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SINGAPORE – A semi-retired businessman who fatally stabbed his son-in-law in front of a lunchtime crowd three years ago was sentenced to eight and a half years in jail on Monday (September 21) in what Judge Dedar Singh Gill described it as “tragic”. case.
Tan Nam Seng, 72, was unhappy with the way the young man had treated his daughter and believed it was part of a tactic to cheat him in his business.
Tan had pleaded guilty last month to a reduced charge of wrongful death for stabbing Spencer Tuppani, 39, in the chest three times in front of a Telok Ayer Street cafeteria at around 1:20 p.m. on July 10, 2017.
CCTV footage reproduced in court showed Mr. Tuppani fleeing and collapsing in front of a restaurant on Boon Tat Street.
The older man was seen in the footage kicking Mr. Tuppani twice in the face and driving away passersby.
While waiting for the police to arrive, Tan called his daughter to tell her what he had done.
“I can’t sleep at night. I have. I have killed him. Don’t cry. I’m older. I’m not afraid (of) going to jail,” he told her.
Tan was originally charged with murder, but the charge was dropped after it was discovered that he had a major depressive disorder.
The Superior Court heard that he was unhappy with the way Mr. Tuppani had treated his daughter and believed it was part of a scheme to scam him out of his business.
His condition, which included “overwhelming musings and concerns about the well-being of his daughters,” affected his mental responsibility for his actions, according to a report from the Institute of Mental Health.
On Monday, Deputy Prosecutor Lim Jian Yi sought a 12-year jail sentence, saying that deterrence was needed against people taking matters into their own hands.
Defense attorney Wee Pan Lee asked for a sentence of seven and a half years in prison, arguing that Tan’s sentence should be no more than life in prison, given his life expectancy.
Tan founded TNS Shipping in 1974 and the business grew into several companies over the years.
His three daughters worked for the business, as did Tuppani, who married Tan’s oldest daughter, Shyller, in 2005.
Subsequently, the companies were consolidated into TNS Ocean Lines,
In 2016, the company was sold to a larger corporation and Mr. Tuppani was appointed CEO.
Mr. Tuppani, who proposed the deal, convinced his father-in-law and wife to allocate their shares to him to increase his stake in the company.
Tan received $ 450,000 from the sale of his shares, but was not satisfied with the amount, the court heard.
In early 2017, Tan discovered that Tuppani was having an affair with another woman, with whom he had two children.
The couple agreed to divorce, but they frequently fought over issues such as custody of their three children.
Tan discovered that Mr. Tuppani was recording the arguments and suspected that he planned to use the recordings in divorce proceedings.
After Tan’s youngest daughter Sherry was suspended from the company on July 4, 2017, he believed that Tuppani planned to scam him out of his business by divorcing Shyller Tan after taking control of all of his shares.
On July 10, 2017, Tan was on his way to Cecil Court’s office when he saw Mr. Tuppani on Telok Ayer Street. When he got to his office, Tan went to the pantry to get a knife and then headed to the cafeteria.
He told Mr. Tuppani “you are too much” in Hokkien before pulling the knife out of his bag and stabbing the young man.
After Mr. Tuppani collapsed on Boon Tat Street, Tan told passers-by: “This is my son-in-law, don’t help him, let him die.”
He then placed the bloody knife on a table next to him and calmly sat down in a nearby chair.
When Ms. Shyller Tan cried on the phone after hearing what she had done, he told her, “What is done cannot be undone.”
The maximum penalty for wrongful death is life imprisonment and spanking. Tan cannot be whipped because he is over 50 years old.
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