SINGAPORE: It has been six years since businessman Spencer Tuppani was stabbed to death by his father-in-law along Boon Tat Street on allegations of cheating and business deceit, but family members left behind on both sides are still embroiled in lawsuits.
In the latest development, a district court dismissed a bid by the widow of Mr Tuppani, her sister and Mr Tuppani’s ex-wife, to recover a Richard Mille watch from Mr Tuppani’s parents.
The three women, who are the administrators of Mr Tuppani’s estate, asked for either the missing watch back or a sum of S$389,205 (US$293,100) in damages.
The suit was launched by Mr Tuppani’s widow, Ms Tan Cheng Cheng, her sister Tan San San and Mr Tuppani’s ex-wife, Ms Keh Lay Hong – against Mr Tuppani’s parents, Mr Shamlal Tuppani Bisaysar and Madam Tham Poh Kwai.
In a judgment released on Thursday (Dec 14), District Judge Jonathan Ng Pang Ern said the police first handed the watch, which Mr Tuppani was wearing when he was killed, to Mr Tuppani’s father, Mr Shamlal.
According to the plaintiffs, Mr Shamlal handed the watch to his son’s long-time mistress, Ms Joan Yeo Gek Lin.
The plaintiffs alleged that Ms Yeo passed the watch to Mr Tuppani’s mother, who sold it for S$160,000.
However, the woman denied ever getting the watch.
HAVE YOU EVER LOST A SON: MR TUPPANI’S FATHER
During the trial, Mr Shamlal testified that he had handed the watch, along with other items the police passed to him, to Ms Yeo because he was in “unbearable grief”.
He said he did not want to hold onto the items as looking at them caused him “terrible pain”.
He said he left the watch on a table for Ms Yeo as he was “very distraught, upset” and traumatised by what he saw after rushing to the site of the stabbing.
“I put it down there … because at that time I was traumatised,” testified Mr Shamlal. “My ex-wife was there, my son was there. I was trying to figure out how to arrange a funeral so that … (all can) attend.”
He said his mind was “all upset”, adding: “So, you think I have that time to bother who take the watch or who do with the watch?”
Asked why he did not hold onto the watch, Mr Shamlal said: “I was traumatised by the blood, everything.”
His 38-year-old son had been stabbed thrice at 121 Telok Ayer Street in July 2017 by his depressed father-in-law, who told him: “You are too much.”
After stabbing Mr Tuppani, the killer – Tan Nam Seng stopped others from helping the collapsed man and said: “This is my son-in-law, don’t help him, let him die.”
When Mr Shamlal was grilled on why he gave the watch to Ms Yeo, he answered: “Have you ever think of how you feel to (lose) a son? Do you, do you understand? Have you ever lost a son?”
The judge accepted that Mr Shamlal did not consider the question of who was entitled to the watch at all at the time he handed it to Ms Yeo.
Mr Shamlal also testified that Ms Yeo was the closest person to his son at the time.
While Ms Yeo was named as a defence witness and gave a sworn statement saying that the watch was handed to Mr Tuppani’s mother, Ms Yeo did not take the witness stand despite Mr Shamlal issuing a subpoena against her.
No reason was given for her absence from the trial, but because she did not show up, her statement could not be considered as evidence.
This also meant that there was nothing credible to rebut Mr Tuppani’s mother’s claim that she had never come into possession of the watch.
Mr Tuppani’s widow claimed that she overheard calls over speakerphone in 2020 where Mr Tuppani’s mother said she had taken the watch and sold it to someone named Tony.
However, the judge said this evidence was not convincing as the calls were raised for the first time at trial, with no evidence from the participants of the calls.
The judge found that the plaintiffs had not made out their case against Mr Tuppani’s parents and dismissed their claim. He asked both sides to make submissions on who is to pay costs.
Mr Tuppani’s killer was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years’ jail in September 2020, backdated to when his date of arrest in 2017.
If he was granted the usual one-third remission, he would have been released this year.