WAS THERE A WIRE?

I was cleaning out my apartment when I found this old article I wrote when I was 14 years old. It was about the rape and murder case of Canny Ong back in 2003 and I was writing it as a topic to exchange with my friends in e-mail. Looking back at the article, I realized my view about the case was very far-fetched at that time. Hey, I was only 14 when I wrote this, okay? A kid's imagination is very active during this period.

I am putting this article in my blog only as a reminder to myself and other law students to stop making assumptions in the future and to focus on facts based on real evidence, therefore do not - I repeat - DO NOT take this article seriously since all the facts in this article are not facts at all but merely baseless assumption made by a bored teen. Anyway, the case is closed and I do not want any one to invoke any part of this article to the detriment of the parties involved in the case, especially Canny's family. I do not wish to cause them more grief. So please just keep this post to yourself if you ever read it.

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The murder trial of Canny Ong has begun, and the fact that Canny didn't escape from her murdered when she had the chance - in fact, two chances - remains a mystery.

Questions were asked regarding her baffling behaviour which led to her gruesome death. What exactly happened to Canny during her abduction? Why didn't she flee when her murderer was away getting help to fix the tyre (which was shot by the cop who had stopped them earlier in their trip)? What restricted Canny from budging off from the car seat?

Theories were put forward to explain the riddle of the tragedy. As usual, rumours of black magic usage involving the murder circulate within the society following the case. But seriously, if Canny had been put under some sort of spell or charm by the murderer she wouldn't have used facial signals and gestures to warn the witnesses about the murderer and sought help from them. Furthermore, she seemed to be alert when described by the witnesses of her state at the time of her abduction.

Was she tied or handcuffed to the car seat? Not handcuffed, that's for sure, since Canny's hands were free when she made gestures for help to the witnesses. And the murderer couldn't possibly spare the the time to tie her up at the parking lot where he abducted her.

I suspect Canny was put under the apprehension of something sinister in the car. Or perhaps she was led to believe by the murderer that there was something sinister in the car. Forget the knife. It's true that the murderer did snatch her at knife point, but I crossed that out because when the murderer was away from the car Canny wasn't under knife threat anymore. She had the chance to escape at that time.

So what could be more sinister than a knife? What becomes dangerous when you invoke it? What is it that endangers your life when you tick it off?

What if that thing was a bomb?

A bomb needs three elements: detonator, blasting cap and explosive. A detonator is the device which activates the bomb, ranging from a burning time fuse to the M128 motion/proximity detonator. A blasting cap is simply a small charge of volatile explosive. One end is placed in the detonator, one end into the explosive. These are standard military-issue items. They include small loops to secure them to a surface with nails or string, a plug to accept a blasting cap and fit into military-issue explosives, and a length of tripwire if needed.

The M112 Pressure Detonator device is similar to a push-button: any weight (adjustable .1-10 kg) on the device will activate it. The M134 Mine Activator device, when properly inserted into a mine, turns the mine into a trap. If the mine is lifted or tampered with, it will detonate even if the mine's regular detonator has been disarmed.

Therefore, the murderer might have used the same type of bomb device to restrict Canny's restriction from budging off from her car seat. Where else would he install the bomb? The car seat, of course. And when the murderer put Canny on the seat, he might have told her that the bomb will explode if she lifted her weight from the seat. That must have kept Canny from coming out of the car when the witnesses tried to coax her out.

OK, you might ask, "if there really was a bomb, how come the police didn't find it when they searched the car?".

I did say that Canny may have been led by her murderer to believe there was a bomb inside the car. The question is, how would the murderer convince his victim that the bomb is there? There must be something that Canny saw inside the car that convinced her.

Then I remember the news of Canny's death went on something like this, "... the corpse, believed to be a woman, was found strangled, stabbed, raped and burnt...". The word "strangled" suddenly becomes a clue to my suspicion.

What was Canny strangled with? Her body was badly burnt till it became black and unrecognisable, and it was found that she had been scorched with a blazing tyre (could it be the same punctured tyre the murderer had tried to fix?). The markings of anything that was used to strangle her with may not be easily detected in post-mortem, except for bruises that cut into her flesh.

It made me ponder for a while: what can be used to strangle someone and resembles part of a bomb device? A wire.

Some bombs use tripwire if necessary, like the M116 Pull-Release Detonator which activates when its tripwire is pulled or cut. I imagine that the murderer might have attached a certain 'dummy' wire to the car seat to make it look like as if the seat was installed with a bomb. So when he put Canny on the seat, he might have told her that the "bomb" will explode if she budges off from the seat. Canny, in fear and horror (and certainly not a bomb expert), was led to believe that her murderer was a madman who would dare to install a bomb inside the car which he himself is driving. When fear takes over a person, he or she has nothing to reason but to believe. And sadly, Canny believed in her murderer's foul play. When the witnesses surrounded her and tried to coax her out of the car, Canny refused to do so for fear of detonating the "bomb" and killing herself as well as the others around her. The witnesses may not have seen the wire because it was dark at that time, and possibly because the wire was attached under or either sides of the car seat.

Finally, when they got to the murder site, the murderer could have taken out the wire from the car and used it to strangle Canny. After his job was complete, the murderer may have disposed the wire away somewhere or burn it along with the tyre, and Canny.

What do you think?

Was there a wire in the murder scene?

"THE CHEMISTRY" BY BUTTERFINGERS is playing in my mind today.