Nik Hashim FCJ:

Background

[1] The appellant was convicted and sentenced to death by the High Court for the murder of his second wife Maray Chelek ak Rindat @ Nur Afiza bt. Abdullah (the deceased) on 2 March 1996 at about 2150 hours at the Sunday Market, Jalan Satok Kuching, Sarawak in contravention of s. 302 of the Penal Code (the PC). His appeal against the conviction and sentence was dismissed by the Court of Appeal (see [1999] 2 CLJ 780). The appellant appealed to us. On 6 February 2007 we unanimously dismissed the appeal and affirmed the conviction and sentence.

[2] The appellant married the deceased in June 1993 at Padang Besar Thailand. The deceased was a native of Sarawak and hailed from Kuching. The appellant came to know her when she was working as a guest relations officer in a karaoke lounge in Kuala Lumpur. From the marriage, they had a daughter. The appellant was a lance corporal in the Anti-Drug section of the Police Force before his arrest. They stayed at the police barracks at Ampang Police Station, Kuala Lumpur where the appellant was attached. His first wife (DW2) was a nurse and he had three children by her.

[3] During their marriage, the deceased used to go back to Kuching to visit her mother (PW9) and the appellant sometimes would accompany her. On 13 February 1996 the deceased left for Kuching together with her daughter without the knowledge or approval of the appellant. The appellant looked for the deceased amongst her friends in Kuala Lumpur but without success. He claimed that he received two threatening phone calls one on 24 February 1996 threatening to kill him if he went to Sarawak and the other call was on 28 February 1996 calling him to fetch his child. He then proceeded to Kuching by air with his brother on 2 March 1996.

[4] On arrival in Kuching, he went looking for the deceased at her Kampong but failed to locate her. He then proceeded to Kuching town and bought a knife after he claimed that two men were following him.

[5] After failing to locate the deceased at the stall of her mother at the Sunday Market, Jalan Satok, he proceeded to a karaoke lounge where he drank stout and beer.

[6] Subsequently, he left for the stall of the deceased's mother where he met the deceased. He talked to the deceased about their relationship and why she left him. At that time, Awang Jamaluddin, PW7 was also at the stall. This is what the appellant said in his examination-in-chief:

I asked her why she treated me like this. She answered that it was her own business: "I can do what I like - why do you want to know about it." I asked her again why she had not returned home for a week and where she was staying. She answered me loudly saying that where she was and with whom she was staying was her own business and why I should know about it. I asked her again why she did not return to the house as it was our child's birthday. She answered that whether she wanted to return home or not was her own business and she also said she was not free. I pointed at Awang and asked her "Who is that man?" She answered "He is my man - why do you want to know?" I told her "How about me?" She replied "That's your business, you can go wherever you want!" I asked her again who was the man seated next to her. She replied: "He is my man - why you want to know - you can go back and don't come again."

[7] The appellant said that the deceased was talking loudly and roughly to him and as he could not stand her responses and the manner in which she answered him, which made him feel less than a man and caused him to suffer what he called 'dayus' in Malay, he therefore stabbed the deceased three or four times with the knife. The police personnel subsequently came to the scene and arrested the appellant. The knife (P2) with blood stain of the deceased was recovered from the scene by the police.

[8] According to the pathologist (PW15), he found 7 stab wounds on the deceased's body: 4 on her chest and 3 on her back. The cause of death was h