A 49-year-old former property agent was executed on 16 Apr 2025 at Changi Prison Complex for murdering his pregnant wife and four-year-old daughter in 2017, the Singapore Prison Service confirmed.
Teo Ghim Heng killed his wife Choong Pei Shan, 39, who was six months pregnant, and their daughter Zi Ning in their Woodlands flat on 20 Jan 2017, before burning their bodies a week later.
The Singapore Police Force stated that Teo “was accorded full due process under the law, and was represented by legal counsel both at the trial and at the appeal.”
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His clemency petitions to the President were unsuccessful.
The police noted that capital punishment is imposed only for the most serious crimes in Singapore, including murder.
Financial Troubles and the Double Murder in Woodlands Flat
Teo was once a successful property agent from 2011 to 2013, earning between S$10,000 to S$15,000 monthly during the property market boom. His income dropped drastically in 2015 due to a market downturn.
By late 2016, Teo had taken a job as a sales coordinator at a renovation company. Despite his reduced income, the family’s expenses remained unchanged, partly due to Teo’s gambling habit.
By the end of 2016, Teo had accumulated debts of approximately S$120,000. He listed their Woodlands flat for sale and made plans to sell his car.
On 18 Jan 2017, the couple argued over the family’s finances. During this quarrel, Teo brought up an extramarital affair Madam Choong had in 2014.
Two days later, on 20 Jan 2017, Teo decided not to send Zi Ning to school as her fees were overdue.
When Madam Choong discovered this, she berated him and called him “useless” during an argument in their master bedroom.
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Teo strangled his wife with a bath towel before using his bare hands to make sure she was dead when he realised she was still breathing faintly. He then strangled his daughter in the same manner.
Aftermath and Court Proceedings in the Woodlands Murder Case
After the murders, Teo slept on the same bed as the bodies for one week with the air-conditioner turned on to delay decomposition.
He later set the bodies on fire and claimed he had tried to kill himself in the blaze but stopped when he found the heat unbearable. He also bought air fresheners to mask the smell of burning and decomposition.
The deaths were discovered on 28 Jan 2017, the first day of Chinese New Year, after Madam Choong’s family grew suspicious of their absence and called the police.
In November 2020, the High Court convicted Teo of two counts of murder and he was sentenced to hang. A third charge of killing his unborn son was withdrawn by the prosecution.
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In his defence, Teo argued he was suffering from depression, which diminished his responsibility, and requested to be convicted of culpable homicide instead.
The judge rejected the defence’s arguments that Teo had been provoked and lost control after his wife berated him.
The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal in February 2022, noting that Teo had covered up his tracks after the murders.
He lied that he and Madam Choong had earlier made a suicide pact and even fabricated suicide notes, lying to relatives about the family’s absence from Chinese New Year festivities.
The apex court found that Teo did not qualify for a diagnosis of major depressive disorder and could not avail himself of the defence.
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