A man who was seriously hurt in a scuffle with another man at a Jurong West coffee shop a week ago has died from his injuries.
Mr Huang Wen Cai, a regular patron at the coffee shop, was 51 years old.
The accused is the proprietor of the coffee shop, Chen Ming Jin, also 51, who had his charges upped to murder on Thursday.
The scuffle occurred near his business, the NT1 food court, at Block 966 Jurong West Street 93 on April 11. Witnesses said they heard raised voices, and then the men moved their confrontation to a refuse area about 12m away from the coffee shop.
A witness who gave her name only as Ms Tan, a Jurong West resident in her 40s, said one of the men fell to the floor during the scuffle and seemed to be unconscious.
“I saw one of them holding the other man’s clothes, and they were yelling at each other,” she said.
“Then one of them hit the ground, and there was blood everywhere.”
A regular patron of the coffee shop, who wanted to be known only as Derek, told The Straits Times that there was blood on the walls and on the pavement when he walked by.
“I came when the ambulance had arrived. There was a man standing nearby who was yelling very loudly, while the medics put bandages around the other man’s head,” he said.
The Straits Times understands that Mr Huang was taken to the National University of Hospital in critical condition.
A store owner in his 60s, who operates a store near the coffee shop, told ST that the accused also owned several stores – including a bakery and an Indian provision shop next to the refuse area where the fight occurred.
“We have known him for over 20 years. He has a wife and grown children, and he owns all the stores near the coffee shop,” said Mr Chew, who also declined to give his full name.
Mr Chew added that fights were common in the area near the coffee shop, especially at night.
A visit to the accused’s terraced home in Yunnan Gardens at around 7pm yesterday found it in darkness. A neighbour claimed he saw Chen’s wife and a young man leaving the house yesterday, carrying small suitcases with them.
An earlier report by Shin Min Daily News said that the accused was listed in the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s records as the owner of over 10 companies, the majority of them food and beverage businesses.
The records also showed that Chen set up his first company in 1999.
He most recently established a new company last year, in the real estate business.