MURCIA: The man suspected of killing a Singaporean woman in Spain is being accompanied at all times by an English-speaking inmate while in custody.
Mitchell Ong, 43, remains in pre-trial detention in Sangonera prison in Murcia. He was arrested on Apr 16 in connection with the death of Singaporean Audrey Fang.
Ms Fang’s body was found on Apr 10 with 30 stab wounds.
Ong, who is Singaporean, only receives visits at the prison from his lawyer Carolina Flórez de Quiñones, who is from Alicante.
Speaking on the phone on Thursday (May 2), she said that Ong is in a state of distress and does not speak Spanish. He is accompanied by a “trusted prisoner” who is fluent in English and helps him with basic day-to-day matters while in detention.
Ong has not given a statement to the authorities, she added. According to Spanish law, he has the right not to do so. His lawyer said that at the moment, there are no plans for him to make a voluntary statement.
According to sources close to the investigation, he had no known links to the region of Murcia – where Ms Fang’s body was found – or to Alicante, where he was staying when he was arrested. The defence lawyer said Ong had entered the country as a tourist.
Ms Fang was staying at the Ritual de Tierra hotel in Javea during a solo trip to Spain. On Apr 9, she left her belongings in her room and was picked up at her hotel by a car.
The following day, a body with 30 stab wounds was found near a parking area for lorries in the town of Abanilla, about 150km away from her hotel.
The body remained unidentified for days. It did not match the reports of missing people in the area and the fingerprints did not come up on the criminal database.
Ms Fang's family in Singapore raised the alarm about her disappearance after she became uncontactable. She had failed to board her scheduled flight back home on Apr 12 and her luggage remained at the hotel where she was staying.
They identified her body after arriving in Spain.
Spanish police launched an investigation. The same car that picked up Ms Fang at her hotel was captured on closed-circuit television cameras hours later at a restaurant in Abanilla, near a field where her body was found.
Police said both Ms Fang's and Ong's mobile phones were together in Abanilla on the day she died.
Ong was arrested on Apr 16 and he appeared in court three days later, where the judge ordered him to be remanded in custody without bail.
The judge told the defence lawyer that Ong could produce a voluntary statement at any time.
The lawyer for Ms Fang’s family, Mr Manuel Martinez, is following the case in Spain while the family has returned home.
Authorities have yet to confirm the motive for the killing, although it was previously reported that police suspect there might have been an “economic” motive.
Ms Fang’s family discovered last month that she had bought insurance policies from her suspected killer in 2015.
They came across two investment-linked policies from insurer AIA that were sold by an agent named Ong Cheong Yi, which is Mitchell Ong’s Chinese name.
Marriage registration records in Singapore show that the suspect got married in June 2012 under the name Ong Cheong Yi.
Spanish police are also looking into a Central Provident Fund (CPF) nomination note that was found on her iPad.
The note, dated Mar 24, stated that Ms Fang had decided to nominate an unknown person for her CPF money because the person was her “long-time friend and trusted confidant”.
It also mentioned a loan of US$50,000 (S$68,000) that was provided to Ms Fang due to their past friendship.
CPF is a mandatory social security savings scheme that is funded by contributions from employers and employees. In the event of the person's death, these savings are given to the person's nominee or nominees.
If no nomination is made, the money will be handed to the Public Trustee's Office to be distributed to family members.
Her family said they would check with Singapore authorities if Ong had been made a beneficiary of her insurance policies or her CPF money.
Spanish police are also investigating if Ms Fang might have met Ong on an online dating app.
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Mitchell Ong, 43, remains in pre-trial detention in Sangonera prison in Murcia. He was arrested on Apr 16 in connection with the death of Singaporean Audrey Fang.
Ms Fang’s body was found on Apr 10 with 30 stab wounds.
Ong, who is Singaporean, only receives visits at the prison from his lawyer Carolina Flórez de Quiñones, who is from Alicante.
Speaking on the phone on Thursday (May 2), she said that Ong is in a state of distress and does not speak Spanish. He is accompanied by a “trusted prisoner” who is fluent in English and helps him with basic day-to-day matters while in detention.
Ong has not given a statement to the authorities, she added. According to Spanish law, he has the right not to do so. His lawyer said that at the moment, there are no plans for him to make a voluntary statement.
According to sources close to the investigation, he had no known links to the region of Murcia – where Ms Fang’s body was found – or to Alicante, where he was staying when he was arrested. The defence lawyer said Ong had entered the country as a tourist.
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KILLED DURING SOLO TRIP
Ms Fang was staying at the Ritual de Tierra hotel in Javea during a solo trip to Spain. On Apr 9, she left her belongings in her room and was picked up at her hotel by a car.
The following day, a body with 30 stab wounds was found near a parking area for lorries in the town of Abanilla, about 150km away from her hotel.
The body remained unidentified for days. It did not match the reports of missing people in the area and the fingerprints did not come up on the criminal database.
Ms Fang's family in Singapore raised the alarm about her disappearance after she became uncontactable. She had failed to board her scheduled flight back home on Apr 12 and her luggage remained at the hotel where she was staying.
They identified her body after arriving in Spain.
Spanish police launched an investigation. The same car that picked up Ms Fang at her hotel was captured on closed-circuit television cameras hours later at a restaurant in Abanilla, near a field where her body was found.
Police said both Ms Fang's and Ong's mobile phones were together in Abanilla on the day she died.
Ong was arrested on Apr 16 and he appeared in court three days later, where the judge ordered him to be remanded in custody without bail.
The judge told the defence lawyer that Ong could produce a voluntary statement at any time.
The lawyer for Ms Fang’s family, Mr Manuel Martinez, is following the case in Spain while the family has returned home.
Authorities have yet to confirm the motive for the killing, although it was previously reported that police suspect there might have been an “economic” motive.
Ms Fang’s family discovered last month that she had bought insurance policies from her suspected killer in 2015.
They came across two investment-linked policies from insurer AIA that were sold by an agent named Ong Cheong Yi, which is Mitchell Ong’s Chinese name.
Marriage registration records in Singapore show that the suspect got married in June 2012 under the name Ong Cheong Yi.
Spanish police are also looking into a Central Provident Fund (CPF) nomination note that was found on her iPad.
The note, dated Mar 24, stated that Ms Fang had decided to nominate an unknown person for her CPF money because the person was her “long-time friend and trusted confidant”.
It also mentioned a loan of US$50,000 (S$68,000) that was provided to Ms Fang due to their past friendship.
CPF is a mandatory social security savings scheme that is funded by contributions from employers and employees. In the event of the person's death, these savings are given to the person's nominee or nominees.
If no nomination is made, the money will be handed to the Public Trustee's Office to be distributed to family members.
Her family said they would check with Singapore authorities if Ong had been made a beneficiary of her insurance policies or her CPF money.
Spanish police are also investigating if Ms Fang might have met Ong on an online dating app.
Continue reading...