Man charged with killing wife, children pleads not guilty

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Tiang being led away after being indicted in the High Court yesterday.

SIBU: A man who allegedly killed his wife and two children on July 5 last year pleaded not guilty to all five felony charges referred against him at Sibu High Court yesterday.

When the nature of the charges were read and explained to him through an interpreter, Jacob Tiang Lee Yee, 44, pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Justice Supang Lian fixed March 24 for the case management.

Tiang is charged with killing his wife Ling Yung Ming, son Victor and daughter Christine, the attempted murder of his elder son Vincent, and attempted suicide.

The three murder charges are filed under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

All the offences allegedly took place at the accused’s residence in Pulau Li Hua between 6.20am and 9.50am on July 5 last year.

The attempted murder charge is filed under Section 307 of the Penal Code which provides for imprisonment up to 10 years, in this case 20 years, for causing hurt to Vincent while attempting to kill him.

He is charged with applying pressure to Vincent’s neck with a piece of bamboo and suffocated him with pillow with intention to cause death and thereby about to commit murder and under the aforesaid circumstances caused injury to Vincent.

The attempted suicide is framed under Section 309 of the Penal Code which provides for a jail term up to a year or fine, or both.

Tiang was charged with attempted suicide by hanging himself by the neck with a belt tied above the staircase.

The charges were filed by DPP Franklin Ganggan Bennet against Tiang who was unrepresented in court yesterday.

According to earlier press reports, Tiang allegedly committed the offences in his house at Pulau Li Hua on July 5 last year. His eldest son Vincent escaped and sought help at a neighbour’s house.

Tiang fled in a family car to Bintulu where he was arrested on the evening of the same day, during which police found a bottle of weedkiller and a water hose in the car.

The oil palm site-clearing contractor was said to have taken the family out for a lavish dinner the night before the alleged murder.

After dinner, he was said to have huddled his family members together in a room and gave each of them some sleeping pills before his attempted suicide.

Tiang was reported to be in debt of RM3.5 million.