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Death of Winnifred Teo

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Winnifred Teo Suan Lie
An undated photo of Winnifred Teo before her death
Born
Winnifred Teo Suan Lie

29 March 1967
Singapore
Died22 May 1985 (aged 18)
Old Holland Road, Singapore
Cause of deathMurdered by stabbing
Resting placeA cemetery in Singapore
NationalitySingaporean
EducationFinal year of pre-university education at Catholic Junior College (incomplete due to her death)
OccupationStudent
Known forMurder victim

On the evening of 22 May 1985, 18-year-old Winnifred Teo Suan Lie (张碹丽 Zhāng Xuànlì), then a student of Catholic Junior College, went out for an evening jog as usual, but never came back. The next morning, Teo's naked body was found lying in the undergrowth off Old Holland Road, Singapore. She had several stab wounds on her body and was sexually assaulted prior to her death. Autopsy reports showed that Teo was restrained and put up a fierce struggle against her killer(s) before her death from excessive blood loss.

The brutality of Teo's rape and murder brought great shock across the whole of Singapore in 1985. Although the police extensively investigated the case, the killer(s) were never caught. Teo's murder case is one of Singapore's most notable unsolved murder cases.

Background and case

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Life of Winnifred Teo

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Born in 1967, Winnifred Teo Suan Lie was the second of three children, and she had both an elder sister and a younger brother. She was a final-year pre-university student at Catholic Junior College. Her father Teo Joo Kim was a company director of a timber firm. At the time Teo was murdered, her sister, Martina Teo Suan Siew (aged 20 in 1985), was studying overseas in Australia and her younger brother, Gerald Teo (aged 16 in 1985), was studying in St Joseph's Institution. Teo was also said to have attended the St Ignatius Church in King's Road regularly. Due to her waist-long hair and tanned skin, Teo was mistaken for a Eurasian when she was actually an ethnic Chinese Singaporean.[1]

According to her teachers, classmates and family, Teo was a model student and well-liked in school. At her school, she was the student counselor and enjoyed taking part in adventure camps, and was an active student in physical activities. During the final days leading up to her death, Teo jogged during evenings to prepare herself for a school adventure camp. She could not find time to do so in school due to heavy schoolwork. Several joggers, like 16-year-old Anglo-Chinese School student Tan Meng Yan, 20-year-old polytechnic graduate Chao Tah Jin and his 16-year-old younger brother Chao Tar Wee, remembered often seeing Teo jogging or cycling along Holland Road, a popular place for joggers and where many female joggers often jogged alone. The Chao brothers described Teo as pretty, with long flowing hair. They said she usually wore pink jogging shoes and brief shorts during her jogs, but never spoke to her due to her being stern-looking.[2]

Final jog and death

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On the evening of 22 May 1985, Teo went out for a jog at Bukit Batok Nature Park as usual, leaving her Maryland Drive terrace house at 6:00 PM. It was the last time Teo's mother saw her alive.

After 14 hours, Teo had still not returned home and her mother became concerned about her safety. At 04:00 AM on May 23rd, she contacted the police and reported Teo as missing. Officers from Tanglin Police Division conducted a search for Teo in the nearby areas where she usually jogged. The naked body of Teo was found six hours later by police, lying in the undergrowth at Old Holland Road, about four metres from the road and nearly 1.5 km from her home. Teo's body was covered with mud and bruises, and there were six stab wounds to her neck. Her hands were tied with her T-shirt, and her shoes, shorts and watch were found abandoned in the nearby surroundings. It was suspected that Teo was raped prior to her death.[3][4][5]

The news of her death shocked and saddened her family, as well as the students and teachers at her school. The school's students underwent a school-organised mourning period and received early dismissals following the discovery of Teo's body. Her father, who was on a business trip in Munich, Germany, immediately flew back home. Over 500 people, including family members and classmates, showed up at her funeral to mourn Teo's death.[6][7] The murder of Teo led to Raffles Junior College warning its 1,700 students that girls should move in groups of "at least two or three". The female students were also told not to travel alone on lonely roads to and from school, and to not take shortcuts. Other schools similarly warned their students against travelling alone outdoors.[8]

Police investigations

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The case of Winnifred Teo's murder was transferred to the Special Investigation Section of the CID for investigation. The police offered a S$50,000 reward for fresh information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer(s). The offer, which was valid until 31 December 1985, was made because the police had few leads to investigate Teo's murder. The reward did not draw any new information to help solve the case.[9][10][11] An autopsy report by pathologist Clarence Lim confirmed that Teo was raped before her death, and she was attacked by more than one person.[12] She also showed signs of struggle and resistance against her attackers during the sexual assault and stabbing. The weapon, speculated to be a sharp-edged instrument, was never found despite extensive searches by the police. Over 200 police officers were deployed during the manhunt for the suspects.[13]

The police also interrogated joggers and other people who often passed by the areas where Teo usually jogged, but they could not find any suspects among these people. They arrested a man who often exposed himself in front of female joggers in the area some time before Teo's death, but the man was released as no connection could be made between him and Teo's case.[14] A 1987 update revealed the police were still reviewing the case and there were no new leads.[15] During a 1991 hearing at the coroner's court, the police stated that there was still no progress in their ongoing investigation of Teo's case. The police also could not find any motive behind the murder. They speculated that it might be due to a business-related rivalry with Teo's father, who was her father's most favourite child. However, this was refuted.[16][17]

Despite the efforts of the police, the killer(s) of Teo were never identified or found.

Aftermath

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Suspected serial killing

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In February 2000, 27-year-old financial executive Linda Chua was found brutally assaulted and raped at Bukit Batok Nature Park while jogging there. She died eight days later while hospitalized. The police, having found similarities in the circumstances surrounding the cases of Winnifred Teo and Chua, suspected that the killing of Teo could be the work of the same person who raped and killed Chua, and even suspected that Teo's murderer might be a serial killer. However, the autopsy report of Chua's case showed differences in the manner of attack on Chua compared to Teo's; the 'serial killing' theory was refuted.[18]

Notoriety

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The case of Winnifred Teo went on to become one of Singapore's most infamous unsolved murder cases.[19] There were two more murder cases, such as the 1998 unsolved rape-murder of Dini Haryati and 2000 rape-murder of Linda Chua, in which the victims, who went outdoors alone, faced a similar fate to Teo.[20][21]

In 2021, due to the renewed public attention to the unsolved 1995 rape-murder of seven-year-old Lim Shiow Rong, as well as the arrest of Ahmad Danial Mohamed Rafa'ee for the alleged murder of missing student Felicia Teo Wei Ling, the Winnifred Teo case and those of Dini and Chua were again caught in public spotlight as they were also unsolved, their killer(s) not arrested and/or their victims being raped and killed.[22][23][24][25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "No point talking about it, says dad". The Straits Times. 26 May 1985. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Winnifred was a regular jogger". The Straits Times. 24 May 1985. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  3. ^ "From the ST archives: Female jogger found dead". The Straits Times. 24 May 1985. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  4. ^ "遇害女生六道伤痕 验证未被奸污" [Murdered student has six stab wounds, assessed whether raped or not]. Shin Min Daily (in Chinese). 24 May 1985. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  5. ^ "爱跑步女生抗奸 裸尸丛林泥泞中" [Avid jogger resisted rape, naked body left in mud and undergrowth]. Shin Min Daily (in Chinese). 20 January 1987. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  6. ^ "张碹丽遗体安葬凶手仍逍遥法外" [Winnifred Teo's body laid in peace, murderers still at large]. Lianhe Zaobao (in Chinese). 27 May 1985. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  7. ^ "500 bid a final farewell to Winnifred". The Straits Times. 27 May 1985. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Rape & murder of Winnifred Teo, 18, in 1985 still unsolved after her body found at Holland Road 36 years ago". Mothership. 18 January 2021. Archived from the original on 31 December 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  9. ^ "捉拿杀害富家千金凶手 警方悬赏五万元" [For arrest of murderer of rich family's daughter, police offers reward of $50,000]. Lianhe Zaobao (in Chinese). 28 May 1985. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  10. ^ "WINNIFRED TEO MURDER: $50,000 REWARD OFFER". Singapore Monitor. 28 May 1985. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Police rewards draw few takers". The Straits Times. 16 June 1985. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Slain girl may have been attacked by more than one person". Singapore Monitor. 25 May 1985. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  13. ^ "200 policemen spare no effort in manhunt". The Straits Times. 28 May 1985. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Police on trail of flasher". The Straits Times. 25 May 1985. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Still no lead on 1985 murder of girl jogger". The Straits Times. 23 May 1987. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Still no lead on 1985 murder of girl jogger". The Straits Times. 23 May 1987. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Schoolgirl found dead in bushes: Killers still unknown, court told". The Straits Times. 1 June 1991. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  18. ^ "死亡跑道" [Jogging track of death]. Lianhe Wanbao (in Chinese). 3 March 2015. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022 – via Facebook.
  19. ^ "10 Epic Unsolved Crimes In Singapore's History From As Early As 1972 Fit For A CSI Remake". The Smart Local. 22 December 2017. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  20. ^ "From the ST archives: Murdered girl had black belt in self-defence". The Straits Times. 8 January 1998. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  21. ^ "From the ST archives: Woman who died after brutal assault and rape had a bright future". The Straits Times. 16 February 2000. Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Family of girl raped, murdered in 1995 appeal for help with case; killer still at large". The Straits Times. 10 January 2021. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  23. ^ "Murder Of Winnifred Teo Still Unsolved After 36 Years, Teen's Body Was Found At Holland Road". Must Share News. 18 January 2021. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  24. ^ "3 other unsolved murder cases that shocked S'pore, along with 1995 case involving 7-year-old". The Straits Times. 17 January 2021. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  25. ^ "Two reopened cases spark renewed interest in other unsolved murders". The Independent. 20 January 2021. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
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