Double murder: Filipino jailed 80 years
Published on: Tuesday, February 27, 2024
By: Lagatah Toyos
Nurhan (white shirt) was sentenced to 40 years’ jail plus 12 lashes of the cane for murdering the gardener, one Hipang Iba Bernadus.
TAWAU: A 31-year-old Filipino was jailed a total of 80 years and ordered to be caned 24 times by the High Court here Monday on two counts of murdering a church gardener and a Sunday school teacher in Semporna, two years ago.
Nurhan Khalid (pic) pleaded guilty through an interpreter before Judge Datuk Duncan Sikodol to committing the crimes against the Indonesian men on June 26, 2022, between 4pm and 5pm, at St Mary Church in Ladang Pinang oil palm plantation.
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Nurhan was sentenced to 40 years’ jail plus 12 lashes of the cane for murdering the gardener, one Hipang Iba Bernadus.
He was handed another 40 years’ jail plus 12 strokes of the can for murdering the teacher, one Tomas Yohanes.
Nurhan was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries either a death penalty or imprisonment for not less than 30 years but not exceeding 40 years, and if not sentenced to death, shall also be punished with the whipping of not less than 12 strokes of the cane, on conviction.
Duncan ordered Nurhan to serve the imprisonment sentence concurrently from the date of his arrest on June 26, 2022.
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In delivering his decision, Duncan held that the offence committed by Nurhan was serious and could be subject to hanging as two victims died as a result of his actions.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Hurman Hussain, in presenting the facts of the case, informed the court that Nurhan murdered both victims using a machete kept on his waist.
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Hipang was slashed on the shoulder and neck, while Tomas, who tried to resolve the incident, was also slashed on the finger and neck, causing him to collapse on the spot.
Nurhan then chased the injured Hipang out of the church area and continued to slash him several times.
After the incident, Nurhan entered the clinic area and sat in the open area holding a machete, before the arrival of the police, the court heard.
The police team persuaded Nurhan to surrender, but he refused, and only agreed to surrender and threw away the machete he was holding after more than an hour of persuasion, said the prosecution.
Nurhan was represented by two lawyer brothers, counsel Jhassary and Jesseny P. Kang.
Nurhan was ordered to be referred to the Immigration Department after serving his sentence.
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