JOHOR BAHRU, March 12 — A 19-year-old foreign male has been arrested to assist in the investigation of a woman found dead with 14 stab wounds in a hotel room in Taman Maju Jaya here yesterday.
Johor deputy police chief Deputy Commissioner Hoo Chuan Huat said the suspect was arrested within 24 hours of the incident.
“Following the murder incident, a team of policemen from the state and Johor Bahru South district’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the suspect at a condominium in the city here at 8pm last night.
“Investigators also seized several items believed to be related to the murder, including a brown t-shirt, a pair of long blue jeans, a black hat, a pair of black rubber shoes, a closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance hard drive and two mobile phones,” he said in a statement today.
Hoo added that checks found the suspect had no previous criminal record and tested negative in a drug screening.
“The suspect was later brought to the Magistrate’s Court here for a remand application under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” he said, adding that investigators were granted a seven-day remand order until March 18.
Police have classified the case under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, which carries either the death sentence or 30 to 40 years’ imprisonment, plus a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
Hoo urged the public to refrain from speculation or comments that could disrupt the ongoing investigation.
The 37-year-old victim sustained 11 stab wounds to the chest, one to the neck, one to the right index finger, and one to her right arm.
Police received the report at 5.30am, and initial investigations suggest the murder occurred between 1.30am and 4.30am.
