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Vietnamese woman, 43, sentenced to life for killing landlord-boyfriend, 51, outside Ang Mo Kio flat
The woman plans to appeal.Khine Zin Htet
October 07, 2025, 01:32 PM
A Vietnamese woman accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death in Singapore has been found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on Oct. 7.
Nguyen Ngoc Giau, 43, a Vietnamese national and Singapore permanent resident, was previously charged in 2021 in connection with the death of her landlord-boyfriend, Cho Wang Keung.
The judge said he was satisfied that the "elements of the charge had been established beyond a reasonable doubt", reported CNA.
"I also find that the accused has not succeeded in establishing, on a balance of probabilities, either the defence of intoxication or the defence of sudden fight," he added.
Her lawyers had sought for a lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, mainly on the argument that she was too intoxicated to have the intention to stab the victim or that his death was caused by a sudden fight.
However, the judge rejected the defences and convicted Nguyen.
She later expressed her intention to appeal.
Case background
Nguyen first came to Singapore in 2010.She has a Singaporean husband whom she met while working in a KTV, CNA reported during her trial in April.
She told the court then that she last visited her two children in 2019, and last contacted her husband some time before that.
They were still legally married.
She met the victim, Cho, when he rented out one of his bedrooms to her in 2020.
They began sharing a bedroom from October 2020, but things started going awry soon for the couple.
According to another tenant, Tan Cheng Mun, Nguyen was suspicious of Cho having relationships with other women whenever he went out drinking.
She would check his phone, argue with him, and even hit him, he claimed.
The pair frequently argued, and even took their fights to the void deck, which were often purportedly fuelled by alcohol.
Things escalated between Jul. 12 and 13, 2021, when the pair had a serious falling out.
Cho wanted to break up with her, and evict her from his flat.
Night of murder
On the night of Jul. 14, Tan and Cho, were at a coffee shop in Bishan.Cho apparently told Tan that he had tried to break up with Nguyen, but each time he brought it up she demanded a “break-up fee” of between S$5,000 and S$10,000.
Meanwhile, on Jul. 14, Nguyen, who was in the flat, began consuming copious quantities of beer, and repeatedly called Cho, but he never answered.
According to the prosecution, Nguyen then went to the kitchen, retrieved a knife, and began to sharpen it.
When both Cho and Tan returned to the common corridor outside the flat at about 12:50am, there was a confrontation between Cho and Nguyen.
During the fight, Tan called the police.
According to the prosecution, Nguyen then went back into the house, grabbed the knife and attacked Cho.
Tan then apparently tried to take photographs of the assault.
When Nguyen saw this, she turned her attention on him, and he fled down the stairs.
At about 1:03am, when the police arrived, both Nguyen and Cho were found in a pool of blood.
While Cho was responsive, Nguyen was unresponsive, and groaning in pain.
The both of them were conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Cho, however, was pronounced dead at 7:17am, despite receiving medical attention.
He was found to have died, from stab wounds to the neck, chest and back, according to an autopsy report.
A Jul. 16, 2021 report by the Institute of Mental Health, said that Nguyen was likely in a state of “acute alcohol intoxication” at the time of the incident, and had an alcohol use disorder.
Top photos from Shin Min Daily News
