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Man who brutally stabbed wife to death in Loyang Gardens jailed 10 years

On 1 November 2017, Krishnan Raju (in red) was escorted by officers to the Loyang Gardens condominium on Jalan Loyang Besar where he allegedly killed 44-year-old Raithena Vaithena Samy. Photo: Yahoo News Singapore
On 1 November 2017, Krishnan Raju (in red) was escorted by officers to the Loyang Gardens condominium on Jalan Loyang Besar where he allegedly killed 44-year-old Raithena Vaithena Samy. Photo: Yahoo News Singapore

SINGAPORE — A man who was found to be suffering from delusional disorder of a jealous type when he stabbed his wife to death in their bedroom, was also found to be suffering from acute alcohol intoxication at the same time.

This contributed to Krishnan Raju’s offending, as there was impairment of attention or memory during the episode due to his intoxication, ruled Justice Hoo Sheau Peng.

Considering the facts of the case, the High Court judge sentenced the 53-year-old to 10 years’ imprisonment, but did not impose caning or jail in lieu of caning due to Krishnan’s medical condition.

Krishnan had pleaded guilty to one count of culpable homicide for stabbing Raithena Vaithena Samy with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, at his residence in a Loyang Gardens condominium on 26 October 2017.

He ended up killing his wife of 28 years, after years of possessively keeping tabs on her whereabouts.

Jealous rage

Krishnan’s jealousy intensified in the last year of their marriage, as he often stalked Raithena, 44, checking her phone and accusing her in front of their family of cheating on him. At the time, Raithena was having a clandestine affair with a male colleague from November 2016.

His suspicions against his wife peaked after he heard a voice recording where she mentioned the name of another man. This was after he had installed an audio recording device in his daughter’s bedroom to record his wife’s conversations.

On the night of the incident, Krishnan, a self-employed bus driver, returned home after work and consumed gin. He retrieved the recordings from his daughter’s bedroom and heard his wife mention a man named “Saravanan”. He formed the impression that his wife was having an affair and laughing at him.

Raithena returned home at around 9pm and took a shower in the toilet attached to the master bedroom. By then, her husband had drunk 200ml of gin, which had 43 per cent alcohol content.

The intoxicated man took a knife from the kitchen sink and a hammer from a toolbox, entered the toilet where Raithena was showering and stabbed her, leaving a trail of blood on the toilet floor. He dragged her to the master bedroom where he again stabbed her and strangled her as she screamed.

He then hit a power socket with his hammer, causing his house to black out, before fleeing his home.

Before he escaped to Malaysia, Krishnan, who shared a 20-year-old son and 22-year-old daughter with Raithena, sent a last message to his loved ones to “forgive him”.

He fled to Malaysia but returned to surrender himself at Woodlands Checkpoint on 27 October 2017.

While Justice Hoo accepted that Krishnan suffered from acute alcohol intoxication, she noted that this was a minor contributory factor to the offence. That said, Krishnan’s self intoxication was also an aggravating factor, as was his failure to seek help for his wife after the act.

The judge took into account that Krishnan’s delusional disorder substantially impaired his mental responsibility for the act of causing his wife’s death.

While there was no indication as to how long Krishnan would require antipsychotic medication or treatment, it was also clear that he was at a low risk of reoffending as long as he was compliant with taking his medication, said the judge.

Said Justice Hoo, “I also note that the accused was (and is) remorseful. This is demonstrated by his attempts to kill himself after the attack, his surrender to the authorities the very next day, his expressions of remorse in his statements and his plea of guilt.”

For culpable homicide, Krishnan could have been jailed for life, or up to 20 years. He cannot be caned as he is over 50.

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