GEORGE TOWN, Dec 14 ― Ja'afar Halid, 37, who worked as a bodyguard was today charged with three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and one for causing hurt at three separate courts today.
He was first taken to the Magistrate’s Court where he was charged with murdering his employer Datuk Ong Teik Kwong, 32, by shooting him on the back of his head using a Glock 19 Gen 4 sometime between 7.15pm and 7.30pm on December 1.
He faced a second charge of killing Choi Hon Ming, 32, by shooting him on the left side of his chest and right thigh on the same date and time.
He also faced a third charge of killing Senthil Murugaiah, 38, by shooting him on the left side of his chest.
He allegedly committed the offences at the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway leading up to the Penang Bridge here.
He faces the death sentence for the murder charges under Section 302 of the Penal Code, but no pleas were recorded.
Magistrate Mohamad Amin Shahul Hamid allowed deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Nurul Huda Idris' application for the accused to be sent for psychiatric evaluation.
Ja'afar was then brought to the Sessions Court where he was charged with five counts of attempted murder at the same time, date and place.
The first three charges were for attempting to murder Arivarni Krishnan, 33, by shooting him in the head, Nurul Huda Ab Aziz, 38, by shooting her on the shoulder and Lee Hong Boon, 32, by shooting him in the left side of his chest.
He was then charged with the attempted murders of Mohamad Amirul Amin Mohamed Amir, 28, by shooting him in the left side of his chest and Puoh Bee Joo, 32, by shooting him in his shoulder.
Under Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempted murder, he faces a jail sentence of up to 20 years for each charge.
After the charges were read out, Ja'afar, who appeared calm throughout, admitted to all five charges while bowing repeatedly to the judge.
DPP Nurul Huda informed the judge that applications had been made for the accused to be sent for psychiatric evaluation.
Sessions Court judge Irwan Suainbon said the court will not record the pleas made by the accused until he is evaluated for his mental condition.
"Even though he has admitted to the charges, the court will not record the plea and I ordered for him to be sent for psychiatric evaluation for one month at Hospital Bahagia in Perak," he said.
Ja'afar was finally brought to the third court, another Magistrate's Court, where he was charged with causing hurt to Lim Boon Leng, 32, by hitting him on the head using the Glock 19 Gen 4.
He also admitted to this offence while telling the court that he understood the charge.
The court was then informed that he had been ordered for psychiatric evaluations to be conducted first.
All three courts fixed January 16 for mention of all nine cases.
