A murderer, who killed her ex-boyfriend’s wife and hurt his mother and son last year at Pat Tat Sun Chuen estate, has been jailed by the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) for 24 years, according to a statement by the court last week.
According to the statement, “A”, a mainlander, was dating “B” in 2011 until they split up in 2012. The statement said that “A” believed that “B” had been secretly poisoning her while they were dating, which was the purported cause of her decline in health. However, the statement added that “B” denied the accusation, but “A” insisted that “B” had been mistreating her in the relationship. The statement underlined that since the break-up “A” had been planning to take revenge on “B” by killing his family.
The statement noted that on January 14 last year, “A” decided to take action, underlining that her plan involved killing more than one person. The statement said that she brought two awls (a small pointed tool used for piercing holes, especially in leather) and a pocket knife inside a backpack when she came Macau from the mainland on January 19 last year. The statement pointed out that on the way to her ex-boyfriend’s flat, she bought chilli powder, a long knife with a black handle and other items. The statement said she then waited outside the front door of the ex’s flat.
The statement pointed out that when “B’s” mother returned to the flat, “A” snuck in, adding that after discovering that her ex-boyfriend was not at home, she started to talk to the family in a “friendly” way. The statement said that when “B” saw that everyone’s guards were down, she pulled out the long knife and the awls and attacked “B’s” wife, mother and son. The statement said that after the attack, the wife died at the scene while the mother and son were severely injured.
The statement noted that the Court of First Instance (TJB) charged “A” with aggravated homicide, possessing a banned weapon and failed aggravated homicide, which led to 24 years of imprisonment. The statement said that “A” was unhappy with the length of the penalty and appealed to the Court of Second Instance (TSI), which turned down the appeal, therefore she appealed to the Court of Final Appeal. The statement pointed out that “A” claimed she was delusional and had mental problems, so she should not be “harshly penalised”.
The Court of Final Appeal said that “A” had been holding grudges over something that had never happened, the motive was based on a false accusation, and her revenge scheme was carefully planned for more than 24 hours. The statement said that “A” did not just decide to put the plan in action by preparing lethal weapons and items at the scene, she also considered the difficulty of executing the plan. The statement pointed out that “A” wore down the family’s guard by appearing to be “friendly”, stressing that she then immediately used sharp tools to attack the victims’ bodies, stabbing them repeatedly in the chest, neck, stomach and other vital parts. As a result, the statement said that the victims are either severely injured or dead. The statement underlined that “A” even hurt a 5-year-old boy, who was not able to defend himself.
According to the statement, all the evidence showed that “A” had committed a serious crime and the court could not see a reason why “A” deserved to have her sentence reduced. Moreover, “A” claimed that she was delusional and suffered from mental illness which led to the event, but the court said in the statement that it was not a valid reason to reduce the culpability of her criminal act. The statement said that according to the Macau Penal Code’s Article 40 “Purposes of penalties and security measures”, Article 65 “Determination of penalty measures” and Article 70 “Aggravation”, as well as considering “A’s” personality, motive, crime and method of killing, the TUI’s panel of judges decided that the punishment was not “too harsh”
As a result, since “A’s” evidence did not constitute mitigating circumstances, the court decided to keep the lower court’s judgement unchanged and therefore put her behind bars for 24 years.
In exceptional circumstances, the maximum prison term amounts to 30 years in Macau. Capital punishment, life imprisonment and indefinite detention are prohibited by law.
