Federal Court affirms death penalties for couple convicted of murdering cook over debt

The Federal Court, chaired by Chief Judge Azizah Nawawi and joined by Justices Rhodzariah Bujang and Collin Lawrence Sequerah, unanimously rejected the final appeals of Seow Pei Chie and Cheung Chai Ming, maintaining their death sentences. The couple, both 44, were convicted of killing Heng Heow Lin, a 38-year-old cook who had borrowed RM800 and was subsequently abused and forced into prostitution with her teenage daughter.

Heng was strangled with a red cloth, her body stuffed into a suitcase, and dumped on Jalan Aman in Sibu, where it was discovered on the morning of 6 October 2020. The High Court sentenced them to death in July 2023, and the Court of Appeal affirmed the verdict in March. In delivering the judgment, Justice Sequerah emphasized the victim's vulnerability and the aggravating circumstances that outweighed any mitigating factors, noting that courts may still impose death or life imprisonment after the 2023 legislative change. Deputy public prosecutor Allan Suman Pillai led the prosecution, while Jong Yee Ling and Candida Entri defended the accused.