Man jailed 13 years for killing girlfriend
He stabs her in neck after quarrel outside his flat
A possessive man who could not accept that his girlfriend was seeing other men - despite agreeing to have an open relationship - got 13 years' jail yesterday for killing her during a quarrel.
Neo Chun Zheng, 29, who stabbed Ms Soh Yuan Lin, 23, once in the neck outside his Boon Lay flat on Nov 26, 2015, told the High Court words could not express his "eternal regret".
"I have completely failed her and I can never forgive myself for all that had happened. It was a toxic relationship, but this would not take away my love for her," he said, reading from a note before sentencing.
Apologising to Ms Soh's family, he said: "I am very, very sorry for causing you such tremendous grief, sorrow and suffering. I can only hope that some day you may find it in your heart to forgive me."
It was revealed in court that her family had rejected an earlier apology letter from Neo after he pleaded guilty to culpable homicide in October last year.
In sentencing, Judicial Commissioner Pang Khang Chau found enough evidence of Neo's remorse from his police statements. He imposed 13 years' jail after considering precedents.
Neo and Ms Soh, a former air stewardess, met when they started work at the Marina Bay Sands casino in April 2014. They began dating, but Ms Soh wanted the relationship to be "non-exclusive" and kept a secret.
Neo agreed, but still felt as if she was cheating whenever he found out that she was seeing other men.
In September 2015, they quarrelled after he discovered that she was texting someone she had kissed at a club. She broke up with him later that month as she felt he was too possessive.
Neo later found out that Ms Soh was using dating app Tinder and told a friend he thought about disfiguring her with acid.
On Nov 25, 2015, when Ms Soh went to Neo's flat to deliver a packet of food, they began quarrelling at the common corridor.
Neo's mother told him to let her leave, but he snatched away Ms Soh's mobile phone and took a folding knife from his room.
When his mother tried to wrest the knife away, Neo pushed her to the floor and stabbed Ms Soh once in the neck.
He gave himself up when the police arrived. Ms Soh was pronounced dead three hours later in hospital.
After Neo pleaded guilty last October, the court concluded he was not suffering from any mental disorder at the time of the stabbing.
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