More murders this year

THERE were 28 murder cases, involving 31 deaths, in the first five months of this year, compared to 24 cases and 27 deaths in the same period last year. The latest figures, released by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday, work out to an average of more than one person killed a week, from January until now.

But this need not be an indication of any worsening of the law and order situation here, the CID said.

At a press conference yesterday the head of the CID's Special Investigation Section, ASP Wong Choon Mann said that murders reported recently should not cause alarm.

He said: "The cases reported so far were not related to one another.

"There are also no serial murderers on the loose."

He added that 14 of the 28 cases this year had been solved with the arrest of the suspects behind the cases.

Police are also close to arresting people involved in six other cases, in which the suspects are on the run.

The police, he said, were giving the update on the killings because the CID had received feedback that people were concerned about the murder situation.

The statistics were presented according to the motives behind the murders.

Sudden fights accounted for eight murders -- the biggest proportion -- of the cases.

This was followed by seven cases in which the victims were robbed and killed.

Robbery was the motive in two of the three cases of double murders this year.

Dispute over money matters was the reason behind four murders.

About half of the 31 murder victims were foreigners. Thais, with seven victims, formed the biggest proportion.

Malaysians accounted for the next biggest proportion, with three victims.

In terms of trends, what appeared significant about the latest figures was that crimes of passion accounted for only a tenth of the cases.

In the past two years, such killings accounted for about half of all murders.

Crimes of passion are not premeditated or cold-blooded murders because these are committed on the spur of the moment, when the culprit loses his senses suddenly.

Only one murder was linked to secret society activities.

It happened on May 4 at a Upper Bukit Timah coffee-shop.

Published in the Straits Times. June 12, 1998