KUALA LUMPUR: The main accused in the murder of seven-year-old Ho Ping, whose body was found in a bag in a river in Perak two years ago, is dead.

Ho Ping's body was found in a bag in a river in Perak two years ago.

Prison officials found Kee Lian Kok, 30, unconscious in his cell at the Sungai Buloh prison here yesterday about 10am and subsequently brought him to the Sungai Buloh Hospital where a doctor pronounced him dead.

Gombak police chief Assistant Commissioner Abdul Rahim Abdullah said prison officials had already lodged a police report.

He said initial examination showed that there were strangulation marks on Kee's neck, adding that police believed Kee had died a few hours earlier before he was brought to the hospital.

Sources said that Kee hanged himself in his cell. There was also a note found next to his body. On it was Kee's request that Ho Ping's family forgive him for what he did.
The sources also said Kee had asked Ho Ping's family to pray for him when his body is brought back for burial at his family home in Penang.

Checks with the Sungai Buloh Hospital confirmed that Kee's body was at the hospital mortuary.

Kee's body was claimed by a family member at 9.45pm. His body was taken to the family home in Lorong Panchor Indah 3, Taman Panchor Indah, in Nibong Tebal.

Kee and a Chinese national, Su Qiao Mei, 36, had been charged with kidnapping and murdering Ho Ping.

Their trial began on Sept 25, 2006, at the Shah Alam High Court.

The last hearing date was March 27 this year, and the next hearing is scheduled for June 23 and 24.

The two allegedly kidnapped Ho Ping at 91, Jalan SS19/4A, Subang Jaya, at 7.30pm on May 18, 2006, and demanded RM500,000 ransom for the boy's release.

They also allegedly murdered the boy at a plantation in Changkat Meranti in Kampung Baru Manjung, Perak, between 2am and 3am the next day.

Kee, a foodstall operator in Nibong Tebal, is married to Ho Ping's 28-year-old sister, Ho Woon Chen.

This is the second high-profile case in which the suspect hanged himself while in prison.

On Feb 18, a man, who was charged with the gruesome murder of his girlfriend's three-year-old daughter, Shearwel Ooi Ying Ying, was found dead at the Penang prison.

Prison warders found Ong Chee Leong, 29, hanging from a towel tied to a beam at the prison clinic.

Ong and Ying Ying's mother, Teh Hui Wen, 28, were arrested days after they reported the girl missing on July 6 last year.

Following the arrest, police found the charred remains of Ying Ying scattered around the Paya Terubong Chinese cemetery, in a monsoon drain opposite the cemetery and in the Air Itam river.

Police had charged Ong with the murder and Teh with lodging a false report about her daughter's disappearance.

Ong's trial had been fixed for mention at the Penang High Court on March 26 and 27.