A 43-year-old Vietnamese Singapore permanent resident, Nguyen Ngoc Giau, is standing trial for the alleged murder of her landlord-turned-boyfriend, 51-year-old jewellery assembler Cho Wang Keung, at Block 562 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3.
The High Court heard on 8 Apr 2025 that what began as a tenant-landlord relationship in July 2020 turned romantic by October that year, only to end in a fatal stabbing on 15 Jul 2021.
She has denied the murder charge.
Deteriorating Relationship Led to Fatal Confrontation at Ang Mo Kio Flat
Nguyen initially rented a room in Mr Cho’s three-room flat and slept in the living room before eventually sharing a bedroom with him.
Another tenant, Mr Tan Cheng Mun, who knew Mr Cho through the jewellery industry, occupied a separate bedroom.
According to the prosecution, Mr Cho wanted to break up with Nguyen and evict her from the flat. On 14 Jul 2021, Nguyen made over 30 calls to Mr Cho, who had blocked her number.
She reportedly consumed about 10 cans of beer that day and at one point sharpened a kitchen knife.
When Mr Cho and Mr Tan returned to the flat after midnight on 15 Jul 2021, Nguyen confronted them at the common corridor. A video played in court showed Nguyen asking Mr Cho in Mandarin where he had gone drinking.
As the confrontation escalated, Mr Cho asked Mr Tan to call the police. Nguyen then retrieved the knife she had sharpened earlier and attacked Mr Cho.
When she noticed Mr Tan taking photos of the assault, she reportedly turned her attention toward him, but he fled down the stairs.
After stabbing Mr Cho multiple times in the neck, chest, and back, Nguyen turned the knife on herself, suffering multiple stab wounds to her stomach.
Police arriving at the scene found both Mr Cho and Nguyen covered in blood along the common corridor. Body-worn camera footage showed Mr Cho telling a police officer that Nguyen had stabbed him.
Mr Cho was pronounced dead at about 7:15am at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
“Break-up Fee” and History of Violent Disputes Revealed in Court Testimony
According to Mr Tan’s testimony, Nguyen began suspecting in August 2020 that Mr Cho was having relationships with other women, leading to frequent arguments.
Mr Tan testified that on the night of the attack, he and Mr Cho were drinking at a coffee shop in Bishan where Mr Cho mentioned trying to end his relationship with Nguyen, who had demanded a $5,000 “break-up fee.”
During cross-examination by Nguyen’s assigned lawyer Favian Kang, Mr Tan revealed that Mr Cho was married to another Vietnamese woman with whom he had a daughter.
The wife moved out in June 2020 following numerous arguments that sometimes involved police intervention.
Mr Tan confirmed that Mr Cho and Nguyen often quarrelled, with their arguments sometimes escalating into physical fights.
He acknowledged that two to three months before the fatal attack, both Mr Cho and Nguyen were arrested for fighting at the void deck.
Defense lawyer Mr Kang played CCTV footage from 12 Jul 2021, showing Nguyen giving Mr Cho a kiss while his friends were at the flat.
Mr Kang also questioned Mr Tan about footage captured minutes before the stabbing, where Mr Tan could be heard calling the police and using a Cantonese vulgarity to describe Nguyen.
Nguyen was heard shouting “I love you” to Mr Cho and telling Mr Tan that the flat was not his home.
When Mr Kang suggested that Mr Tan was contributing to the couple’s dispute, Mr Tan replied: “Yes, a bit.”
A psychiatric report indicated that Nguyen clearly had an alcohol use disorder and was likely in a state of acute alcohol intoxication at the time of the incident.
If convicted of murder, Nguyen faces life imprisonment or the death penalty. The trial is ongoing.
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