Arriving in Singapore to study for an IT degree, Miss Iordanka Aposolova, 26, a Bulgarian national, struck up a friendship with Shaiful Adam, 22, from who she agreed to buy a car. When they began to dispute the price, Adam asked for a meeting at his flat in January, 1998.
When Iordanka arrived, Adam was with a friend, Norishyam Ali. They asked her for the money for the car but she shook her head. Adam then slashed her on the neck with a knife. As she screamed, Ali kicked her to the floor and held her down. Adam began hacking her with an axe, while both men forced her to drink drain-cleaning fluid.
They took her to a nearby canal and dumped her in the water, where she took an agonising 24 hours to die, partly through drowning.
Adam and Ali were hanged at dawn on Friday, July 2nd, 1999, at Changi Prison. Adams wife, convicted of acting as lookout, was sentenced to six years.