His name was Leslie Khoo. We first met at a church in 2014.

Two years on and he may be convicted for your death, and sentenced to life imprisonment. If he is found guilty, it could even be "a life for a life".

Back then, my friends and I were embarking on our Final Year Project about ex-convicts. I read the news that he was helping families who had an incarcerated family member by handing out Christmas hampers to them. It was an initiative called "Angel Tree Christmas Hampers Programme". I thought it was a lovely gesture.

He sounded like a reformed man, having been in and out of prison himself and serving the community now.

I tried to track him down, so that I could get to know him and also enlist his help in putting us through to those families. We weren't looking to feature him, but hoping to find a profile amongst the many families he helped that suited the theme of our project: families of convicts.

I called Yong Lee laundry services to get his contact, but they said that he no longer worked there. Then they passed me another number, and the person who picked up the call eventually forwarded me his number.

Finally, I got to him.

He sounded very very friendly on the phone. Likeable, in fact. He was surprised by my tenacity at tracking him down even after he left his first job. Sounds like a nice guy, I thought. I told him about my group's project and how we needed his help to get into contact with the families that he helped. He said sure! Let's meet up so we can formally introduce ourselves to each other and see how we can move on from there.

I told my group mates about him. I shared the good news. Hooray! A breakthrough, we'll have something to work on now. Back then, we were really trying our hardest with getting leads. So it was like a ray of hope knowing that we'd someone to rely on and who seemed just as enthused as us about our cause.

The day came for me to meet him. My group mate, Zhuoda, came along so that there'd be someone who'd accompany me and see if it sounded like a prospective lead.

Zhuoda was running late, so I went to greet him first.

There he was, standing amongst the crowd, waiting for me. I shook his hand, and we talked for a bit. He was tall, and rather big. He was just like how he sounded on the phone. Friendly, and welcoming. He told me how excited he was to take me to the church service. He told me how he couldn't wait for me to witness God's presence. Just as how God had helped him in his darkest times. He was serious. Very serious. He even told me that if I had no one to turn to, and if I needed a place of worship, that that was the very place that I should go to. He was an ardent fan of the pastor there as well and told me that, just like his pastor, he wanted to write a book about all of his life's trials and tribulations. He told me that he was an accomplished man now. Second in line from the top in his new laundry service business. He thanked God for giving him another shot at life. He drove a fancy car and lived in a fancy house. Without God's help, he'd be back in the dumps.

Leslie had been to prison twice. Both for a criminal breach of trust - forgery. The first time in 2004 and the second in 2011. He had spent a total of 22 months in jail.

Little did I know that, in 2016, he would back in jail. This time, for breaking the trust of his family and loved ones. Even yours too. And this is what I believe happened to you.

Here's a disclaimer, before all police reports are out, this is just a speculation: You wanted to marry him. He denied. Because he has a wife and a 12-year-old son. You felt unjustified. It was love, true love that you had for him. You became enraged, and in the midst of it, threatened to tell all those around him about the affair. That was your biggest mistake because his ego and reputation were at stake. He was supposed to be a reformed man. He was known by everyone around him that he was a changed man. What you say would put him in a very difficult position. He would be seen as a sinner once again. What he had taken so long to rebuild will fall just as soon as it rose. He didn't want this to happen. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let his wife down again. He couldn't let God down again. He would not let this go. And so, in a fit of rage, his hands tightened around your neck. Just as how he once gripped his wife's neck before. You struggled. Tried to unwind his fingers. But he was too strong. The light, it was slowly fading... your breath... you were out of it.

Soon enough your body would tumble, and fall. Like a rag doll.

And there you will be, on the pages of a newspaper.

That, was my story on how I met your murderer - Leslie Khoo.


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This is all true on how I met him. It's kinda terrifying actually. I just never know who I meet today could turn out to be whatever they are tomorrow or years later....

Even after we got a few profiles from him for our final year project, we didn't settle for any of them. We couldn't find a suitable profile and so, eventually I stopped contacting him and thanked him for his time.

Looking back, and you might even say that I might be clouded with judgment now... but even then, I wasn't too comfortable being with him. It wasn't for the fact that he was an ex-convict. It was the way that he had presented himself that felt strange.......

After that church meeting, I met him one more time. This time, alone, because he wanted me to witness the release of a friend from prison and his reunification with his family. I thought it was a rare opportunity because a group of Christians came to welcome him back and even sang hymns to him. He hugged his friend and invited me to join all of them for lunch as well.

As we had our lunch, he proclaimed to all those around him that he used to enjoy gambling a lot and squandered away much of his money. He also used to enjoy smoking. Then he announced to all of us that he used to enjoy sleeping with other women.

I thought that it was strange for him to be so open about his past and his adulterous ways.

I can't help but believe that he never truly mended his ways. No matter how much he felt and believed in God. He not only flaunted his wild past. He was flaunting the riches that he gained back again. He told everyone how he was now running a successful business and in a powerful position. That God had given him back all that was taken away from him. He believed strongly that he was the chosen one.

I think he became complacent. Fell back to his old ways. And I guess, never recovered.

The lethal combination of sex and riches was his Achilles' heel.


I'm not advocating that ex-convicts should be condemned for life. This is what I've never stood for. I advocate for a better understanding and acceptance of ex-convicts and their past.

But his is an outstanding case and struck too close to home. I had met him personally, even sat in his car before, just him and I, when he drove me to see his workplace. Zhuoda even felt nauseous this morning after I told her about the news and the man behind the grisly murder. The degree of his crime is too much to bear. Forgiving him would be too easy now.

I met a would-be murderer, and boy, this is a story to be told.