TAIPING, Sept 24 — The villagers of Kampung Larut Tin Tambahan were unaware that a suspected killer, high on the police wanted list, was living among them.

Senior citizen Soo Ah Soo, 66, was unaware the suspect, 44, had been living opposite his house in Taiping until the arrest shortly after midnight on Sunday.

“I was about to sleep when there was a noise outside. I looked out the window to see and was surprised to see so many policemen, some of them heavily armed,” he told The Malay Mail.

He said the police, who moved into the suspect’s hideout silently, left after about an hour.

“I thought they were after some drug addicts,” said Soo, who only learned the story after watching the news on television.

The suspect’s hideout was located at the end of long and quiet road.

From the outside, the wooden house looked ordinary, with uncut grass and rubbish strewn across the front yard.

Soo said the house had been empty for about three years after the owner, a spinster, passed away.

“It was about a week ago that I saw a man in his 30s moving into the house, and I thought he was a new tenant.”

“He came on a motorcycle, did not talk much, seldom came out, and did not appear to be friendly,” said Soo.

However, he had not seen anyone else coming to the house.

Village chief Abdul Ghaffar learned of the suspect’s hideout only when asked to comment by The Malay Mail.

“It would have been hard to know as there were some 3,000 people living here, who are mostly senior citizens.

“The houses are also spread put across a wide area,” he said.