Michael McCrea

Case record: Michael McCrea

STATUS

Michael McCrea was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment on June 29, 2006.

Timeline

• 2 January 2002 — British financial adviser Michael McCrea murdered his friend Kho Nai Guan and Kho's girlfriend, Lan Ya Ming, in Kho's apartment in Pinewood Garden.
• 3 January 2002 — Audrey Ong returned to the apartment and found Lan motionless on the floor.
• 4 January 2002 — The two bodies were deposited in the car; Michael McCrea and Audrey Ong attempted to dispose of the bodies after settling on the Orchard Towers car park.
• 5 January 2002 — McCrea and Ong fled Singapore for London.
• 7 January 2002 — The bodies were discovered due to the foul smell emanating from the car.
• November 10, 2002 — Ong landed in Changi Airport and was taken into custody by Singapore police after agreeing to surrender.
• June 2002 — McCrea and Ong were arrested in Melbourne after being at large for about six months.
• February 2003 — Ong was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for her part in the disposal of the bodies of the murder victims.
• 28 September 2005 — McCrea arrived in Singapore after a three-year battle against deportation/extradition.
• Two days later — McCrea was formally charged with the murders of Kho Nai Guan and Lan Ya Ming.
• June 2006 — McCrea pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and one charge of causing evidence to disappear.
• 29 June 2006 — McCrea was sentenced by Justice Choo Han Teck to 24 years in jail.
• 2005 (context within extradition events) — Singapore agreed that he would not be hanged before Australia agreed to deport him.
• Three-judge Court of Appeal (date not stated) — McCrea’s appeal was dismissed.

Background

Michael McCrea was a British financial adviser. He used the alias Mike Townsend. He had met and hired Kho Nai Guan in 1998 and later became friends with Kho and his girlfriend Lan Ya Ming. McCrea lived with Kho and Lan in his Pinewood Gardens apartment in Balmoral Park, alongside Ong.

Audrey Ong was McCrea’s girlfriend and secretary. Ong moved into the apartment in mid-2001.

Kho Nai Guan had been a personal driver-and-friend to McCrea, and he had been paid $6,000 a month. McCrea also took Kho to business meals and parties, and gave Kho “Ah Guan” a $20,000 bonus a month before the falling-out. Kho had a family life involving a son and two daughters, and he was a father of three; he was estranged from his wife.

Lan Ya Ming was Kho’s girlfriend. She was 30 years old and was described as a teacher from Fujian province. She went to Singapore in October 2001 on a social visit pass to apply for a teaching position and visit a friend, and called home once every week. Her last call heard was on Dec 29. She had eight-year-old twin boys, and her husband identified and claimed her body about 10 months after it was found.

McCrea’s marriage ended after his wife said he turned up unexpectedly on her Melbourne doorstep with his girlfriend and co-accused Audrey Ong. She said she left Singapore while pregnant with their first child because she “didn’t like the lifestyle he was living”.

The offence

On 2 January 2002, McCrea murdered Kho Nai Guan and Lan Ya Ming in Kho’s apartment in Pinewood Garden.

The triggering quarrel arose after Kho made a derogatory remark in Mandarin about Ong. The remark was translated as “slut”. McCrea retaliated by pushing and punching Kho. Kho fought back but was eventually overpowered and strangled by McCrea.

Lan tried to leave but was detained in Kho’s bedroom by McCrea and Ong. McCrea and Ong wanted to find out where Kho might have hidden drugs or money in the apartment, and Lan could not provide relevant information.

The events described included that McCrea knocked Lan unconscious when she came at him with a knife. At about 4.30am, McCrea and Ong realised Kho was dead after finding his body was cold and his legs had turned purple. Ong attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while McCrea tried to jump start Kho’s heart with a massage machine.

McCrea then told Ong that Lan was dead. When McCrea was placing plastic bags around Lan’s head before transporting her body, Ong observed Lan move and appear to go into convulsions. McCrea “managed to suppress her until she stopped moving”. Later autopsy findings showed that Lan was suffocated to death. Autopsies also showed that both Kho and Lan had been strangled.

Disposal and concealment

After the murders, McCrea and Ong sought help from other people. McCrea obtained the help of Gemma Louise Ramsbottom to search the apartment for Kho’s valuables. Ong obtained help from Justin Cheo Yi Tang to request help disposing of a “dead rat”.

Ramsbottom and Cheo claimed they were threatened with bodily harm if they did not cooperate.

Ramsbottom had her two daughters with her, so Ong left the apartment to find a babysitter for the children. When Ong returned on 3 January 2002, she found Lan motionless on the floor.

The bodies were later disposed of in a car. McCrea and Ong deposited the two bodies in the car on 4 January 2002 and abandoned the car in the car park of Orchard Towers.

The bodies were only discovered on 7 January 2002 due to the foul smell emanating from the car.

Kho’s body was found stuffed in a wicker chest at the back of a silver-coloured Daewoo Chairman 400. Lan’s body was bundled in cloth in the boot. Additional details included that Kho’s legs were bent out of shape and his face was battered; his corpse was crawling with maggots. Lan’s head was wrapped with blue plastic recycling bags, tied at the neck; her body was wrapped in blankets and bedsheets and tied with wire, and she was described as dressed only in a spaghetti-strap blouse.

The concealment included that Ong emptied the wicker basket and they put Lan’s body inside. During concealment arrangements, Ong placed dumbbells in the basket in case they decided to throw it into the sea. The chest was sprayed with air freshener to mask any smell.

Cheo brought bleach, rubber gloves, sponge, and paint to help remove bloodstains on the walls and floor, after acid was not available in sufficient quantities.

There was also an account that McCrea and Ong had plans to dissolve the bodies with acid.

On 4 January, the chest was loaded onto a trolley and brought down in the lift; all three lifted the basket and placed it on the back seat, then returned to the apartment to get Lan’s body, which McCrea carried on his shoulders and placed in the boot.

McCrea and Ong then failed to find a suitable place, driving from Jurong to Tuas and later discarding options because it was getting bright and there were people on the jetty. Ramsbottom was sent home at about 10am.

Flight, arrest, and custody

McCrea and Ong fled Singapore for London on 5 January 2002.

McCrea and Ong later went to Melbourne to stay with McCrea’s pregnant wife. In late May (year not explicitly stated in the provided text but tied to the events after June 2002 arrest context), Australian police went to the South Melbourne home to attend to a domestic dispute. McCrea was detained when they found irregularities in his passport and visa. McCrea was arrested formally on June 13 after it was discovered he was wanted in Singapore. Ong had been nabbed a week earlier.

On November 10, 2002, Ong landed in Changi Airport and was taken into custody by Singapore police after agreeing to surrender the month before.

In June 2002, after being at large for about six months, McCrea and Ong were arrested in Melbourne.

McCrea faced extradition proceedings. Singapore had agreed that he would not be hanged even if found guilty of murder. Australian law forbade extradition to a country where he could receive the death penalty.

A Law Ministry spokesman said: “Without the undertaking, extraditing McCrea and bringing him to justice is not possible. We will then have a situation where an accused will completely escape trial in Singapore or elsewhere.”

An Australian magistrate ordered extradition in November 2002. The next month, McCrea petitioned the country’s Minister for Justice and Customs and failed. He then went to the country’s Federal Court and was turned down again. In September 2005, the Australian High Court expedited the hearing and rejected his attempt in less than an hour. McCrea was kept in a straitjacket for two weeks after the final rejection.

On Sept 27 (year tied to extradition context), the 46-year-old boarded Singapore Airlines flight SQ228 flanked by plain-clothes officers, with his hand constantly cuffed to a detective. At about 9.30pm he set foot in Singapore. Two days later he was formally charged with the murders of Kho and Madam Lan.

Trial

After extradition, both McCrea and Ong were charged in Singapore, and the case proceeded with McCrea pleading guilty during the trial.

McCrea pleaded guilty to two charges of culpable homicide and one charge of concealing evidence of the killings.

In June 2006, he pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and of causing evidence to disappear. He admitted to the statement of facts in totality after initially objecting to two lines in the statement of facts read out to him. He initially maintained that he did not stamp on Lan Ya Ming's head while she was lying on the bed, and that he told a third party he had to “silence” Lan, as she had witnessed the incident.

A fourth charge, also of disposing of evidence after the killing in his apartment in January 2002, was taken into consideration.

Both Ramsbottom and Cheo testified against McCrea.

At sentencing, Justice Choo Han Teck addressed the offence and sentencing basis, including that Kho Nai Guan was extensively battered over “a relatively small matter”. The judge also described what McCrea had done to Lan, including: “He had not only prevented Suzie from leaving the flat, but had kicked her in the head before killing her, all because he wanted to find Ah Guan’s money – right after he killed him.”

Justice Choo also addressed that the sentences should not be backdated, and that he chose to stay four years in an Australian jail to fight extradition. The judge ordered the terms to run one after another based on a “sufficiently long break” between the two killings. The court also considered the possibility of a higher sentence for disposing of evidence.

McCrea appealed.

Before the Court of Appeal, his lawyer Kelvin Lim argued that the judge who punished McCrea did not consider his client’s remorse and described how he tried to resuscitate Mr Kho. Justice Andrew Phang pressed Mr Lim on what he would have done: “Your best friend, your brother, is dying. Put yourself in your client’s position. What would you have done?”

Mr Lim replied: “I would call an ambulance.”

Justice Phang shot back: “Yes. It’s common humanity.”

The Court of Appeal found the appeal wholly without merit and kept the original sentence.

Justice V.K. Rajah raised the possibility of exercising his powers as a judge to increase the prison term, with up to an additional three years for disposing of evidence. The judges decided against this.

Sentencing

Justice Choo Han Teck sentenced McCrea to 24 years in jail on 29 June 2006.

The sentencing was based on maximum sentence of 10 years’ jail for the murders of Kho and Lan respectively and an additional four years for the disposal of evidence, with the terms ordered to run one after another. Justice Choo also ordered that jail term start with effect from the day of sentencing, not backdated to 2002.

McCrea was described as shocked at receiving a 24-year term.

Outcome

McCrea’s appeal was dismissed by Singapore’s Court of Appeal.

Other details

• Audrey Ong was deported to Singapore and sentenced in February 2003 to 12 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to two charges of helping to dispose of the bodies and removing bloodstains from the apartment.
• District Judge Richard Magnus sentenced Ong on 7 February 2003 and said: “The accused’s overall conduct was sordid, macabre, callous, shocking, reprehensible and grossly offensive to any right thinking member of the public,” and pointed out she made no attempt to contact authorities after the duo first ran away.
• Michael McCrea was extradited to Singapore from Australia and arrived on 28 September 2005.
• On 4 January 2002, Ramsbottom and McCrea drove from Jurong to Tuas while searching for a suitable place to dump the bodies.
• A plan to dissolve the bodies with acid was mentioned, but Cheo could not obtain enough acid and instead brought bleach, rubber gloves, sponge and paint.
• McCrea had met and hired Kho as chauffeur in 1998 and invited Kho and Lan to live in his Pinewood Gardens apartment in Balmoral Park after they became friends.
• McCrea was described as an amateur boxer and had a punching bag attached to the living room ceiling.
• McCrea’s apartment was described as having designer pillows by Versace and candles around.
• Neighbours complained about noisy parties at the condo’s poolside on several occasions.
• Two autopsies findings were described: both had been strangled, and Lan was smothered to death.