Sep 26, 2026 · 7 min · 7 segments
On Sat 06 Jan 1979, an unimaginable tragedy took place inside a quiet residential flat at Block 58, Geylang Bahru. Four young siblings were lost in one of the nation’s most perplexing and haunting…
Chris HensonHost
Four young children left sleeping in their own home on a quiet Saturday morning.
Less than four hours later, their mother opens the front door to a scene that horrified the entire nation.
And weeks later, a chilling Chinese New Year card arrived in their mailbox, signed simply, The Murderer.
At 6.35 a.m, Tan Kian Chai and his wife Li Mei Ying leave their one-room flat at Block 58, Geylang Baru.
The couple operate a shared minibus service, ferrying neighborhood children to school.
Still asleep inside the flat are their four young children, 10-year-old Kok Peng, 8-year-old Kok Hin, 6-year-old Kok Soon and 5-year-old Chin Nee.
At 7.10am, their mother calls home from a public phone booth three times to wake them for school.
She contacts her neighbour to check but knocking on the front door brings only silence.
According to the pathologist's report, each child had suffered at least 20 slash wounds.
Singapore's Criminal Investigation Department launched an immediate massive manhunt, but the crime scene presented inexplicable contradictions.
Investigators concluded the children either willingly opened the door to someone they recognized or the perpetrator had access to a key.
The home was not turned over and not a single household item or sum of money was reported missing, ruling out simple robbery.
Bloodstains found inside the kitchen sink revealed that the killer had washed themselves before walking out into the public corridor.
Over a hundred neighbors, acquaintances, and associates were questioned by homicide detectives, but usable leads were non-existent.
Then two weeks after the tragedy, a Chinese New Year card landed in the family mailbox.
Four young children left sleeping in their own home on a quiet Saturday morning.
Less than four hours later, their mother opens the front door to a scene that horrified the entire nation.
And weeks later, a chilling Chinese New Year card arrived in their mailbox, signed simply, The Murderer.
At 6.35 a.m, Tan Kian Chai and his wife Li Mei Ying leave their one-room flat at Block 58, Geylang Baru.
The couple operate a shared minibus service, ferrying neighborhood children to school.
Still asleep inside the flat are their four young children, 10-year-old Kok Peng, 8-year-old Kok Hin, 6-year-old Kok Soon and 5-year-old Chin Nee.
At 7.10am, their mother calls home from a public phone booth three times to wake them for school.
She contacts her neighbour to check but knocking on the front door brings only silence.
According to the pathologist's report, each child had suffered at least 20 slash wounds.
Singapore's Criminal Investigation Department launched an immediate massive manhunt, but the crime scene presented inexplicable contradictions.
Investigators concluded the children either willingly opened the door to someone they recognized or the perpetrator had access to a key.
The home was not turned over and not a single household item or sum of money was reported missing, ruling out simple robbery.
Bloodstains found inside the kitchen sink revealed that the killer had washed themselves before walking out into the public corridor.
Over a hundred neighbors, acquaintances, and associates were questioned by homicide detectives, but usable leads were non-existent.
Then two weeks after the tragedy, a Chinese New Year card landed in the family mailbox.
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