Category Archives: Crime

Scorned

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No one enjoys taking the trash to the garbage dump area. The bad smell, trash scattered, rats running around. A dead body? Not in Brunei, or so you think. One afternoon, in 1996, a man got the shock of his life when while throwing his trash at the Binturan camp garbage dump site, he saw a dead body of a man lying among the heaps of trash. Adding to the horror was that he recognised who it was.

Trash

What kind of killer would dispose the body at a trash dumping site like it was garbage, and for everyone to find? I would say, the kind who are confident that they won’t get caught, that nothing found on the body would lead the police back to them; someone who had established an alibi and got someone else, say…. a contract killer to do the murder. We also see this in stranger homicides where the killer is a stranger and has no acquaintance or common affiliation with the victim, the killer would have no care or need to hide the crime, i.e, the body.

Even before the police got to begin their investigation on the dead body, there were two obvious clues which indicated that it was clearly not a random crime against an unknown victim. Firstly, the body was badly bruised that seemed to be the result of multiple blows and struck by a blunt object. The man was beaten to death with excessive brutality. Such overkill would only mean one thing – the murder was rage-driven, thus personal. The second clue is the choice of location where the body was dumped – garbage dumping site, probably chosen to humiliate the victim even after his death, an act of punishment, revenge-driven, thus again personal. Now, the police just had to find the victim’s enemies or haters, then they would get the suspects in the crime.

So, who was the victim and who hated him so much to want him dead? Well, the victim was no stranger to the area. He lived in the Binturan camp, he threw his household trash at the very dumping site where his body was found. He was a military corporal based at the camp. One day, when Corporal B did not return home, his wife thought that he was on standby duty, which was not unordinary for a military personnel. There was also a military exercise going on at that time, so the wife thought that her husband must’ve been busy tending to that. The next day, she was surprised to be visited at home by some military personnel looking for her husband, informing her that Corporal B had not come to work and his mobile phone was unreachable. The military has a strict policy about absences without leave (AWOL).

Another 24 hours came and went, and Corporal B was still MIA. His family and friends knew in their guts that something terrible had happened to him because the Corporal B that they knew won’t just voluntarily go AWOL and risk himself being dismissed from the military. For some, they actually knew that this was coming, that Corporal B’s “extracurricular activity” would get him in trouble, although they didn’t expect the “trouble” would come in the form of being murdered.

If Corporal B would’ve heeded the quotes “Don’t play with fire if you don’t want to get burned” and “Don’t poke the beehive if you don’t want to get stung”, probably he won’t find himself in the shit he was in. But, Corporal B was relentless, so said his friends. It was no secret that the married-with-kids Corporal B had a side girlfriend, a beautiful Limbang girl. Well, that’s his own business. But, the troubling part of this was that the girlfriend was someone’s wife, not just a regular someone, the woman’s husband was a Limbang drugs thug. Yikes! Armed with this information, it seemed like it was a no brainer for the police to figure out who the number one suspect would be. But, it was not as simple as that. There was a plot twist.

It turned out that the girlfriend’s husband had an airtight alibi. He was in jail at the time for a drug-related charge. Corporal B’s family and friends couldn’t think of anyone else who would harbour any ill intentions towards him. The likely involvement of the Limbang husband in the murder stood out like a sore thumb. Being in jail, of course, wont hinder one’s ability to arrange for someone to be killed. But where would the police even begin to prove this possibility. With no leads, the case quickly turned cold. 

Then, close to a month later, in a spine chilling development, a suspicious-looking black garbage bag was found in a ditch in Kuala Lurah. In it was a dead body of a female, her stomach was mutilated. It was the body of Corporal B’s girlfriend. It was like a gruesome scene straight out of a CSI episode, only that, unlike in the tv series, despite the obvious common denominator in the two murders, the solution of both cases never saw the light of day. And so, once again, the bad guys win. 

Fake It Till You Make It

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Who would’ve thought that the fake ID business would emerge in Brunei. Not because it is a difficult feat, but come on… Brunei is such a small country, one would be so stupid to think that the authorities won’t sniff it out. It’s like farting in the elevator, everyone could smell it, everyone knows who did it.

On 14 September 2020, the public came to know about the detention of seven locals, aged 26 to 29 year olds, for their involvement in a syndicate for forged Brunei IC.  The forged ICs they would sell and use to obtain bank loans. As part of the crime package, they also along the way falsified Government’s and private companies’ official documents.

So, what were they thinking?? Probably the seven millionaire wannabe millennials are asking themselves the same question right now as they sit in their prison cells in Jerudong.

These boys, they are not school dropouts, they are educated. They were not broke. They didn’t grow up around crime or poverty. So, what went wrong? Remember Ramzid4h? The lady who is sitting in jail right now serving a 10 year sentence for her siphoning galore. She grew up rich, got the best of education, good paying job. Well, the boys got the same demon that she was having – Greed.

Don’t be fooled by their young age. They are not naive. The boys knew exactly that what they were doing is illegal. Just like in other victimless crime, there was an absence of guilt, since no one died or got physically hurt from their entrepreneurship. These kind of criminals, they will not stop until they got caught. Since there are no human casualties involved, they also thought that they’re gonna get it easy when caught. N4bil just got five years and he would get to enjoy the $6 millions “untraced missing” funds in no time when he gets out.

Where lucrative financial gains are involved, criminals would stash their profits in offshore banks, in alias bank accounts or in suitcases somewhere in some houses or buildings not registered under their or their relatives’ names, so that the authorities won’t be able to trace and seize them should the criminals got arrested. These hidden stashes would be waiting for them after they served their jail terms. Unless they got the death penalty or life imprisonment, then its a different story. 

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Dangerous Liaison

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In 2006, after serving a good 30 plus years, A retired from the civil service. He had quite a good career, rose up to hold a senior post, well-liked by his peers and subordinates. A loved his job but he was ready and excited to finally hang his work suit. His senior post had secured him a hefty retirement gratuity and monthly pension. He also had secured his own place at Perumahan Rimba. By all account, A was set for a comfortable next chapter of his life as a government retiree. 

Still a bachelor, A was living by himself in his house. But he was far from lonely. He was very well content with being single and free. Life at the Rimba Retiredville was all peachy, until 2010, when came a day that changed A’s life forever – the day he met Cyrile.

A Filipino foreign worker, Cyrile came to Brunei in 2010 to work as a live-in employee. Cyrile was employed by A’s nextdoor neighbour. One day, the two struck up a conversation and so began their friendship. A had soon taken a fancy towards Cyrile, whom he pampered with gifts and attention. With his financial standing, A surely had no problem doing this. When the relationship turned sexual, A became more generous, rewarding Cyrile with $1,000 every time they got it on. 

This was more money than Cyrile could have imagined. In just a few months being in Brunei, Cyrile had gotten into possession a lot of money and good stuff. Cyrile had just hit a jackpot, didn’t hold back, milking the situation, outrightly asking for money from A, using sex to maintain A’s interest and commitment. 

A’s friends knew what was going on, that Cyrile was just after A’s money. They also suspected that Cyrile had come to know about A’s hefty retirement gratuity, and was targeting that. It was not like Cyrile made any effort to hide the intention anyway. But A was too smitten to see the obvious. Despite their worries, none of A’s friends dared to say anything for fear of upsetting A and seen as meddling into his personal life. Besides, A was a grown man, he could do whatever he pleased. They could only hope that A would come to his senses before it was too late. 

In 2012, much to their relief, Cyrile employment contract expired and Cyrile returned to the Philippines. But, not so fast. Cyrile would come back to Brunei to work with another employee. Well well well, what do you know, before the engine of the plane which flew Cyrile here even cool down, Cyrile was already on the phone with A to ask for money. 

A meeting was set. In the afternoon on 01 August 2012, Cyrile went to A’s house but only one of them came out of the rendezvous alive. On 09 August 2012, A’s family went to check on A and found him dead. There appeared to be multiple stab wounds including one on his neck. A nearby couch seemed to have been set  on fire. A was 61 years old.

Soon after, the house was swarmed with police cars. The surrounding people were shocked to hear about the murder which they initially thought was an armed robbery went wrong. In the house, there were signs that a robbery had taken place and A’s family had confirmed that his mobile phone and laptop computer were missing. But, there was no sign of a forced entry which only meant one thing, that A knew his killer and had let his killer in. At this point, no one knew about A’s meeting with Cyrile. 

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Jangsak, Cyrile sold the stolen mobile phone and laptop computer to a friend for $400 and went about with daily activities like had not just murdered anyone. The thought of police tracking the  mobile phone didn’t even cross Cyrile’s mind.

On 14 August 2012 at 0128 am, police banged on the door of the staff quarters in Kg Jangsak where Cyrile was staying. The mobile phone and information from A’s friends have led police to Cyrile. Cyrile was arrested and charged with the murder. 

When interrogated, Cyrile told a tale of being attacked by A with a knife that afternoon after refusing A’s sexual advances and trying to break up the relationship. Cyrile managed to wrestle the knife away and used it to stab A three times including “on the shoulder near the neck”. Cyrile then tied the injured A to a chair, just to untie him moments later due to pity. Cyrile didn’t call the ambulance for fear of being arrested. Instead, Cyrile proceeded to grab A’s phone, laptop, cash and other belongings, cleaned the bloody floor, then left the house, bringing the murder weapon along. A was still alive when Cyrile left. So the tale went.  

Cyrile threw away the knife as well as bloodstained clothing and shoes, then came back to A’s house at 0100 am on 03 August 2012 with the intention of getting rid of evidence by burning down the house. Cyrile poured gasoline all over the floor and lit up the couch. In a stroke of fate, the flames self-extinguished and the fire did not spread. 

While admitting to stealing A’s belongings and attempting to burn down A’s house, Cyrile didn’t plead guilty for murdering A, instead insisting that the stabbings were for self defence and that A’s death was accidental. 

Only Cyrile and A knew what exactly went down that fateful afternoon. Eventhough A was not able to tell his part of the story (since A is dead and all), physical evidences were enough to tell the police that Cyrile’s version of the story was a complete bullcrap. For one thing, despite claiming “self-defence”, there was no defensive wound of any kind on Cyrile’s body. Additionally, the severity of injuries suffered by A depicted a clear case of an overkill instead of self-defence. And if A really initiated the attack, Cyrile should have immediately called the police the moment A was down after being stabbed the first time. Instead Cyrile left the injured A to die, disposed of the knife and made attempts to burn down the house.  

In 2015, Cyrile, then 31 years old, was found guilty of murder and  sentenced to death by hanging. For the charge of intention to burn down A’s house, Cyrile was also sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2016, The Court of Appeal refused an application against the death conviction.

Cases of pensioners falling prey to gold diggers are not uncommon in Brunei. It’s not hard to spot the red flags but victims often chose to ignore them because they just couldn’t resist the ego boost. It was unfortunate of A that the gold digger that crossed path with him is also a psychopath. A let his guard down and he paid the price with his life. 

To Love and To Kill

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No one ever said relationships were easy and what couple doesn’t quarrel? Some couples make up, some break up, and some end in murder. They say love makes the world go round. Add obsession, love can also drive people insane. Insanity plea, that is, after they kill you.

34-year-old Bobby and 33-year-old Novalinda, both Filipino foreign workers in Brunei had been a couple since 1998. They were engaged to be married.

Bobby doted on Novalinda so much, he spent his earnings on showering her with gifts, gave financial assistance to her family in the Philippines and the rest he saved up for their wedding.

However, hardly a year after their engagement, Novalinda, who worked as a waitress, began to lose interest in Bobby. What began with some cold treatment later worsen when Novalinda started to push Bobby away. She also taunted Bobby by telling him about other men that have been courting her and that she was seeing another man.

Bobby was heartbroken. He couldn’t sleep at night and spent his days crying uncontrollably. Unable to cope with it, Bobby decided to resign and return to the Philippines. He was scheduled to leave Brunei on 14 November 1999.

These were all according to Bobby’s account. If these were true, no one could ever know why Novalinda did all that to him. She could never tell her side of the story because she is no longer alive. On 12 November 1999, two days before Bobby was scheduled to fly home, a heated argument between the two occurred in Bobby’s room which ended with Bobby strangling Novalinda to death with a cord.

Bobby covered her body with a blanket and left the room. He then fled to Lawas where he later surrendered himself to the Malaysian police who handed him over to the Brunei authorities to face the murder charge.

In court, Bobby told of the sappy story of his shitty life. He pleaded guilty of “unintentionally” killing Novalinda and said it hurts to think of what happened to Novalinda and it was all because of his love towards her.

A psychiatrist who evaluated Bobby said that Bobby was suffering from adjustment disorder and of the severely depressed type, thus have poor control of his impulses, which explained why Bobby went psycho that night when “provoked” by Novalinda.

In passing the sentence, the Chief Justice took into account Bobby’s mental state, that the offense was not pre-meditated and Bobby was provoked, that Bobby pleaded guilty and had expressed his regret. In the end, Bobby got a lesser charge of causing death not amounting to murder and was sentenced to 4 years in jail.

Speechless…

Fast forward to May 2003, Bobby had 6 months left of his jail sentence, probably by then his eyeballs were swollen like tennis balls for crying every night, the public felt a sense of deja-vu when news broke out that another Filipino man murdered his girlfriend who was also a fellow Filipino, and like Novalinda, also working as a waitress in Brunei.

50-year-old Edgar Puzone had been living in Brunei since 1994, working as a graphic designer. In early 2003, Edgar began a relationship with Vilma, a 25-year-old Filipino waitress working at the Senja Rasa Restaurant at Jalan Tutong.

Their relationship was rocky even from the start. What Vilma didn’t know was that Edgar was on anti-psychotic medication to treat a long history of psychiatric problems. The pressure of the rocky relationship had flipped his psycho switch. Poor Vilma didn’t see it coming.

On 27 May 2003, Edgar walked into Vilma’s workplace and stabbed her twice in the chest. He then turned the knife on himself in an apparent suicide attempt. The restaurant workers managed to subdue him. Both were taken to the hospital where Vilma succumbed to her injuries. Edgar was immediately arrested.

During trial, Edgar through his court-appointed lawyer, raised the defense of mental instability. Medical experts were flown in from Manila to testify that Edgar was not aware of his actions when he stabbed Vilma. The Judge, however, didn’t buy it saying that Edgar’s mental illness was not a strong mitigating factor for him to escape the death penalty. “We are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that this was a premeditated and brutal murder and the defendant is convicted of the charge accordingly”, the Judge said.

On 03 Feb 2005, Edgar was convicted and sentenced to hang for the murder. In August 2007, Edgar lost his appeal against the death sentence. In 2009, during His Majesty’s state visit to the Philippines and following the appeal from President Arroyo, His Majesty had agreed to commute Edgar’s death sentence to life imprisonment.

Forrest Gump’s momma always said, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” True indeed, the seemingly charming guy who came to your life could be a psycho who would end up killing you.

Rest-less

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In December 2019, 70 year old Haji Muhammad Hassan Yong bin Abdullah left his house and never came home. He was later reported missing at the Lamunin Police Station. Haji Hassan has a fruit orchard in Kg Kiudang. A search operation at his orchard turned up nothing.

In February 2020, a man who was chasing after his escaped buffaloes stumbled upon a pair of yellow rubber boots and a parang (machete) under a rambutan tree at Haji Hassan’s orchard. He saw a nylon rope hanging from the tree. Then, to his horror, he saw a human skull a few feet away. He first alerted the owner of the nearby house before then calling the police.

Cows

People in the area immediately assumed that the skull belonged to Haji Hassan and that he had taken his own life. People who knew him always suspected that something was off with him, some claiming that he was facing financial problems of some sort. The local residents also informed that Haji Hassan had pulled off the disappearing act before. He would then reappear only to disappear again later. So, when his latest disappearance was on the news last December, they were not too concerned about it, thinking that he would reappear again as he always did before.

There has been no official confirmation that the skull really belonged to Haji Hassan. Do we (Brunei) even have the technology and database (dental records, DNA) to make the confirmation. Haji Hassan’s name is still in the missing persons list on the PDB’s website. Does this mean that the skull was not his or the police are still trying to figure it out.

But the fact that a human skull was found clearly indicated that someone had died and not given a proper burial. And just because there was a rope hanging from the tree, it doesn’t mean that it was definitely a suicide. The deceased’s loved ones deserve a proper investigation in order to rule out the possibility of foul play. Then there are also a number of big question marks that cannot be ignored and need answering. Found were boots, parang, rope and a skull, where were the rest of the bones?? There were houses nearby, how come no one smelled anything foul??

Although the possibility is bleak, some part of me still hope that Haji Hassan is still alive and safe somewhere out there. It is really heartbreaking to think that Haji Hassan, an elderly man, a Muslim convert, who is supposed to enjoy a care-free retired life to have to succumb to such fate, whether driven to hardship, depression, suicide or being a victim of foul play.

Dead End

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Despite coming from a wealthy family, Y worked hard from the bottom to get to where he was in the country’s civil service. In the late 1980s, he had risen up the ranks to take up a high position, first in the Ministry of Health, then in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. Y had it all – a successful career and a family that loved him. All that changed in 1995 when a horrible diving mishap had left him in a coma.

The news about what had befallen Y came as a shock to the public. Diving is not a mainstream hobby in the country, so it took a while for the scenario to sink in. One could only imagine the level of grief that his family was going through. Prayers and words of encouragement were pouring in for his loved ones in the trying time.

As the months passed by, the dust of the shock began to settle, new hot issues took over in occupying the attention of the public, pushing the thoughts about the tragedy and the comatose Y further and further away, then fading out of people’s mind, forgotten.

Came 1996, a significantly eventful year for Brunei. His Majesty turned 50 and there was a royal wedding of His Majesty’s eldest daughter, Princess Rashidah. The public was treated with free concerts by Michael Jackson, then a month later, by Whitney Houston.  Wow! 1997-1998, the country was preoccupied with severe haze, the Asian financial crisis and the Amedeo scandal. In 1999, Brunei hosted the SEA games, then in 2000 it hosted the APEC Leaders’ Summit. 2001 was launched as the visit Brunei year.  Throughout all these, nothing was heard about what ever happened to Y. Was he still in a coma? Had he recovered?

Then on 28 July 2001, Boom! Came a jawdropping revelation that shook the country’s population to the core, sending tremors across the region, and the world even. That day, it was uncovered that Y was no longer in a coma, he had died.

Well, coma patients could lose the battle and die. Nothing jawdropping about that. However, in the case of Y, for what ever reason, those who cared for him did not declare his death when he died and did not arrange for a burial. His dead body was kept in his house and was reduced to just a skeleton when his death was finally discovered. A local newspaper reported that the body was “half-mummified”, while through the grapevine, some have claimed that the body inhibited advanced adipocere formation (wax-like). Regardless of the actual state the body was in, one thing was certain – that he was already dead for some time.

Y

How did it come to this? When did he die? Why was his death not declared? These questions have garnered a lot of public interest who wanted to make sense of the situation. Without a proper and prompt press statement, their imagination went wild. A number of theories emerged, some were plausible, some were downright outrageous, ranging from fraud of financial nature to some kind of hocus-pocus ritual. The authorities were just beginning to piece together information to get an accurate account of what could have led up to the mess and to establish whether there was a crime involved, but the court of public opinion was already in session where fingers were pointed to a certain people in the deceased’s family.

Now, here comes the plot twist. On 30 July 2001, two days after Y’s dead body was discovered, a 44-year-old woman was produced in court facing the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Apparently, from the police investigation, it was established that this woman was somewhat responsible for the fiasco. She is not a family member of the deceased. She is SK, a former midwife, who practiced Chinese medicine.

How did SK come into the picture? As had been divulged at the court proceedings, sometimes after Y was checked out from the hospital to be cared at home by his family, SK’s service was enlisted to provide alternative treatment. From their investigation, the police had found evidence that while giving the so-called treatment, she had removed the breathing tube which had led to Y’s death. She allegedly committed the offence in May 1998. As part of the treatment, she had insisted that no one would enter the room, which the family had obliged to (before they eventually barged into the room on 28 July 2001). With Y lying dead in the room, she continued the charade and continued to receive payments for her service, specifically $400k in total. The police, however, were unable to locate the said $400k, which she claimed that she had given to the less fortunate people.

The public reaction to this scenario was mixed, with some not buying it and insisted that someone in the family was complicit. So, despite SK being held as a sole suspect, the rumor mill surrounding the involvement of another party kept on churning. This obviously upset family members who were already distraught by their loss to the extent that they had reportedly sought legal advice and asked their lawyers to file an injunction against insensitive and sensational reports regarding the case.

The idea of being taken legal action for rumour-mongering actually had worked in muting the chatter about the case. In due time, the public’s attention fizzled as people moved on to discuss about other hot issues, particularly the shocking terrorist attacks on the US that happened in September that year.

Eventually people had stopped following the development and lost track of the charges brought against SK. Today, people who lived through and had memories of the bizarre case could not recall what actually happened to SK, some claimed that she was found guilty and incarcerated, some claimed that the charges against her were dropped and she was released, but nobody is totally sure.

Hat-trick

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Talk about crime in Brunei. I would say we have thefts every other day. Someone high on drugs and gambling somewhere in the country as we speak. Cigarettes and alcohol making their ways into the country through the daily mousetrail express. The Covid-19 pandemic had forced prostitourists otherwise daily activities to go on a hiatus. One or two people murdered each year. One child abuse case every other year. Occasionally, we got vandalism, corruption, extortion, assault and arson cases. Kidnapping and rape happening once in a blue moon. Then we have molestation cases which are disturbingly more frequent than one thinks.

In 2004, a man managed to pull off a hat trick by committing 3 types of crimes all in one day. 38-year-old A was at a low point of his life. His second wife just left him and his first wife was asking for a divorce. His job as a gas cylinder distributor did not pay enough to support his four children, let alone pay the bills. He tried to look for a better job, but no luck. Probably, having “ex-convict” in his CV contributed to this.

A is a habitual thief and drug user. He had been thrown into prison not just once but many times. The first time was in 1991 when he was 25 years old. He would then be in and out of prison until 2002. It was rather obvious that his time in prison didn’t really do much to rehabilitate him and it didn’t take a psychic to predict that he would do crime again. So, with a shitty job, an empty wallet and a marriage that was falling apart, what did he do? He turned to his confidant cum his shrink, Mr Syabu. But, Mr Syabu’s service came with a cost and for this A turned to his old friend, Mr Theft.

At around 5.45am on 11 August 2004, A, who was high on Syabu, began his crimeventure. He loitered at the Bandar area and had his eyes on a parked Nissan Sunny car which he then stole. He then drove to the Kiarong Complex area. There he scanned through for things to steal. He saw bundles of newspapers outside of a shop and snatched some of them. From Kiarong he went to the Jame’ Asr Mosque area and drove along the back road, the Jalan Kiulap that is leading towards RIPAS, prowling. By then it was already 6.45am. People were already out and about, sending their kids to school and going to work. As he drove closer to RIPAS, he came across a food stall with some customer traffic. He saw an opportunity there and decided to stop and park by the roadside, observing. In a matter of minutes, the normal hustle and bustle of Jalan Kiulap would be shattered and a family’s life would change forever.

A woman was screaming frantically.  She had left her car with the engine running by the roadside to go buy something at the food stall. When she came back, her car was gone. Her 5-year-old daughter was in the car. Yikes!

A is a thief not a kidnapper. He didn’t set off that morning to snatch anyone’s kid. But, an unattended car with its engine running presented to him on a platter, was too much temptation to him, eventhough he fully realised that there was a kid inside. His Syabu-polluted judgment got the better of him and he decided to drive off with the lady’s car.

The public was shocked to learn about the incident. Many were left speechless. Never in a million years did anyone expect happening in this country, an unattended child just feets away, would be at risk of being snatched. Well, nothing is unexpected when there are drugs involved. Drug addicts could do unthinkable things. The drugs also made them stupid too, hencewhy A was still driving the stolen car instead of ditching it during the ensuing manhunt. It wasn’t long for A to be located and apprehended. The kid was found safe and reunited with her family. Unfortunately however, A had outraged her modesty.

In December that year, A was sentenced to a total of seven years in jail and three strokes of the cane. Given his past record, jail time and the cane are likely just child’s play to him. Would the punishment rehabilitate him this time? I don’t think so and most likely after he got out in 2011, he went back to doing drugs and crime.  Just saying…

Snippets

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Everyone has vague memories of bizarre incidents in their lifetime, things happening in the country before there were WhatsApp, Reddit and the social media. Things that people would find difficult to believe if they didn’t see it with their own eyes. Some happened to their close ones, some they heard from the grapevines. As time passed by, details of those events got lost in memory. But, here are some of them.

Stucky Situation. Sometimes in the 80s, a couple decided to get it on at Bukit Saeh in Lumapas. However, they were faced with “separation” issues when they guy couldn’t detach himself from the girl. When all DIY efforts failed, they had no choice but to seek help. Wrapped in a blanket like a burrito, they were taken to the hospital in an ambulance where they were finally set free.

Team Spirit. One night in the early 1990s, a routine briefing by a military officer somewhere in the remote jungle area was interrupted when a Gurkha soldier, who joined the local troop in the jungle operation, suddenly acted strange. He shouted insults and mimicked the officer in a mocking way. It was clear to everyone there that he was “not being himself”, that he was possessed because he was talking in the local kedayan language, fluently. Things got hectic as he became delirious and unruly. They had to subdue him by physically restraining him. He later snapped out of it and had to be airlifted out.

Cutastrophic Dismemberment. In 2001, police were called to Kg. Perpindahan Mata-Mata where a 34-year-old local man, believed to be of unsound mind, had cut off his pecker in a fit of rage. At the scene, there were a lot of blood, but the police couldn’t find the tool that the man had used. He was then brought to the hospital for treatment. The fate of the “victim” of the slaying was not known.

Bad Break. In the 1980s, a high school girl had smuggled a test tube out of the school’s lab and brought it back to her hostel’s room for an after-school experiment. It did not, however, play out as she had hoped. In a stroke of misfortune, the test tube broke while in action.

Where There’s A Wheel There’s A Way. One late afternoon in 2001, a lady who was driving along the Muara-Tutong highway noticed that the car behind her was flashing its headlights. She slowed down and as the car overtook, the man driving the car was pointing at her car’s tyre and signalling for her to stop and so she did. At the roadside, the man offered to change her tyre and asked her to get the tyre jack. She went to the boot and as she returned with the tyre jack, the man said he was mistaken and there was actually nothing wrong with the tyre. It was a false alarm, the lady thought. It was only later that she realised that her handbag was gone.

Far Fetched. One morning in 2009, a car flew into a classroom at a school in Kg Mulaut. An Indonesian man who was driving the car was fetching his employer’s kid from the school. When he was about to park the car, instead of pressing the brake pedal, he accidentally stepped on the accelerator and the car went straight towards the classroom at high speed, hit a road separator, went airborne and flew straight into the classroom. Fortunately there was no class in session at that time, but a teacher who was sitting on her chair was thrown to the floor, although suffering just minor injuries.

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Breadcrumbs

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I cant help but be amused at how dumb some criminals are. Premeditated crimes that are not well thought out would, more often than not, land someone in jail. But leaving breadcrumbs that reveal their own identity is taking dumbness to a whole new level.

In Oct 2019, 25-year-old Ms N, a teacher at a private school, thought that she had concocted a genius plan to get quick bucks. With the help of a corrupt bank employee, she secretly registered for online banking to her mom’s account. So, she saw this big numbers on the screen, the digits were twerking in her face, calling her name. She imagined all the things that she had been drooling over could now be within her reach. There was no unseeing what she saw. She must get her hands on the money.

Well, unless she had a fake ID and with it opened up a bank account using a fake name, get ATM card for the fake ID bank account and went to the ATM wearing disguise or a big hat, then there was actually no way she could steal the money from her mom’s account and not get caught. But, the temptation seemed to be overwhelming for her, and she went on to make 15 transactions to her cousin’s account. Genius!

Can a teacher be that dumb? Here is what I think. I think that the $67k+ that she stole are just a small fraction of her mom’s money in the account and she knew that and probably was confident that the mom would not even notice them missing. It was only when the mom went to the bank, five months and 15 online transfers later, that the mom was told by the bank staff about the money transfers. Obviously, the bank could easily track who the recipient account belongs to. As to why there was no care in covering her tracks, I think she probably just thought even if the mom found out, it was just going to be a family’s internal affair. The mom would just scold her and that was it. Well, she thought wrong.

A police report had been made two days after the mom’s bank trip. The daughter and her cousin were then both arrested. It was a no brainer for the police. The press feasted on the story and added 2+ more k to the headline saying “Woman Lands in Jail for Stealing BND$70k from Mother”. The first thing on my mind when I saw the headline was.. Wow! some money the mom got there. Then, the second thing on my mind was.. Can’t the mom just let it slide?? Yea, its a big amount, but isn’t blood thicker than your wallet??

It was alleged that the mom did recoil later and wanted to just forget about everything but by then the police were not having any of it. Besides, it was not like the daughter just took some cash from the mom’s purse. There is identity theft involved, when she pretended to be her mom, applied for the online banking and made the online transfers. Then there is also money laundering, when she transferred the stolen money to her cousin’s account making them looked like the cousin’s legitimate savings, withdrew the money and spent them on personal things, shoes, handbags, clothes, watches, video games, iPhones, trips to Indonesia, and what not.

On 30 April 2020, the daughter was sentenced to two years and eight months jail while the cousin got eight months. Two months later, following an appeal from the public prosecutor, her sentence was increased to three years and four months. Unless the mom is planning to disown her, after serving the jail term, unemployed and ex-convict Miss N would still go home as her daughter. Nobody wins.

Hung Up

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At 78, Haji O is not your typical senior citizen. A retired military officer, he is more fit than any young person you know. People know him as an athlete, winning a lot of medals in the veterans category, both in local and international events. He has truly become an inspiration to everyone, young and old people alike.

When it comes to his passion for running, Hj O takes the bull by the horns and didn’t let old age slow him down. Rain or shine, pavement, sand or dirt, he would still don his running shoes and make the miles. People have come to recognise him. He is already used to people asking to take pictures with him, happily smiling for the camera.

Behind his seemingly content exterior, however, there hidden grief, a big, gaping wound left in his heart, that never stops bleeding.

20 years ago, Hj O got a phone call that no father should ever receive. His son was found dead in his flat, hanging from a fan on a wire. The police who responded to the scene quickly established that it was a suicide. Or was it?

This is the local police we are talking about, not the Hawaii five-0 or the CSI Las Vegas. So, the lack of imagination was not unexpected. Also not unexpected was the lack of due care in protecting the integrity of the crime scene, with a number of other tenants of the flat sneaking a peek of the dead body, tainting any potential evidence along the way.

Three days later, much to the shock and dismay of family members, the local newspaper carried the headline “Navy engineer hangs himself”. It was a double whammy for Hj O as not only he lost his beloved son, then he would have to deal with the stigma of his son taking his own life.

From the beginning, Hj O had refused to accept the assumption that his son’s death was due to suicide and rightfully demanded for an investigation. As catchy as it might sound, the headline was misleading, irresponsible and insensitive, to say the least. Perhaps due to the backlash from family members or the police, the next day after the headline came out, the newspaper stated “Police investigate engineer’s death”, saying that the case was still under investigation pending a postmortem report by the pathologist.

Nothing was heard about the autopsy result after that. But, even if the pathologist confirmed that the cause of death was hanging, that is by no way a solid confirmation that it was a suicide. Some detective work would still be required to totally rule out the possibility of foul play. Was there a suicide note? Was he suffering from depression? Did he just go through a bad breakup?

The deceased was married when he died and they were living in married quarters inside a military camp. The other tenants of the flat where they were staying are his fellow military personnel, everyone knew everybody, they bumped into each other on a daily basis, at the stairwell, at the parking area. It is hard to imagine that no one around him knew or noticed any tell tale signs of his impending death, be it suicide or murder.

The big question mark is Where was his wife when it happened?? Well, sources have claimed that during the time leading up to his death, they were having marital problems and the wife was staying with her parents. Right about the same time, a lady, alleged to be his girlfriend, was seen with him, frequenting his place. According to the sources, the relationship seemed to be exclusive as there was no attempt to be discreet. Now, the big question mark shifted to Where was the girlfriend when it happened?? I would definitely zoom in on the girlfriend to unravel the mystery.  She knew something.

If there was really ever any investigation done by the police, there was never any update on it to the public, and now that two decades have passed, I don’t think there ever will. For the tenants of the flat, some of which have now retired from service, the case still haunts them to this day. For me, three things from the accounts of the tenants still resonate in my sleuth mind. Firstly, on the following day after the alleged suicide, the girlfriend with an older lady (believed to be her mom), were seen entering the crime scene and leaving with loot including an air conditioning unit. (She later claimed that those are her things that she had left there during their relationship). Secondly, an unfamiliar man was seen in the vicinity in an around the time of the alleged suicide. And thirdly, the feet were touching the floor. My my my..