Two Prisoners Convicted of Lai Ying Xin’s Murder 18 Years Ago Lose Appeal to Reduce Sentence

The Federal Court has dismissed an application made by seven prisoners detained “at the pleasure of the ruler” to have their indefinite detention sentences reduced.

Among the seven prisoners, who were convicted of serious offences, were two individuals responsible for the abduction and murder of Lai Ying Xin 18 years ago.

The offenders, Wong Soon Heng and Leong Soon Long, were 16 and 17 years old respectively when they committed the crime against 16‑year‑old Lai in 2008.

Another individual involved in the same crime, Teh Kim Hoong, was 22 years old at the time of the offence.

A fourth person, who was also underage at the time of the incident, was later discharged and acquitted due to insufficient evidence.

The abduction and murder

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Born on April 16, 1992, Lai was the third of four children. She was a high achiever at SMK Sultan Ibrahim, Kulai, and was remembered as polite, diligent, cheerful and ambitious.

Lai dreamed of pursuing her studies in Taiwan and eventually becoming a flight attendant. To fund that dream, she took up a part‑time job as a salesgirl at a shop in a local shopping centre. However, in the evening of September 2008, she never returned home from work.

According to court documents, Lai was abducted by four individuals, who were later revealed to be her former schoolmates and people who knew her personally.

The motive for the crime was simple yet chilling, money, although Lai’s mother claimed her daughter was murdered for rejecting Teh’s romantic advances.

After abducting Lai, the offenders strangled her to death, then burned her body in an abandoned house in Taman Nam Tak in an effort to conceal evidence of the crime.

Despite her death, the group pretended that Lai was still alive and contacted her family to demand a ransom of RM60,000, prompting the family to file a police report.

A special investigation team was later formed to monitor the situation while tracing Lai’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, her family tried their best to raise the ransom money. In just one day, they managed to collect over RM30,000 and handed the sum over to the kidnappers.

Tragically, Lai’s charred body was discovered a few days later, hidden in a gunny sack. Her identity was confirmed by her family, who recognised her through the crystal necklace she wore and her teeth.

Teh was initially sentenced to death but…

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In 2010, the case finally went to trial. The court’s decision was swift and decisive — Teh, believed to be the mastermind, was handed the mandatory death penalty. Wong and Leong, who were minors at the time of the crime, were spared the gallows but were sentenced to indefinite detention unless the Sultan intervened.

Though heartbroken, Lai’s family found some comfort in the finality of the court’s decision.

However, in 2023, Malaysia abolished the mandatory death penalty for several serious crimes, including murder.

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In early 2024, Teh, who was in his late 30s at the time, applied for a sentence review. In May of the same year, the Federal Court commuted his death sentence to 40 years’ imprisonment and 17 strokes of the cane, backdated to the date of his arrest in 2008.

This meant Teh could be released as early as 2048, when he would be in his 60s.

Unsurprisingly, Lai’s family, who were present during the resentencing hearing, were devastated by the outcome.

“We are the ones with a life sentence. We lost our daughter forever. He still has a life,” Lai’s father was reported as saying.

Wong and Leong sought the same reduced sentence as Teh

In March last year, Wong and Leong filed applications under Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules 1995.

They argued that their indefinite detention had become unconstitutional following significant legislative changes introduced by the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023.

However, the Federal Court rejected their applications, ruling that their cases did not meet the threshold of being “special and exceptional”.

Nevertheless, the applicants may still seek commutation of their sentences through the pardon process.

Featured Image Credit: Kwong Wah Daily, China Press