Singapore executes man for 2017 murder of pregnant wife and daughter

Teo Ghim Heng, who strangled his pregnant wife and four-year-old daughter in 2017 before burning their bodies, was executed on 16 April 2025 after exhausting all legal avenues. His clemency pleas were rejected and his conviction upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2022.

Teo Ghim Heng, who was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and their four-year-old daughter in 2017, was executed on 16 April 2025.

The Singapore Prison Service confirmed that Teo’s death sentence was carried out at Changi Prison Complex.

In a news release on the same day, the police stated: “He was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel both at the trial and at the appeal. His petitions to the President for clemency were unsuccessful.”

Authorities reiterated that the death penalty is reserved for the most serious offences, including murder.

Teo, 49, was sentenced to death by the High Court in November 2020.

His appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in February 2022.

He had argued during his trial that he was suffering from depression, reducing his responsibility for the crimes. He sought to have his conviction reduced to culpable homicide.

However, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s findings that Teo did not meet the criteria for major depressive disorder and was fully responsible for his actions.

The murders took place on 20 January 2017, inside the family’s flat in Woodlands.

Teo strangled Choong Pei Shan, 39, a housewife who was six months pregnant, using a bath towel and later his bare hands. He then killed their daughter, Zi Ning, in the same manner.

The court heard that on the morning of the murders, Teo decided not to send Zi Ning to school because her fees were unpaid.

When Choong confronted him, she scolded him for being useless. During their argument, Teo also brought up her past extramarital affair.

After killing them, he stayed in the flat for a week with the bodies, using the air-conditioner to delay decomposition.

He later set the bodies on fire. Though he claimed he intended to kill himself, he abandoned the attempt, saying it was too hot.

The crime was uncovered on 28 January 2017, the first day of Chinese New Year, after Choong’s family alerted police.

Teo and Choong had married in 2009. He was previously a successful property agent, but his income declined in 2015 following a downturn in the market.

In 2016, he began working as a sales coordinator at a renovation firm, but mounting expenses and gambling debts—estimated at S$120,000—forced him to list their flat for sale.

The High Court convicted Teo of two counts of murder. A third charge relating to the death of the unborn child was withdrawn.

The court rejected his defence that he had been provoked and lost control.

The Court of Appeal, in dismissing the appeal, highlighted that Teo tried to cover up the crime by buying air fresheners, fabricating suicide notes, and deceiving relatives.

He had claimed that he and Choong had a suicide pact, which the court found to be false.

Source: theonlinecitizen.com, Yee Loon, April 16, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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