Augustine Ang's discharge and detention without trial On 10 October 1972, the Gold Bars triple murder trial took place at the
High Court, with two veteran judges—Justice
Choor Singh and Justice Frederick Arthur Chua—presiding over the trial. However, Ang did not stand trial, as he had been granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal and indefinitely detained without trial under the
Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act. His discharge without trial was attributed to his confession to having taken part in the murders and the sustained consistency of his testimony; he also became the prosecution's chief witness against his nine accomplices, who all pleaded not guilty to the three counts of murder. Francis, James, Konesekaram and Ringo Lee were not involved at the beginning of the robbery-murder plot. Andrew Chou and the primary subordinates had initially gathered a batch of five youths to assist in murdering the victims. They included Alex Yau, Stephen Lee and three other youths—Fernando Lee Beng Hong, Ringo's elder brother, Soh Ah Seng and a third boy known only as "Anchor". However, the latter three backed out of the plan, leading to the four participants entering the plot.
Ang's testimony From this point on, the prosecution's case relied on Ang's evidence; he took the stand on the tenth day of the Gold Bars triple murder trial. He testified that he, together with the Chou brothers and Peter Lim, first started to plan the robbery in November 1971. Lim was in charge of recruiting youths to assist them in robbing and murdering Ngo and his associates, and Ang himself was to instruct the six boys—Konesekaram, Stephen Lee, Ringo Lee, Francis, James and Yau—about their plan to rob and murder the three victims, promising each of them S$20,000 as a reward. Ang also recounted that on the night of 29 December 1971, after ensuring that the mother and sister of the Chou brothers, as well as David's two daughters, were fully asleep, the ten perpetrators gathered at the Chou family home to wait for Ngo's arrival. After the arrival of Ngo and his two associates Ang Boon Chai and Leong Chin Woo, Ngo and Leong alighted their respective vehicles and passed Andrew Chou a bag containing 120 gold bars. After receiving the bag, the ten men began to attack the three victims. Ang stated that he pinned down Ngo's legs while the latter was being strangled by Andrew Chou, and also witnessed David Chou using the green rope to strangle Leong. Ang Boon Chai was the last victim to be assaulted; Augustine Ang said that, after seeing that Andrew Chou had inflicted several punches and karate chops onto Ang Boon Chai's neck and head, he picked up a wooden block to carry out repeated beatings until Ang Boon Chai fell unconscious. After killing the three men (who all died from strangulation), the ten men covered the bodies; coincidentally, two of the Chou family's neighbours, a married couple, had just arrived home from watching a movie. To escape suspicion, David Chou went to greet the couple and ensure that they had not seen the aftermath of the murder, and Andrew Chou pretended that he was drunk and talking to the other eight men, who were standing around the bodies to prevent the couple's detection. After completing his testimony on the stand, Ang was cross-examined on the stand by the nine accused's six defence counsels: Giam Chin Toon (David Chou's lawyer), Wong Peng Khoon (Andrew Chou's lawyer), N. C. Goho (who represented Francis, James and Konesekaram), Leo Fernando (Yau's lawyer), John Tan Chor-Yong (who defended Ringo Lee and Stephen Lee) and G. Gopalan (Lim's lawyer). During the 33-hour long cross-examination of Ang, they sought to question his credibility as the prosecution's key witness, and tried to present him as an unreliable witness willing to save himself by betraying his accomplices. Ang, who admitted that he had joined the robbery in order to get rich, conceded on the stand that he did accept the prosecution's offer to turn state evidence against his accomplices out of a desperation to avoid the death penalty, while denying that he would lie to save himself. He also stated that he was fully aware of the indefinite detention resulting from the deal and that the discharge included did not amount to an acquittal or pardon. When the lawyers representing the Chou brothers attempted to assert that Ang was the true mastermind who initially suggested the robbery-murder, the key basis of their defence, Ang denied that account as well. He spent ten days taking the stand, including his testimony and cross-examination.
Defence When called to give their defence, the Chou brothers asserted that Ang was the true mastermind of the robbery-murder. Andrew Chou, who first took the stand on 21 November 1972, testified that he and Ang first met through David and became close friends. Ang would often accompany Chou during his deliveries of gold and take a cut from his earnings. After the missing money incident in October 1971, Ang first suggested that he and Chou should rob Ngo of his gold at Chou's next assignment to deliver it. Chou said that, as it potentially involved violence, he never agreed to the plan, and felt that the robbery was unreasonable given his existing good salary as a smuggling assistant. After some persuasion, Chou agreed to Ang's plan, which originally comprised kidnapping Ngo and selling the gold he received for money; they were to subsequently release Ngo and return part of the gold to him. He also accused Ang of causing the murders as the original recruiter for the robbery. David Chou similarly testified that Ang was the mastermind; according to himself, he only joined the plan at the last moment after agreeing to another offer by Andrew to do so, and helped to catch one of the victims. He also stated that the victims were still alive when their bodies were brought out. While summarising their submissions, the defence counsels urged the court to reject Ang's testimony, saying that his evidence was untrustworthy.
Verdict On 4 December 1972, after a 40-day trial, Chua delivered the verdict of the two judges. They agreed that, notwithstanding his reprehensible conduct and the risks of solely relying on his evidence, Augustine Ang was by all means a truthful witness, and rejected the defence's attempt to impeach his credibility as the prosecution's key witness. The rejection was attributed to Ang's consistency throughout his testimony, and that his account was validated when presented in light of the other evidence and testimonies. They also rejected the nine accused's respective accounts, and were convinced that Andrew Chou was the "prime mover" of the conspiracy behind the gold heist, with his role as a middleman in the gold deliveries being ruled to be instrumental in enabling the men to rob Ngo and his associates of the gold before killing them; Ang was portrayed as only following his decisions. David Chou and Lim were also found to have been Andrew Chou's principal collaborators as they had helped to take charge of the operation and recruited the boys; the remaining six youths were held equally responsible for their role in the murders. The nine accused were thus found guilty of three counts of murder. However, Stephen Lee and Ringo Lee were imprisoned indefinitely at
the President's Pleasure instead of receiving the death penalty as they were under the age of 18 during the murders. On the other hand, the remaining seven accused – Andrew Chou, David Chou, Lim, Yau, Francis, James and Konesekaram Nagalingam – were
sentenced to death. Tan, the lawyer representing both Stephen Lee and Ringo Lee, was allowed to submit a mitigation plea on behalf of the two boys prior to their sentencing to detention under the President's Pleasure. Tan submitted that Ringo Lee, a son of a provision shop owner, had lost his mother five years before, and he was the ninth of ten children, with two sisters and seven brothers. According to the plea, Lee had fallen into bad company and become involved in the murders; as a
Christian, he wanted to have a second chance in life and had learnt his lesson. It was also submitted that Stephen Lee dropped out of school at age 13 to help his father at his electrical shop and had four older brothers and one younger sister. He found bad company and was manipulated by the adult perpetrators into killing the three men, and wished for a chance to reform himself. It was reported that, after the death penalty was pronounced on the seven adult defendants, both Konesekaram's older sister and mother, as well as the female relatives of Francis and James, wept at the verdict, with one of them fainting. Yau began to cry while the remaining six condemned were silent and emotionless. Ang, who was also present in court, was reported to be visibly moved at the death sentence given to his former accomplices. The trial itself, which oversaw the imposition of capital punishment on seven people, was considered the second-biggest trial in Singapore's legal history since 1826, after the
Pulau Senang murder trial hearing, which saw 18 out of 59 men sentenced to hang for killing four prison officers during a prison riot in Pulau Senang. Ang was released in 1987 after serving 16 years in detention. One of the juveniles, Ringo Lee, was released after spending 17 years in prison, while Stephen Lee remained incarcerated as of 1993, before he was released in an unknown year. ==Appeal processes==