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SINGAPORE – A 72-year-old man who stabbed and killed his son-in-law was sentenced to eight and a half years in jail on Monday (September 21) by the High Court.
Tan Nam Seng pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge after he stabbed Spencer Tuppani, 38, with a knife three times in broad daylight during lunchtime on Telok Ayer Street on July 10, 2017 with the intention of killing him.
Tuppani had taken over the family business and fathered two children with a mistress.
In passing the sentence, Judge Dedar Singh Gill said that for a “sensible person it was a cruel and blatant murder in broad daylight of an unsuspecting victim.”
Judge Gill noted that psychiatric reports showed Tan was suffering from clinical depression and experiencing a major depressive episode that significantly affected his mental responsibility for the act.
While Tan’s health weighed heavily on his mind, he considered that Tan’s risk of recidivism would likely be low if his psychiatric condition was treated and he was in remission.
However, there was also clear psychiatric evidence that Tan had an intact understanding of the nature and consequences of his action. The fact that the homicide took place in full public view was also an aggravating factor.
The prosecution had sought a 12-year jail term, while Tan’s lawyers were seeking a sentence of seven and a half years.
Facts of the case
One of Tan’s attorneys, Wee Pan Lee, exposed the crimes that led his client to believe that Tuppani had betrayed his trust in an attempt to take over the family business and gain custody of his three children with his first daughter. Tuppani.
In addition to having three daughters with his first wife, Tan has a second family with a son and daughter.
With only a primary education, Tan founded TNS Shipping in 1974. At its peak, the company employed more than 1,000 employees. Later she also employed her daughters.
In 2005, Tuppani married Tan’s eldest daughter, Shyller, and began working for TNS Logistics.
Around 2008 or 2009, the TNS group of companies was consolidated into TNS Ocean Lines, of which Tan was president. Shyller was the company’s chief commercial officer, while Tuppani was a director overseeing business expansion, as well as sales and marketing.
However, the marriage began to unravel in 2013 when Shyller discovered that her husband was involved in a “series of extramarital affairs,” Wee said. Tuppani had used company money to finance her lavish lifestyle of luxury cars and watches and to support her lovers.
Shyller and Tuppani fixed their relationship. However, when Shyller conceived a fourth child in 2015, Tuppani forced her to have an abortion.
The following year, Shyller discovered that Tuppani had purchased a property without her knowledge and was supporting another woman with whom he had two children through in vitro fertilization. The following year, Tuppani moved out of the house he shared with Tan and Shyller.
A feeling of betrayal
In 2016, Tuppani suggested to shareholders that the company be sold to a larger company, GKE Corporation. Tan was thinking of retiring and left the sale to Tuppani.
In November 2016, prior to the sale, Tuppani convinced Tan and Shyller to transfer their shares to him to increase their stake in TNS Ocean Lines, so that GKE Corporation would not have control of the sale.
The sale took place the following month and Tuppani became the CEO of the new company. Although he expected $ 1 million, he only received $ 450,000 from the sale of his shares. He did not confront his son-in-law because he wanted to keep the peace.
Meanwhile, her other daughter, Sherry, was suspended from her position as human resources manager at the company on July 4, 2017 after arguing with Tuppani’s personal assistant.
Tan was concerned that Tuppani would remove Shyller from the company as part of a plan to steal his business.
The events led to Tan “feeling lousy and miserable” and “ruminated excessively” about Tuppani’s actions and was unable to sleep at night, according to Wee.
Wee said: “Tan and (Tuppani) had a good relationship. He was not only his father-in-law, but his mentor and guided and uplifted him, treated him almost as if he were his own son, sheltering (Tuppani’s) mother in her own home ”.
“Given the trust and faith placed in (Tuppani), it was even more devastating that the whole thing was a sham and he was about to be betrayed,” he added.
Tan had reluctantly accepted that Shyller and (Tuppani) were going to get divorced. Having been through a divorce, Tan could feel empathy, Wee said, but Tan did not expect to be betrayed by the divorce process and his own actions in the company.
The day of the slaughter
Tan had agreed to meet with Tuppani to discuss Sherry’s suspension. Tuppani agreed, but later canceled the meeting due to other business matters. Since Tuppani was unable to arrange another meeting, Tan felt that his son-in-law was avoiding him and disrespecting him.
On July 10, 2017, Tan was driving to the company’s Cecil Court office around lunchtime when he spotted Tuppani having dinner with three friends at a coffee shop at 121 Telok Ayer Street. Tan decided to confront him.
She hid a knife from her office pantry in her purse and walked over to Tuppani. The two had a brief conversation before Tan stabbed the latter in her chest three times. Tuppani ran onto Boon Tat Street, where he collapsed in front of a restaurant, A Poke Theory, while two of his friends called the police.
Tan followed him and prevented anyone from helping him. He kicked Tuppani twice in the face before sitting in a nearby chair to wait for the police. He then called Shyller to tell him about the incident.
Paramedics found Tuppani unconscious in a pool of blood. He was sent to the hospital where he was pronounced dead around 2:15 p.m.
Wee told the court that his client had experienced a number of serious health problems since he was incarcerated in July 2017.
He contracted tuberculosis, suffered two heart attacks, and underwent coronary bypass surgery in addition to other problems. These should be taken into account when calibrating the correct sentence, Wee noted.
The punishment for wrongful death is life imprisonment or a prison term of up to 20 years along with a fine and flogging. Since Tan is over 50 years old, he cannot be beaten.
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