In the year 1998, in Marina South, Singapore, was broken and awoken by a brutal crime, it would later be called one of the city’s most senseless murders. The man behind it, was a guy called Jonaris Badlishah(also known as “Liar Joe” cos he’s known as a bullshitter), educated, and well-spoken. To those who knew him, he was charming guy with royal connections as a nephew of the Sultan of Keda (yep, his uncle was the sultan) but this did not mean he or his parents were rich as the lineage of succession skipped them. But beneath the surface, Jonaris was crumbling under debt, insecurity, and a desperate need to prove his worth to the woman he loved.

That woman was Saifon, a Thai national working in Singapore as a Prostitute. Jonaris’s was well known to frequent the brothel and Saifon became his favorite go-to woman at the brothel as with time he developed affections for her and he found comfort in her, but Jonaris wanted to be more than a boyfriend, he wanted to be a hero in her eyes. Saifon had once owned a Rolex watch, a cherished gift from her ex-husband that she later pawned when money was tight. She regretted losing it deeply, and Jonaris, hearing that regret, became obsessed with replacing it. To him, giving her another Rolex would prove his devotion and erase the feelings of inadequacy that gnawed at him, but he didn’t have the money to buy one. In the weeks that followed, Jonaris began to plan.

He had a sinister to plan to mug a person and steal the rolex, he tried at first in the middle of the night but he chickened out and got scared, but after another visit to Saifon, it re-ignited his desire to prove his affection. Jonaris worked as a prop assistant for commercial shoots, and by virtue of his work he learned of a 42-year-old beautician named Sally Poh, a woman who often wore a Rolex watch on her wrist. Sally was known to be hardworking, friendly, and unsuspecting, the perfect target. Posing as a potential client, Jonaris called and pretended to be someone called Nigel and arranged to meet her for an early-morning photoshoot at Marina South. Sally agreed, never imagining the danger that awaited her. Sally arrived, expecting to begin her assignment. Instead, she was met by Jonaris, who carried a hammer concealed in his bag and pretended to have been sent be Nigel.

The attack came swiftly and without warning. He struck her from behind, and dragged her to a nearby bush, the blows coming harder and faster as she tried to scream. Ten strikes later the force shattering her skull and leaving her lifeless on the ground. To make sure she was dead, he used a knife on her to finish her off before unclasping the Rolex from her hand. Hours later, as the city awoke, Sally’s body was discovered, her head beaten, her hands limp, the expensive watch gone. The murder stunned Singapore. It was gruesome, irrational, and left police puzzled at first. But when investigators began tracing Rolex ownership records, they found a lead. The stolen watch had been spotted days later on the wrist of Saifon, who told officers that it was a birthday gift from her boyfriend, Jonaris and also Sally had told her husband of the phone call she had with jonaris but instead of saying she was going to meet Nigel, what she heard was “Lai Joe” and so co-incidentally this led the police to look closer to Jonaris (who was also called “Liar Joe”) and boom, the police arrested Jonaris .

When police arrested him, Jonaris tried to talk his way out, maintaining the same smooth composure that had earned him the nickname “Liar Joe.” But as evidence piled up the watch, the hammer, his bloodied clothes his calm began to unravel. Eventually, he confessed, saying that he never meant to kill Sally, only to steal her watch. His defence later argued that he was mentally unstable, depressed, and desperate. Yet the court saw the truth for what it was a carefully planned and deliberate killing driven by greed and ego. In November 1998, Jonaris Badlishah was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death by hanging. For Saifon, the revelation was devastating. The watch she had worn with gratitude was now a token of horror, a reminder that a woman had died for it.

Its crazy cos Liar Joe knew right from wrong. He planned. He chose a target. Yet desperation convinced him that one life was a fair price for a symbol. That’s how dangerous “just this once” thinking can be. Im of the opinion that love most definitely does not demand blood or self-destruction. The moment affection needs proof through extreme acts, it’s no longer love, it’s obsession mixed with fear of abandonment.

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