Yishun stabbing: Man, 66, charged with murder after mother of 2 killed in knife attack

A 66-year-old man has been charged with murder over an alleged knife attack in Yishun on Sept 24. The incident is said to have been sparked by a dispute between neighbours.

Koh Ah Hwee, who lives at Block 323 Yishun Central, is accused of murdering Vietnamese national Nguyen Phuong Tra, 30, outside a unit on the sixth floor of the block of flats.

Koh, who suffered injuries during the incident, was handed a murder charge on Sept 25.

Court documents stated that the Singaporean allegedly stabbed Ms Tra's chest with a knife. Her 33-year-old husband suffered serious injuries, allegedly while trying to stop Koh.

The couple and their alleged attacker were taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital after the incident, which occurred just before 7.25am.

According to residents, Ms Tra and her husband were assaulted on the sixth floor of the block where they lived with their two young children. Koh has a unit on the fifth floor of the same block.

The neighbours were said to have been in the midst of trying to resolve their differences over noise complaints when the incident happened.

Nee Soon GRC MP Jackson Lam, who oversees the area, said the neighbours had failed to resolve their differences at the Community Mediation Centre. He added that the dispute was escalated to the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals.

The incident left the victim and her husband with serious injuries. The woman died later in the hospital.

Police figures released in August showed that the number of physical crime cases has gone up, with 75 knife-related incidents reported in the first half of 2025. There were 59 cases in the same period in 2024, and 131 for the whole of that year.

Koh's case has been adjourned to Oct 2.

Offenders convicted of murder face the death penalty.