Rolex watch murder

Professor Chao Tzee Cheng, the forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy on Poh, testified that he found extensive fractures on the left side of Poh's skull. The longest crack on her head measured about 13 cm long. He said that these fractures were fatal and that even if she had received medical help at the scene, doctors would not have been able to revive her. He said these fractures could be inflicted by a blunt instrument and from behind, taking the victim by surprise. Professor Chao said he found slash wounds on her wrists, which might have been inflicted to ensure that Poh would die even if the skull fractures did not kill her; in fact, she was already dead by the time her wrists were cut.[6]

The prosecution, in their case, presented that Jonaris had in fact premeditated the murder and wanted to kill Poh to rob her of her Rolex watch in order to give it as a birthday present to Saifon. It was revealed in court that Jonaris first met Poh on 18 April 1998, and having seen her wearing a Rolex watch, he decided to rob her, and thus on 19 April, the day before the killing, Jonaris telephoned Poh and arranged to meet her early in the morning the next day for a photoshoot, requiring her services. In the phone call, Jonaris introduced himself as "Nigel", which Poh and Lee misheard as "Lai Joe" (which ironically, and indirectly linked him to his "Liar Joe" nickname and led to his capture).

On the day of the murder, at around 6.30 am, Poh arrived at the Marina South bus stop, opposite the Superbowl Golf and Country Club, and she met Jonaris, who told her that "Nigel" and the crew would be arriving later in a short time. After parking her car, both Poh and Jonaris waited at the bus stop; it was there when Jonaris took out a hammer and struck the woman on the head, before he dragged her unconscious body to the bushes behind the bus stop and moved about 10 metres (yards) away from the area. At that point, Poh regained consciousness and tried to stand up. Jonaris then reignited his attack and he inflicted more than ten hammer blows on the back of her head until she blacked out again. He took away her watch and also slashed her wrists before he fled the scene. For this, the prosecution argued that Jonaris was able to carefully draft out a plan to murder Poh and used a fake name in order to meticulously carry out the crime.[7][8]

Saifon Ngammoo, the Thai prostitute whom Jonaris first met in October 1997, testified that she told her boyfriend about a Rolex watch she used to own and gifted to her by her ex-husband, and the watch was later pawned in 1995 to help a friend. She reportedly told Jonaris that she missed the watch as she cherished it for its special value to her. She also told the court that on the day of her birthday (which fell on the same day of Poh's murder), Jonaris bought a bouquet of red roses, a cake, and a bottle of whiskey and brought them to her workplace, a brothel at Lorong 18 in Geylang. He also gave her a Rolex watch at the birthday party where a few other girls were present, and she noticed that it was not new. She said she asked Jonaris but he was angry in response, to which she told him she was joking and thanked him, without knowing that he robbed the watch from Poh before killing her at Marina South.[9][10]

Jonaris's main defence was diminished responsibility.[11] He said he suffered from depression, cannabis intoxication, and had an obsession with the Rolex watch.[12]

Jonaris said that he was depressed before he killed Poh. His financial troubles did not go away despite his royal status, and he owed money to his mother and friends.[13][14] He sought solace and fell in love with Saifon given that they both had troubled pasts, and he felt she understood him. Jonaris said that after hearing Saifon's story about the watch, he grew obsessed with the Rolex watch and it appeared in his dreams at times.[15] He felt like possessing the watch after seeing Sally Poh wearing one, and Jonaris said he only paid attention to it despite seeing Poh's other valuables. On the day he met up with Poh at Marina South, Jonaris claimed that a voice in his mind told him to rob her of the watch.[16] He said he was unable to control himself when his hand unknowingly took the hammer to bash at Poh's head, and could only see her mouth moving but no sound came out. As he walked away from the scene after taking her watch, he said he felt a kind of "happiness and relief" that he had never before experienced:

The colour of the water, the sky, the bird, was so new. I felt so free, like a renaissance, like a new beginning. Everything seemed so clean. It looked like a beautiful day.[17]

Jonaris said that after robbing Poh of her Rolex watch, he went home to take a nap, and when he woke up, he thought he had had a nightmare of killing a person. Then it only dawned on him that everything was real when he found Poh's Rolex watch in his drawer.

Jonaris also revealed his painful childhood while on the stand. He said that when he was young, his Singaporean mother Elizabeth Seet divorced his father, Tengku Abdul Hamid Thani (who was the brother of the Sultan of Kedah), before she was married to Robert Seah. He recounted that he and his younger brother were abused by his stepfather and mother, who often physically abused them and considered them "outsiders" while treating their own two children well and with love. The couple used to force Jonaris to kneel for hours and clipped clothes pegs on his ears, fingers, lip and tongue. He would be made to chew raw chilli and stand in front of a mirror for hours, and often got caned and hit by a belt. He also claimed that his mother told him to say he was her nephew and not her son in public. The child abuse suffered by Jonaris was confirmed by his mother who took the stand and gave her testimony, and Seet said that her second husband Seah disliked her sons from the previous marriage and asked her to consider them as her nephews rather than her children. When asked by the trial judge if she considered her son fit enough to be punished, Seet replied yes.[18][19]

Dr Chan Khim Yew, who was the prosecution's psychiatrist, assessed Jonaris and found that he was not suffering from depression or any abnormality of the mind. He said that Jonaris was able to clearly describe how he murdered Poh, and his emotions before and during the time he murdered Poh, as well as able to feel fear that Poh might report him to the police. Besides, Jonaris was still able to enjoy the company of his girlfriend and acquaintances, and mixed well with people around him, as well as enjoying sex with Saifon and working hard at his jobs until the day of the murder; this behaviour, according to Dr Chan, did not fit the description of someone suffering from depression. His supposed compulsion and obsession with the watch were not signs of a mental illness and it did not mean that a person who was abused as a child would suffer from any mental disorders. Many of his colleagues and friends noted that Jonaris was his usual self at the time he executed the murder plot.[20][21]

On 2 December 1998, judgement was reserved and the verdict was scheduled to be given on 8 December 1998.[22]

Jonaris Badlishah, who was sentenced to execution for Poh's murder.

On 8 December 1998, after a 19-day trial, Judicial Commissioner Amarjeet Singh released his final verdict, ruling that Jonaris was not suffering from diminished responsibility when he murdered Poh. He judged that Jonaris was normal, and was able to work hard, mingle with his friends, and fall in love with Saifon Ngammoo, which was not a symptom of any depressed mood or mental illnesses nearing or on the day of the murder. He noted that Jonaris's financial debts incurred at the time he met his girlfriend, and his job as a prop assistant only allowed him to earn a monthly salary of $2,000 but he often splurged $4,000 every month on his weekly four visits to his girlfriend at the brothel.

JC Singh also stated that Jonaris often boasted about his royal bloodline, wealth, and lifestyle while he lived in the house of his mother and step-father, and out of desperation to back up his lies, Jonaris committed the robbery for money. He added that when Sally Poh regained consciousness and tried to crawl away, Jonaris continually attacked her in cold blood by hitting her on the head until her skull broke into pieces. He even slashed her wrists with a paper cutter to allow her to bleed to death to not allow her to escape alive to report him. It would only mean that Jonaris was fully in control of himself at the time, and was able to act with quick thinking. Hence, it was judged that he was to face full responsibility and punishment for his cruel and inhumane conduct for depriving Poh of her possessions and right to live, in order to satisfy his greed.[23]

For the murder of Sally Poh, 23-year-old Jonaris Badlishah was sentenced to death. According to reports, while Jonaris was led away from the court, Poh's widowed husband Lee Boon Siang, who was present at the courtroom to hear the verdict, was satisfied with the death sentence verdict and angrily shouted at Jonaris, "You deserve it!"[24][25]

On 24 February 1999, Jonaris lost an appeal against his death sentence, and he was eventually hanged.[26]