Mentally unsound man, 90, who killed wife given notional 5-year jail term

SINGAPORE: A 90-year-old man who killed his wife in an "overwhelmingly lethal" attack while he was of unsound mind was given a notional imprisonment period of five years by the High Court on Friday (Aug 28). 

Justice Hoo Sheau Peng specified the period for Ridawi Morsudin, who was suffering from dementia and was possibly delirious when he killed his 74-year-old wife in their flat in June 2024.

In coming to her decision, Justice Hoo said she considered medical reports which stated that Ridawi remains unfit to stand trial or plead guilty given the severity of his brain condition. Ridawi is also incapable of making his defence and is unlikely to ever regain that capability.

Ridawi appeared at Friday's hearing via video link from the Complex Medical Centre at Changi Prison Complex and appeared frail. He did not address the court.

Justice Hoo also noted the doctors' assessments that Ridawi was at low risk of reoffending, given that he required extensive care for activities of daily living.

She took into account the prosecution's submissions that previous cases involving offenders suffering from reality-altering conditions tended to attract jail terms of between six and nine years.

The High Court judge said she was unable to agree with the defence that the notional imprisonment period should be substantially reduced to two to three years, as there remained a need for an element of protection. She noted that Ridawi had been able to kill his wife in a "forceful and brutal manner" at 88 and had posed a danger while delirious. 

The case is believed to be the first of its kind to be dealt with since amendments to Singapore's unsoundness-of-mind regime took effect in February 2025.

Under the regime, the court must specify the notional imprisonment period an accused person would have been required to serve if convicted and sentenced for the offences faced.

Justice Hoo will report the case to the relevant minister, who may then order Ridawi's confinement or conditional release.

Pending the minister's decision, Ridawi will remain remanded at the Complex Medical Centre, as agreed by both the prosecution and defence.

EARLIER HEARING

At an earlier hearing, the prosecution sought a notional imprisonment period of five years, while Ridawi's lawyer asked for two to three years, pointing to his advanced age, deteriorating health and low risk of reoffending.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Goh Yong Ngee and Thaddeus Tan said: "The heinous manner in which the elderly deceased was killed is one which ought to shock the conscience of the court. 

"Yet, the accused was suffering from a mental condition which altered his sense of reality at the material time and is at a low risk of reoffending and is now dependent on others to take care of his needs."

Ridawi's lawyer Muhammad Taufiq Suraidi of the Public Defender's Office sought a shorter period of two to three years.

He argued that five years was "too long" given Ridawi's condition, and said his client could die while detained, which would effectively make it a life sentence.

WIFE SUFFERED EXTENSIVE INJURIES

Ridawi lived with his wife and grandson in a flat.

His mental faculties began deteriorating in 2022. He stopped recognising family members, became more aggressive and began wandering from the flat and getting lost.

He was later diagnosed with mixed dementia and had experienced delirium.

On the night of Jun 4, 2024, a relative delivered food to the flat and left at about 7pm after seeing Ridawi asleep on a recliner and his wife sitting on a sofa.

Sometime after midnight, their grandson checked a live feed from a CCTV camera in the flat and saw his grandmother motionless on the floor in a pool of blood.

He rushed home and found Ridawi standing nearby and mumbling to himself.

When asked what happened, Ridawi replied in Malay that "that person no longer alive. It's too late".

His wife was pronounced dead at about 1.39am. Investigations found that the elderly couple were the only people in the flat between 7pm on Jun 4, 2024, and 12.58am on Jun 5, 2024.

An autopsy found at least 34 lacerations, incised wounds, stab wounds or other sharp-force injuries on her body.

She also suffered extensive fractures to her skull, as well as fractures to her neck, spine and ribs.

She died from sharp-force injuries to her head, neck and chest.

Blood and DNA evidence linked Ridawi to the attack, while bloodstain pattern analysis indicated that the victim had been attacked on the sofa and near a wall in the living room.

On Jun 5, 2024, Ridawi was charged in the State Courts with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. 

FOUND UNFIT TO PLEAD

Ridawi was incoherent when police tried to interview him after the killing.

He was subsequently found to have major neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer's disease and vascular disease, with behavioural disturbance.

A psychiatrist said he might also have been delirious at the time of the killing.

His delirium likely distorted his sense of reality, and the attack on his wife was within the range of symptoms associated with the condition, although such behaviour was uncommon.

Ridawi was found unfit to plead and incapable of making his defence. His fitness to plead is unlikely to be restored because of the nature of his neurocognitive disorder.

Had Ridawi been of sound mind and convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, he could have been jailed for life or for up to 20 years and fined.