoh, and her body was found in a bag at Block 11, Toa Payoh Lorong 7. She appeared to have died from suffocation, and there were also indications that she might have been sodomised and sexually abused.

Ghazali bin Marzuki was a 10 year old schoolboy from Henry Park Primary School, who had been playing in a playground with his cousins in Clementi when a lady (Hoe) approached them to request for help. Ghazali was selected and taken to Adrian Lim's flat in Toa Payoh in a taxi. He was found dead between blocks 10 and 11 of Toa Payoh Lorong 7, under a tree. Post-mortem autopsy revealed that he had been drowned, although signs of asphyxia were also present. There were also three burn marks on his back and a puncture on his arm.

Description
A bloody trail near Ghazali's body led police investigators to a flat in block 12, Toa Payoh Lorong 7, occupied by Adrian Lim, Catherine Tan Mui Choo and Hoe Kah Hong. The flat contained a bizarre juxtaposition of various religious items, including crucifixes, Hindu as well as Chinese idols, some of which were smeared with blood. Noticing blood stains on the kitchen floor, the three were taken in for questioning by the police.

Adrian Lim was a 39 year old who was unemployed and who professed to be a medium with powers to cure people's ailments. He would go into trances, often adopting different voices and speaking in a different language. He also performed tricks, and had convinced many of his clients to sleep with him, on the pretext of "cleansing" the evil in them, or simply through harnessing to his advantage their fears and insecurities.

Born on 6 January 1942, Lim was the eldest of three children, and attended Anglo-Chinese School, only to drop out after Secondary One. He started work as an Internal Security Department informer for a few months, and then was with the Rediffusion company for 14 years, working as a wireman and a bill collector. He had two children from his first marriage and was later introduced to a bomoh known as "Uncle Willie", who gave him lessons.

Adrian Lim met Catherine Tan Mui Choo in 1974, when she was introduced to him for 'treatment' by her friends from the night-club where she was working. Lim had such control over Tan that he even succeeded in persuading her to become a prostitute to support him. After his divorce with his first wife, Lim married Tan in 1977, but continued to take on other "holy wives" in the years that followed.

Catherine Tan Mui Choo was 26 years old, and the eldest of four children. She attended a few schools, such as CHIJ in Victoria Street, Macpherson Secondary School, and was also sent to the Marymount Vocational Centre. Generally depressive by nature, she was taken in by the attention Lim gave her, and stayed with him, despite his ill-treatment and many infidelities.

Hoe Kah Hong was brought to Adrian Lim's flat by her mother, who wanted her daughter to be treated of her bad-temper and constant headaches. Hoe was 25 years old, born on 10 September 1955, and worked as a factory worker in Hewlett Packard. Instrumental in bringing the children to Adrian Lim, Hoe was convinced of Lim's "powers", even though she also suffered at his hands, through the electric shocks he administered to her and Tan. Lim convinced Hoe that her husband, Benson Loh Ngak Hua (also known as "Ah Hua"), had cast evil spells on her. Loh was subsequently killed during one of the electrocution sessions on 7 January 1980, but his death was written off as an accident, given the testimony by Hoe that her husband was electrocuted while trying to switch on a faulty fan.

The Trial
The murders of Agnes Ng Siew Heok and Ghazali bin Marzuli had opened a complex case involving rituals of human sacrifice, drinking of human blood, as well as sexual perversion. During the days of the trial, crowds of people gathered outside the courts, and the proceedings were closely monitored and reported by the media.

Glenn Knight was the Deputy Public Prosecutor, while Howard Cashin, J. B. Jeyaretnam, and Nathan Isaac were the three defence counsels assigned by the High Court to defend Lim, Tan, and Hoe respectively. The case was heard before Justice T. S. Sinnathuray and Justice F. A. Chua, and a team of witnesses, including psychiatrists who had observed the accused, as well as other clients of Lim's, were called to the stand. On 23 May 1983, the three accused were sentenced to death. While Adrian Lim accepted the verdict, both Tan and Hoe appealed, on grounds of mental illness. Tan was represented by Francis Seow, and Hoe by Nathan Isaac again. In August 1986, their appeal was dismissed by Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin, Justice Lai Kew Chai and Justice L. P. Thean. Further appeals to the Privy Council of London did not succeed, and clemency from President Wee Kim Wee was also not approved.

On 25 November 1988, Adrian Lim, Catherine Tan Mui Choo, and Hoe Kah Hong were hanged at Changi prison and their bodies cremated at Mount Vernon Crematorium after a church service at the Church of the Holy Family in Katong.



Author
Rajendra Munoo 




References
John, A. (1989). Unholy trinity. Singapore: Times Books International.
(Call no.: RSING 364.1523095957 JOH) 

Kutty, N. G. (1989). Adrian Lim's beastly killings. Singapore: Aequitas Management Consultants.
(Call no.: RSING 364.1523095957 KUT)

Sit, Y. F. (1989). I confess. Singapore: Heinemann Asia.
(Call no.: RCLOS 364.1523095957 SIT)

Sit, Y. F. (1989). Was Adrian Lim mad? Singapore: Heinemann Asia.
(Call no.: RSING 345.5957067 SIT )

The information in this article is valid as at 1997 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history on the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Politics and Government>>Law
Murder--Singapore
Crime--Singapore
Singapore--History--1965-1990
Hanging--Singapore
People and communities>>Social problems>>Crimes and delinquency



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