KUALA SELANGOR: An argument over money is believed to have driven a 38-year-old man to set a home in Jalan Tepi Laut, Tanjung Sepat on fire which killed Chia Tee Nang, 73; his wife, Lim Mai Shak, 68; and their two grandchildren Wednesday morning.
The furniture factory worker, who has a speech and hearing impairment, admitted to the committing the crime just hours after he was arrested by a team of investigators from the Selangor police contingent Serious Crimes division in Kuala Lumpur today.
At 1am today, the suspect, who is also the boyfriend of the elderly couple’s only daughter, was detained at a shoplot in Taman Pusat Kepong, where he lives.
He had earlier sought medical treatment at a private clinic in the Klang Valley shortly after the incident.
Selangor police chief Datuk Mazlan Mansor said they believe the case has been solved with the man’s arrest.
A week-long remand has been obtained against him from the Kuala Langat court this morning.
“Investigations are ongoing under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder after criminal elements were detected in the case.
“The man, who has no past criminal record, acted alone. It was a one-man show.
“The incident followed a financial dispute with the family on the same day of the incident.
“We believe that before the fatal incident, there was an argument at the house over financial matters such as loans. And that drove the suspect to commit the crime. We are investigating whether he had asked for money from the family or he owes (them).
“With this arrest, we consider the case solved. We are very sure that he was the suspect because he had gone to receive medical treatment after the incident,” said Mazlan at the Kuala Selangor district police headquarters today.
Mazlan was met after witnessing the handover of duties ceremony of Kuala Selangor district chief Superintendent Ruslan Abdullah to his successor, Deputy Superintendent Mohd Asri Abdul Wahab.
Reports had earlier stated that some of the victims were found with slash wounds.
Mazlan did not elaborate on this, saying that police are still waiting for the official post-mortem examination results from the Banting Hospital.
“Until I formally receive the post mortem results, I do not want to declare the cause of death.”