90-year-old man unfit to stand trial for wife’s killing given five-year notional jail term

SINGAPORE - A 90-year-old man found unfit to stand trial for killing his wife in their Bukit Panjang flat in 2024 was given a five-year notional imprisonment period by the High Court judge on Aug 28.

Under Singapore’s criminal procedure, the court must now report Ridawi Morsudin to the Law Minister, who will decide if he is to be confined in a psychiatric institution or another place of safe custody, or be given a conditional release.

Ridawi was found unfit to stand trial for his actions due to severe cognitive impairment.

Medical reports stated that he is unlikely to regain fitness to stand trial due to the progressive nature of his medical condition.

In reporting the case to the minister, the judge has to specify the notional imprisonment period that the accused would have been required to undergo if he was convicted of the offence.

This serves as the upper limit of the period of confinement subsequently ordered by the minister.

In specifying a period of five years, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng considered the case of Kong Peng Yee, who fatally slashed his wife at their Sengkang home in 2016 during a psychotic episode.

Kong, who was then 70, was handed six years’ jail for a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in 2018. He was found fit to stand trial.

Hoo said six years would be an appropriate starting point, but gave Ridawi a one-year reduction.

The judge noted the assessment by doctors that Ridawi was at low risk of reoffending, and that he is now completely dependent on assistance in his daily life.

Hoo said she was unable to agree with the defence, who had sought a period of two to three years on the basis that he would not be able to assault anyone due to his age and declining health.

“The accused was able to kill his wife in a forceful and brutal manner when he was 88 years old, and he was strong and dangerous while in a fit of delirium,” said the judge, adding that the need to prevent him from committing further crimes remains.

Ridawi will continue to be remanded at Changi Prison Complex Medical Centre pending the minister’s order.

He faces a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder for causing the death of his 74-year-old wife, Aminah Abdul, between 7pm on June 4, 2024, and about 1am the following day.

According to court documents, Ridawi’s mental faculties noticeably deteriorated in 2022.

He could not recognise his family members, became more hot-tempered and aggressive, and would wander around and lose his way.

Between 2023 and 2024, the police attended to him on 10 occasions, as he was lost and disoriented.

He was hospitalised between Jan 22 and Feb 5, 2024, after he was found at a void deck appearing confused. He was in delirium and was diagnosed with mixed dementia.

He was enrolled into a daycare centre for senior citizens with dementia from March 19 to April 17, 2024. He was officially discharged on April 30 that year, as he was increasingly uncooperative with the staff.

His children then took turns to deliver meals to the flat. A CCTV camera was installed to provide a live feed of the living room, but it did not store any footage.

On June 4, 2024, a family member delivered food to the flat and left at about 7pm.

Past midnight the next day, Ridawi’s grandson saw through the feed that his grandmother was on the floor in a pool of blood, while his grandfather was standing behind his recliner chair looking at her.

The grandson, who lived with the couple, rushed home and called for an ambulance.

Ridawi told his grandson: “That person (is) no longer alive. It’s too late.”

The victim died from sharp force injuries to the head, neck and chest.

Her blood was found on two pairs of scissors in the flat and the T-shirt that Ridawi was wearing.

An autopsy noted at least 34 distinct slash and stab wounds on her body. Her skull, neck and spine, and ribs were also fractured.