Upper Bukit Timah killings: Father sentenced to 14 years' jail for strangling twin sons with autism
Lydia LamSINGAPORE: A man was sentenced on Tuesday (Aug 15) to 14 years' jail for killing his twin sons in January 2022, in a tragedy that shook the nation.
Xavier Yap Jung Houn claimed that he did so because he felt his wife had given up on the two 11-year-old boys, who had autism, and that killing them would take away his wife's burdens.
He also feared that his sons would be bullied by others, and that no one would take care of them after he and his wife died.
In sentencing, Justice Vincent Hoong said the jail terms could not "in any way compensate" for the tragic loss of the two young lives.
He said he hoped Yap would use the time to reflect on the "irreversible harm" he had caused his family, as a result of his "misconceived beliefs" that his actions would alleviate their suffering.
Yap, 50, pleaded guilty to two charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, for strangling Yap Kai Shern Aston and Yap E Chern Ethan to death near a playground in Upper Bukit Timah.
He had originally been charged with murder, but this was downgraded to culpable homicide after it was revealed that he was suffering from major depressive disorder of moderate severity, around the time of the killings.
BACKGROUND OF WHAT HAPPENED
The court heard that Yap lived with his twin sons, his wife and a domestic helper who was hired to care for the boys.The couple suspected that the boys had autism spectrum disorder since they were two years old. They were formally diagnosed with global developmental delay and autism spectrum disorder in May 2017.
The twins were recommended to be placed in a special education school, but their mother in particular had difficulty accepting their condition, the prosecution said.
In 2019 the boys, aged nine, were enrolled in Primary 1 at a mainstream primary school while they were still non-verbal.
Because of the children's learning difficulties, the boys' mother and maid would each accompany one child to classes. When their mother was not available, one son would not attend school.
The mother also did not involve their father in decisions on which school the boys should attend, or school activities such as meet-the-parent sessions.
Yap had a good relationship with his sons, the court heard. He did not usually discipline them with physical force. He would help prepare their daily necessities and bought them items they wanted.
He also became more involved in their studies and spent more time with them after they enrolled in primary school.
But Yap became increasingly concerned about his sons around 2019 or 2020. In 2021, he noticed that his wife was always getting angry with their sons, and his concern grew.
He began having suicidal ideations, and bought an ice pick on a whim.
At the start of 2022, Yap began harbouring serious thoughts of killing his sons and himself. He had noticed that his wife was depressed and frustrated, because the boys were about to be assessed for their suitability to remain in their mainstream primary school.
He felt that his wife had given up on the boys.
THE KILLINGS
Yap noticed that a playground near his house - Greenridge Crescent Playground - was quite quiet, and that there was a big open field and a forest nearby.On Jan 21, 2022, he decided to carry out his plan.
At about 4.45pm, he drove his sons to the playground in his car, bringing along the ice pick.
After the boys played for about 10 minutes, Yap carried them one by one into a canal near the open field.
He pressed a stick against Ethan's neck before strangling him and placing his face in the water. He then did the same to Aston, who had been watching quietly.
After the boys were dead, Yap tried to kill himself using either the ice pick, a tree branch and a rock, but was unable to do so.
He then came up with the idea of pretending that he had been attacked. He believed that the evidence would show that he killed the victims, and that by lying to the police that he had been attacked, this would show he had no remorse - and he would receive the death penalty.
Yap moved to a grassy area and called his wife, but she did not pick up. He then made two calls to the police, claiming that he had been attacked and needed help to find his sons.
He then adjusted his sons' bodies so that they faced upwards, before waiting for the police with their heads in his lap.
When the police did not arrive immediately, he went back to the canal area near the playground and shouted for help.
When officers arrived, Yap told them that he had been attacked and that someone else had killed his sons.
He was taken to hospital with bruises on his head, cuts on his body and abrasions.
Autopsies found that the boys had died by strangulation.
Yap was assessed to be suffering from major depressive disorder around the time of the offences. The symptoms had first appeared three years prior and worsened in the months before the offences.
He would qualify for the partial defence of diminished responsibility, as his condition was of such severity and persistence that it impaired his judgment of the nature and wrongfulness of his actions.
Although he knew the killings were wrong, he felt hopeless for his sons' futures and wanted to kill them to relieve them of what he saw as their stress and mortal suffering.
He also felt his plan would allow his wife and her daughter from a previous marriage to carry on with their lives.
SENTENCING ARGUMENTS
On Tuesday, a team of prosecutors led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Kumaresan Gohulabalan asked for 14 to 20 years' jail for Yap, with both charges to run consecutively.Mr Kumaresan said this would not be crushing, as two young lives were lost.
The boys were also particularly vulnerable, he said, as seen in how they unquestioningly followed their father to the canal. Despite witnessing his father strangle his brother to death, Aston remained quiet, said the prosecutor.
Yap also took steps to ensure the boys were dead by placing them face down in the water, he added.
He was defended by Mr Choo Si Sen, Mr Patrick Nai and Ms Choo Yean Lin of Tan Lee & Partners, as well as Mr Muhammad Razeen Sayed Majunoon.
Mr Choo asked for the sentences to run concurrently instead, for a total of five years' jail. He said his client, who previously worked with a government agency, was undergoing divorce proceedings with his wife.
He said Yap had reservations about enrolling his sons in a mainstream school, but agreed after his wife insisted.
Mr Choo said the boys could not cope in the mainstream school, but their mother "adamantly refused to accept" their diagnoses and insisted that they remain there even though the school itself said mainstream education was unsuitable for them.
Mr Choo said Yap had noticed bruises on Aston's face, and that he heard from a third party that they were inflicted by his wife.
Yap also suspected his wife was having an affair from late 2021, and believed that her behaviour towards the family had changed. He alleged that his wife began behaving "very fiercely" towards the boys, and started noticing cane marks on their bodies from January 2022.
The defence lawyer said Yap felt Greenridge Crescent Playground was "a good place to end all their lives together" as he had taken the boys there to play a few times.
Yap, who was brought in from remand in a white shirt, listened to the proceedings with a grim face.
He looked upwards and appeared grief-stricken as Mr Nai read out a letter Yap had personally written to the court.
In the letter, he apologised for the "mayhem and trouble" he had caused to everyone.
He said he had not known that he had developed depression over his worries about his sons, which he claimed was exacerbated by his wife's "unreasonable behaviour" towards his children.
Apart from being unable to accept their special needs, his wife's expectations of them behaving like normal children had grown unrealistic, Yap wrote.
"Physical punishments and scoldings were becoming common whenever they failed to meet her expectations," he said, adding that his depression was further aggravated after finding out that she was allegedly cheating on him.
"Overwhelmed by sadness and hopelessness, I had totally lost faith that my two sons would be taken care of in the future, especially when I'm gone," said Yap.
He wrote that taking his two sons with him "would end their unfair suffering", and that all he could wish for on that fateful day was "a quick death and to be quickly served with a death sentence".
"To me, that is the most lenient punishment and would allow me to join my two sons soon," he wrote.
Yap said that after he was incarcerated, he learnt that his wife was allegedly "not even saddened" by the death of her two sons and had started inviting her lover to stay with her.
He also said she had thrown away the boys' belongings and "crossed a boundary that I can no longer tolerate".
He said he now wanted to continue with his life as he promised his elderly mother, and planned to take a diploma or degree in social service work, using his experience as a father with sons who had autism, and as a patient with major depressive disorder himself.
Justice Hoong said violence inflicted by parents on their children would be met with the full force of the law.
Citing a Court of Appeal judgment, he said the level of confidence and trust that children naturally repose in their parents "entails that a parent who betrays that trust and harms the child stands at the furthest end of the spectrum of guilt".
He rejected the defence's call to run the sentences concurrently, saying that Yap had violated the legally protected interests of not just Ethan but Aston.
It would be "morally unjust" if the court allowed the jail terms to be run concurrently, he said.
Culpable homicide not amounting to murder carries penalties of life imprisonment and caning, or up to 20 years' jail and a fine or caning.
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