Bombas (0:00)

This is a mini meditation guided by Bombas. Repeat after me. I'm comfy. I'm cozy. Cozy. I have zero blisters on my toes. Blisters. And that's because I wear Bombus, the softest socks, underwear and T shirts that give back. One purchased equals one donated. Now go to bombus.com acast and use code acast for 20% off your first purchase. That's B O M B-A-S.com acast and use code Acast at checkout.

New Zealand Education (0:30)

Imagine waking up to breathtaking landscapes, vibrant culture and a welcoming community. New Zealand is calling. If you are a passionate early childhood primary or secondary school teacher, New Zealand says come teach us. With up to 10,000 New Zealand dollars in relocation support, now is the time to make your move. Find out more about moving to New Zealand to teach@workforce.education.govt.nz open to existing qualified primary, secondary and ECE teachers. Note that this grant is only dispersed after a teacher has arrived in New Zealand and meets the other accompanying criteria.

Casefile Narrator (1:19)

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre for suggested phone numbers, for confidential support and for a more detailed list of content warnings. Please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. It was just after 2:30pm on Monday, September 15, 2003 when two ambulances turned into Barker Street, a leafy residential road in the eastern Sydney suburb of Kingsford. The ambulances pulled up outside a red brick two storey duplex with a tidy front garden and low brick fence. As they parked, a panic stricken, dishevelled young man with his jumper on inside out raced towards them. The man was 24 year old Ram Tiwari. Ram lived on the second floor of the duplex with his two 26 year old flatmates, Tay Chow Liang and Tony Tan Po Chewan. All three were engineering students from Singapore attending classes at the nearby University of New South Wales. Upon seeing Ram, the paramedics quickly locked their doors. They were understandably on edge, having been called to the property about a suspected double homicide. One of the paramedics rolled her window down a crack to hear what Ram had to say. He looked bewildered and was clearly in a state of distress. Ram told the paramedics that he was the one who'd called for help. Through heavy breaths, Ram explained that he'd found one of his flatmates on the floor, bloody and frothing at the mouth. As he spoke, the paramedics noted that Ram seemed distracted by the sight of his own hands and kept looking down at them. They were smeared with blood. Police arrived on Barker street moments later. As they made their way towards the duplex, Ram Tiwari struggled to make sense of what he'd seen. The 24 year old student, who was born in India but raised in Brunei and Singapore, had been in Australia for just over three years. He'd been granted a mechanical engineering scholarship by the Singaporean Armed Forces after completing his national service. To supplement his scholarship, Ram worked part time as a security guard, which meant he often caught up on sleep during the day. Ram told the first responding sergeant that he'd been sleeping in his bedroom when the sounds of the television blaring in the lounge room and something falling woke him. Thinking one of his flatmates had simply dropped something, he went back to sleep. Sometime later, Ram woke again to a commotion. Over the loud volume of the tv, he heard someone run past his bedroom door. Ram thought he heard his flatmate, Tony Tan Po Chowan, scream help. But he couldn't be sure. Then someone pounded on Ram's door. Ram's first thought was that someone was attempting to break in. Then he heard a loud bang, as though metal was being hit against something. This noise continued for what felt like several minutes. Still suspecting a break in, Ram locked his bedroom door from the inside until the sound finally stopped. He waited a while before opening his door and peering out into the hall to his left, he saw that the back door in the lounge room was slightly ajar. To his right, Tony was slumped next to the front door with his back against the wall, his bloodied head resting on his chest. Blood had pooled around him and a baseball bat and kitchen knife lay by his side. Terrified that whoever had hurt Tony was still in the apartment, Ram picked up the bat for protection and made his way to the back door. That was when he saw his other flatmate, Tai Chow Liang, lying behind the lounge room couch, his head completely bashed in and blood everywhere. Ram quickly closed and locked the back door, then raced back to his bedroom with the bat. He locked himself in, pulling a cabinet across the door as a barricade and and used his mobile phone to call emergency services. Ram told the operator, I need the ambulance and the police. There's been a murder. My two friends are lying dead outside. There's blood all over the place. The operator asked exactly what had happened. Ram replied, I have no idea. I was asleep and I heard this screaming when I turned. My two friends are dead. He said there was a baseball bat and a knife at the SCENE the operator told Ram to stay put and wait for help to arrive. She then asked if his flatmates were definitely dead or possibly just unconscious. Ram said there was too much blood to tell. The operator asked if Ram knew cpr. He was well versed in CPR from his time in the military, but he didn't want to try. Both Tony and Chow Liang's faces were so severely covered in blood that he didn't think he could do it. The operator asked Ram if it was safe for him to go back out and check if his flatmates were still breathing. Terror audible in his voice, Ram replied, I'm not going back outside till somebody gets here. I'm not fucking going back outside. You want to break down the door, fucking go ahead. I'm not fucking going back outside. When the operator told Ram that the paramedics had arrived, he took the bat and left his room. He walked up to Tony and saw foam around his mouth and bleeding from his head. He touched Tony's neck but couldn't feel a pulse. Tony wasn't breathing either. Not wanting to do anything else, Ram left the house via the back door and went to tell the waiting paramedics and police what had happened. In addition to being incredibly shaken by what he'd seen, Ram voiced disappointment in himself for not going outside when he heard Tony yell for help. I didn't go out, he told the sergeant on the scene. I should have but didn't. After I heard somebody being hit, I should have opened the door but didn't. Police climbed the small flight of stairs at the front of the duplex. While the lower level was occupied by the property's landlords, the second floor served as a convenient sharehouse for students attending the nearby University of New South Wales Kensington campus. It was a modest abode with four bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a lounge room. The front door opened to a small hallway that the rooms stemmed from with the lounge room at the end of the hall. The back door in the lounge room opened to a small veranda and a second set of external stairs. These led down to the concrete backyard which housed the rubbish bins and other facilities. The home's decor was bland, with bare white walls, white floors and cheap furnishings. When the police reached the top of the stairs, they found the front door closed but unlocked. The body of 26 year old Tony Tan Po Chewan lay slumped against it in a pool of blood. The officers had to push him aside to gain access. Only once they were inside did the true horror become clear. Tony's head had been so severely bashed that parts of his brain were visible. He had also been stabbed multiple times in the neck, presumably with the black handled kitchen knife lying under his right leg. One of the wounds was so deep that it had punctured his voice box. Blood was smeared all over the wall and across the door frame. The police followed a trail of blood down the hallway towards the lounge room and found Tony's prescription eyeglasses smashed to pieces along with several of his shattered teeth. Blood spatter smears and bloody footprints marked the lounge room floor, couch and coffee table. The lounge room was sparsely furnished with nothing more than a beige couch, a canvas deck chair, a coffee table and a small television sitting on a flat pack stand. Behind the couch, a makeshift desk sat low to the ground with a computer and other equipment on top the back door to its left. As police approached, they could see that the couch and deck chair were splattered with blood and appeared to have been pushed slightly out of place. Behind the couch, 26 year old Tay Chow Liang lay in a pool of blood. Like Tony, he had sustained numerous blows to the head as well as multiple stab wounds to the neck. On the other side of the room, the TV blared at high volume. Ram Tiwari was taken to the police station where he voluntarily gave two detectives a more detailed statement in an electronically recorded interview. Ram couldn't think of anyone who would possibly want to hurt Tony or Charlie Yeung. Both of them were dedicated electrical engineering students who spent the majority of their time focusing on their studies, living relatively quiet lives in Australia. Like Ram, Tony was completing his degree thanks to a scholarship from the Singaporean Armed Forces. He'd taken his education seriously, as he'd hoped to secure a good military career that could help him provide for his parents. Having already fulfilled his national service and completed a diploma in architectural technology, Tony hoped to rise to the rank of major by the time he was 30. Chow Liang's university tuition was paid by his parents who worked as food vendors back in Singapore. He was a computer whiz who happily spent his spare time online or at home watching movies. While Tony had gone out with Ram on a few occasions, Charlie Young's English was limited and he associated almost exclusively with other Singaporean or Asian students. Neither had any known enemies, nor were they involved with drugs, criminal activity, or any shady characters. Ram explained to the detectives that the previous evening of Sunday, September 14th had been uneventful. After working a security shift in the day, he'd returned home at around 6pm and watched the fantasy adventure film Lord of The Rings with Tony and Qiao Liang. The trio had made a few passing comments about the film, but nothing of note was discussed. Ram was exhausted, having worked all weekend. He was the first to go to bed at around 9.30pm, at which point everything was normal. Ram woke up at around 6.30am on Monday to a phone call from his girlfriend Elvira. They spoke for about half an hour, during which they arranged to meet at Uni. At 2pm that afternoon, Ram got up, ate breakfast and had a shower, but then went back to sleep. He didn't know what time it was when he'd first woken up to the TV blaring and the sound of something falling. But the noise had been so innocuous that he hadn't even considered getting up to see what it was. It was only when he'd woken for the second time at around 2:10pm that he heard the banging sound and screams in the hallway and realised something was horribly wrong. He repeated the same story he'd given the emergency services operator and the first responding sergeant about how he'd discovered his flatmates bodies. Rem told the detectives that on his way out to meet the paramedics, he went up to Tony and touched his neck to feel for a pulse. He then put his hand to Tony's nose to see if he was breathing. He noticed that Tony was frothing at the mouth. The blood was falling out of Tony's nose and air too, Ram recalled. Back at Barker Street, Ram took detectives on a walkthrough of the crime scene to explain exactly what he'd seen when he emerged from his bedroom. He added that when he checked Tony, a spurt of blood had come out of his mouth and. And he'd quote, sort of spasmed. While the black handled kitchen knife was a generic model that could have come from anywhere, Ram explained that the baseball bat found next to Tony's body actually belonged to him. He'd purchased it just two days earlier from a sports store in the city, but hadn't had a chance to use it yet. Despite a thorough examination of the property, investigators found no clues as to who the killer or killers might be. There was no sign of forced entry, nor was there any blood or other evidence outside the property to indicate where the perpetrator had fled to. Five sets of fingerprints were found throughout the home that couldn't be attributed to one of the tenants or their known guests. These prints were put through the police database but didn't match anyone in the system. The baseball bat and knife were forensically examined, but no usable prints were found. Albert Leisher was the landlord who lived on the ground floor of the Barker street duplex. He told police that he and his wife had been in and out of the property throughout the day. They kept the side gates locked until they returned at around 1:45pm Albert said he'd sat down to eat his lunch at 1:50pm but didn't hear any of the commotion taking place upstairs. The only person he saw run past the back window was Ram Tiwari, on his way to greet the first responders. The next step for investigators was to look into Chow Liang and Tony's movements on the day of the crime. The pair had been close friends ever since Tony moved into the Barker street apartment several months prior. Because they were both completing the same degree, they were known to be more or less inseparable around the university. On Mondays, they were both scheduled to attend a midday lecture on mobile and satellite communication systems. The two typically woke up at around 8am prepared for the day, and then studied for a couple of hours before walking to the lecture hall together. The campus was only about a five minute walk from their home and they always made the journey on foot. A forensic examination of Tony's computer, which was in his bedroom, revealed he'd spent Monday morning at home working on his thesis. He sent two emails to his supervisor, the first at 10:42am and the second at 11:06am before manually shutting the computer down at 12:02pm as fastidious students, Tony and Chow Liang both valued punctuality and were always on time for classes. However, several classmates told the police that on Monday, September 15, Tony showed up for the 12pm lecture around 15 minutes late and alone. His usually neat, gelled hair was messy and dishevelled. Some classmates noticed that he seemed distracted, restless and tired. When one of them asked Tony why he was late, he smiled vaguely but said nothing. He didn't seem to be paying attention to the lecture, instead turning his head and looking around as though keeping an eye out for someone. Unusually, Chow Liang didn't show up at all. Tony and Chow Liang had arranged to meet with a classmate named Kevin after the lecture to organise an ethics seminar they'd been working on together. But during the lecture, Tony leant over to Kevin and told him they had to cancel the meeting. He gave no explanation as to why, simply saying that Chow Liang had something he needed to do. The lecture finished a little early, at around 1.50pm Afterwards, Tony chatted to some classmates and they noticed he appeared uneasy. He was shaking from side to side. One friend asked what was going on and Tony responded that he urgently needed to go to the toilet. Other classmates noted that Tony seemed tired but otherwise normal. He told one of them that he was going home to sleep. Tony then left the lecture hall and began walking up the outdoor staircase that led off campus towards the corner of Oval Lane and Willard Street. This was a well used pathway for students coming and going from the university and was the usual route. Tony walked home just before 2pm he passed a friend named Jonathon who asked, how's it going? Instead of responding with his typical friendly smile and a warm reply, Tony grunted, it's going good, before continuing on his way. Jonathon watched as Tony made his way towards a vehicle parked near the top of the steps on Willis Street. Jonathan remembered it because the car was facing the wrong way in the one way street and was also parked in front of a no stopping sign. He could see two or three other people inside the car, all of them Asian, none of whom he recognised. Jonathon was with his friend Sean, who saw the car and its occupants too. Sean remembered Tony taking his backpack off and approaching the car's open door. Tony got into the car, which Jonathon noted as odd because he knew Tony lived in close walking distance to the campus. He then watched as the car drove away with Tony inside. Police could find no explanation as to why Qiao Liang hadn't attended uni that day. At the time he was killed, he'd been wearing trousers and a jumper with his wallet in his back pocket. Those who knew Chow Li Yang said that was how he dressed when he left the house. If he was hanging around at home, he just wore shorts and a T shirt. The fact that he was dressed suggested that he was either preparing to leave the house or perhaps expecting company. Charlie Yeung's computer was last used at 11:58am the blood spatter and positioning of his body behind the couch indicated that he'd been sitting at the low computer table at around this time when someone came up and unexpectedly hit his head from behind with a blunt object. The tip of his left index finger was crushed to the point of almost being amputated, suggesting that he'd put his hand up to his head after the first blow, at which point he was struck again. The force of these two blows was extreme enough to fracture Chow Liang's skull and cause brain damage. Further examination of his brain revealed a substance called amyloid precursor protein, more commonly known as Beta app. This substance only forms when at least two hours have passed between a brain injury being inflicted, and the individual's time of death. The presence of beta app indicated that Charlie Yang hadn't died instantly, but had survived for at least two hours after he was first struck in the head. This was a significant finding for several reasons. First, the last confirmed sighting of Tony was at 2pm and Ram's call to emergency services was placed at 2:20pm this meant that Tony was attacked during that short window of time, while Chow Liung was attacked around midday. It also explained why the five stab wounds in Chow Liang's neck hadn't bled much and why no blood was found in his lungs. Investigators believed that these stab wounds hadn't been inflicted at the same time as the blows to Chow Liang's head, but hours later, when he was either on the brink of death or postmortem. Based on the forensic evidence, investigators believed that Tony returned home through the front door. If he'd entered via the back door, he would have instantly come across Chow Li Yung's body lying behind the couch. Yet when police first arrived at the crime scene, they'd found a pot of chicken wings cooking on the stove, indicating that Tony had started preparing his lunch without suspecting anything was amiss. He'd also taken his shoes off and put his wallet in his bedroom. From the kitchen, Tony likely made his way to the lounge room, where the attacker hit him head on, smashing his glasses to pieces. At least two blows were administered with such force that Tony's nose was fractured, all eight of his front teeth were knocked out, and his jaw was broken. Blood smears, footprints, and displaced furniture indicated that he'd then fallen to the ground, but managed to get up and run down the hallway in an attempt to escape. There, the offender struck Tony in the head several more times, causing at least 12 lacerations and massive skull fractures. Bruises on Tony's arms indicated he tried to defend himself, but. But the ferocity of the attack had rendered him powerless. While his head injuries were severe enough to ensure death. Five stab wounds were also found on the right side of Tony's neck, inflicted one below the other in a brisk, frenzied attack. The evidence at the crime scene was disturbing and perplexing. If Chow Li Yang was first attacked at midday, then it meant he lay dying for two hours while the offender either lay in wait or left, and then returned to kill Tony shortly after 2pm at that point, the offender might have detected a sign of life in Chow Liang and stabbed him in the neck to ensure he was dead. Yet strangely enough, while the baseball bat and knife found next to Tony's body showed traces of Tony's blood and DNA. There wasn't a single spot of Chow Liang's blood or DNA found on either weapon. Casefile will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Mental health is just as important as physical health, shaping how we handle stress, relationships and daily life. While attitudes toward therapy have improved, stigma still persists. In a recent U.S. survey, 26% of participants said they felt uncomfortable discussing mental health due to fear of judgment. When people hesitate to seek help, it impacts not only them, but also their families, workplaces and communities. Let's continue challenging the stigma and support one another in prioritising mental well being, because when people are well, everyone benefits. At casefile, we believe therapy is for everyone, not just those facing major challenges. It's a space to build coping skills, set boundaries and check in on your well being. With over 10 years of experience, BetterHelp connects people to the right therapist From a network of 30,000 licensed professionals fully online, it offers affordable, convenient therapy to over 5 million people worldwide, with the option to switch therapists anytime at no extra cost. We're all better with help. Visit betterhelp.com casefile to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp H-E-L-P.com casefile it's time to take a proactive approach to home security. Unlike traditional systems that respond after a break in SimpliSafe's Active Guard, outdoor protection stops threats before they escalate. With AI powered cameras monitored by live agents, suspicious activity is detected in real time. Agents can then intervene by communicating with intruders, activating spotlights and alerting authorities. SimpliSafe offers affordable monitoring plans starting at just $1 a day with no long term contracts or cancellation fees. Trusted by over 4 million Americans, it comes with a 60 day satisfaction guarantee. Arming your system daily becomes a simple ritual that provides peace of mind, helping you protect the things that matter most. For a limited time, Casefile listeners can get a special 50% off your new SimpliSafe system with professional monitoring and your first month free@simplisafe.com Casefile that's 50% off with professional monitoring and your first month Free@simplisafe.com casefile There's no safe like SimpliSafe. Running an e commerce business can be chaotic, especially when it comes to shipping, but ShipStation makes it simple by managing all your orders in one place, automating routine tasks and finding the best shipping rates. ShipStation saves you time and money every month. With shipping sorted, you can focus on growing your business. Paulina from the casefile team uses ShipStation for her Shopify store, and it's completely transformed the way she manages shipping. With everything handled in one simple dashboard, she can track orders, print shipping labels, and to optimize her enterprise. ShipStation's features help you ship faster, stay accurate and keep customers happy. And as your business grows, Shipstation scales with you. No upgrades needed. That's why over 130,000 companies have grown their e commerce business with Shipstation, and 98% of those who stay for a year become customers for life. Calm the chaos of order fulfilment with the shipping software that delivers switch to ShipStation today. Go to shipstation.com and use code Casefile to sign up for your free trial. That's shipstation.com code casefile thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content the evidence at the Barker street crime scene left investigators with more questions than answers, the most obvious being why would anyone want these young men dead? By all accounts, Tay Chow Liang and Tony Tan Po Chowan were quiet, polite and intelligent students who kept a low profile while focusing on their education. They were dutiful sons who valued their families, with Tony's mother saying that Tony would always help others, including his friends. Both men lived off modest allowances and nothing was missing to indicate robbery as a motive. A friend of Tony's told the police, I can't think of any reason why anyone would want to hurt Tony. I do not believe that Tony had any friends who I would not trust. Police considered whether the attacks could have been racially motivated. There had been a recent wave of kidnappings and extortion attempts against Asian students in New South Wales, the most recent having occurred just weeks prior. A 19 year old Vietnamese student was strangled to death after a botched kidnapping attempt while a Chinese student had been kidnapped and assaulted while the perpetrators demanded a $120,000 ransom from her parents in Beijing. But investigators found no evidence to support such a motive and it was quickly ruled out, leaving them to comb through the men's personal lives in an attempt to discover what, if any, secrets they'd been hiding. It was common for young Singaporean men to marry before moving overseas to complete their tertiary education. Tony had met his girlfriend in an online chat room in 1998, and the two wed in Singapore just a few months before his murder. She had visited Sydney and stayed with Tony at Barker Street. When questioned by police, she couldn't think of anyone who would wish Tony harmony. A forensic examination of Tony's computer didn't reveal evidence of infidelity, criminal activity or anything to suggest that he felt he was in danger. However, the search of Tae Chow Liang's computer was a different story. Chao Liang was married to a woman named Winnie, who was also back in Singapore. The two met in high school and married in a registry wedding, but they'd been planning a proper wedding celebration after Charlie Young completed his degree and moved back home. Tony's wife told police that when she was visiting Barker street, she'd noticed that Charlie Young didn't wear his wedding ring. He only put it on when Winnie came to visit. Chow Leung's online activity revealed that he'd spent the last few months before his death in almost daily contact with another woman in Singapore named Jasmine. While it was mostly just day to day chit chat, their online conversations were often flirtatious and occasionally sexual. Charlie Young made it clear that he was attracted to Jasmine and had romantic feelings for her, even though she was engaged to be married. Police wondered if jealousy could have played a role in the double homicide. They conducted searches with Immigration, but these only proved that neither Jasmin nor her boyfriend were in Australia at the time of the murders. With no obvious suspects or motives, police turned their focus to the mysterious car on Willis street that Tony's uni mates Jonathan and Sean had seen him enter mere minutes before he was killed. Tony accepting a ride home instead of walking was so out of character that police were convinced it was significant. Either the people in the car had something to do with the murders, or they might have witnessed something crucial that could hold the key to solving the case. Unfortunately, Willis street wasn't covered by the university's CCTV cameras and the descriptions of the vehicle varied. Jonathon described it as a white four door sedan, possibly a Toyota Echo, while Sean said it was dark in colour. Police spent hours driving the two young men around the area to see if they could spot a similar looking car. But it was a fruitless Endeavour. As for the occupants of the vehicle, all Jonathon or Sean could say was that they appeared to be Asian. A man who lived near the victims told the police that he saw a pale coloured car parked in a laneway near Barker street sometime after 1pm on the day in question. At around 2.25pm, a university student was driving down Barker street looking for a park, when he saw an olive skinned man who was, quote, not Indian or Caucasian, looking around as he made his way towards a small white sedan parked next door to the murder scene. The man, who appeared to be in his early 30s, got into the car and it drove away. Another woman described seeing a similar car driving erratically about two kilometres from Barker street at around 2.30pm she estimated that the vehicle was going 100 kilometres per hour in a 50 zone. It almost hit another car as well as a telegraph pole. The woman told the police it wasn't just joyriders. The speed scared me. I had never witnessed this sort of behaviour on the road before. As weeks passed with no breakthroughs in the case, the police made a public appeal for the driver of the car to come forward. They said the man had picked Tony up less than 30 minutes before his body was found and that he could be the vital link in solving the murders. The car was described as light blue or white and resembling a Toyota Echo. Anyone who had seen a similar vehicle around Barker street was encouraged to contact the police. No one came forward, prompting police to issue an international press release. But still the car and its occupants remained a mystery. Weeks turned into months, with the unsolved case receiving little attention from the Australian media. By May 2004, eight months had passed and the killer was still yet to be apprehended. On Thursday, May 27, surviving housemate Ram Tiwari contacted the police to let them know he intended to return to Singapore. He told them that his studies hadn't been going well and there were commitments he needed to fulfil. Back at home, Ram hadn't booked his flight yet, but he wanted to check if the police needed anything further from him before he left. The detectives working the case asked Ram to visit the police station the following morning for one final interview. Ram agreed. When he showed up the next day as planned, the detectives read him his rights and then sat him down for a second recorded interview. What Ram didn't realise was that he wasn't being interviewed as a witness, but as a suspect. For some time, detectives had been dubious of Ram's claims that he'd slept through the attacks committed right outside his bedroom. While they'd initially been willing to accept this, this changed after forensic evidence indicated two hours passed between the two attacks. Detectives didn't think it made sense for an outsider to enter the apartment. But Pludge and Chow Liang then leave, only to return hours later to launch the second attack on Tony. Ram was 6ft tall and a trained commando described by Franz as a bit macho. Why then would he barricade himself in his room knowing that his friend was outside screaming for help? The fact that there was no sign of forced entry or robbery also raised suspicions, suggesting that the crimes might have been committed by someone who either lived there or was welcomed inside. Given how bloody the scene was, it stood to reason that whoever carried out the attacks would have also been covered in blood. Yet a forensic examination revealed no blood on any of the home's external structures, such as the back door, rear stairs, the garden or surrounding fences. Detectives believed this was because the offender washed up before leaving. An inspection of the kitchen and bathroom hadn't revealed any obvious evidence of a clean up. But further testing revealed a strong positive for blood in the bathroom sink as well as a weak positive on the hot water tap. When police and paramedics had first arrived at Barker Street, Ram Tiwari's hands were smeared with blood. He explained this was because he'd picked up the murder weapons to defend himself in case the offender was still in the house and that he'd checked Tony's pulse as well. But when Ram was taken to the police station for questioning, a detective who specialised in crime scene examinations also noted spots of blood on Ram's feet and ankles. Testing proved that the blood had come from Tony Tanpo Chawan. In Ram's walkthrough of the crime scene, he provided a new detail that could explain this. He said that when he'd gone to check Tony's pulse, Tony had coughed and blood spurted from his mouth. The investigators found this incredibly suspicious. For starters, this was the first time Ram had mentioned such an event. He'd said nothing of it during his first interview with police. Secondly, Ram was on the phone to emergency services for 10 minutes and 20 seconds before he claimed to have exited his bedroom and checked on his friends. Yet the attack on Tony had been ferocious and he'd likely died within minutes, making it highly unlikely that he would have coughed up blood 10 minutes later. The blood spots on Ram's feet and ankles ranged from one to three millimetres in diameter and looked to one forensic detective like medium velocity blood spatter. In other words, it looked like the result of an impact, not an expiration. The detectives had also noticed some small discrepancies in Ram's version of events. When Ram first called emergency services to report the murders, he told the operator that his two friends were dead, that both had been completely bashed in and that there was blood all over the place. However, during his first recorded interview at the police station. Ram told the detectives that he didn't see Chow Liang's body until he was on the phone with the operator and went out to assess the situation. After seeing Tony's body and realising the back door was open, Ram told the detectives that he grabbed both the knife and the baseball bat from next to Tony. He then went to close the door. And that's when I saw Qiao Liang. He was lying behind the couch and was covered in. Covered in blood. The detectives assumed that Ram was unaware that his phone call to emergency services was being recorded. He therefore told the operator the truth, that both of his flatmates were dead, but then made up what he believed would be a more favourable version of events when speaking to the police. It wasn't just the forensic evidence and inconsistencies that had roused detectives suspicions. Shortly after the murders, Ram moved out of Barker street and into another student sharehouse. When his new flatmates asked him what he'd witnessed, Ram said he wasn't even home when Tony and Chow Liang were killed. He said he'd simply returned home to find his flatmates dead. Another friend told the police that Ram hadn't even told his own family about the murders, even though they were very close. With several details in Ram's account not adding up, this left the question of motive. Tae Cha Liang and Ram Tiwari had lived at the Barker street apartment since July 2002 and Tony Tan Po Chewan since March 2003. Police spoke to multiple witnesses who knew the three housemates and they all said the same thing. There was no overt animosity between any of them. While there had been some small domestic disagreements about the cooking and washing up, the trio had sorted this out by deciding to cook their meals separately. They bought all their own food and labelled it appropriately. This hadn't created any ongoing tension or friction and they continued to cohabitate peacefully. The landlords who lived downstairs also said they'd never seen or heard their upstairs tenants fighting or arguing. It cost the students $2,172 per month to rent the apartment. Every month like clockwork, Chow Liang paid the entire amount and his flatmates then reimbursed him for their respective shares. He also took care of the bills and expenses, which were divided among the housemates. When police searched the property, they'd come across an undated post it note in Ram's bedroom written by Chow Liang. It had Ram's name on it along with an itemised list of money he apparently owed to Chow Liang. It started with an outstanding debt of $1,148, followed by rent for March and Ram's share of bills. And a second note found in Ram's bedroom was also confirmed to have been written by Charlie Yung. It was another itemised list of apparent debts that Ram had incurred, including what appeared to be a previously outstanding amount of $4,445. Along with rent and bills for August, it came to a total of $5,054. The note also listed money owed to Chow Liang by someone called Andrew. According to the itemised account, Andrew owed $500 in bond rent for the months of July and August and more than $1,500 in undisclosed incidental expenses, which included a $4 charge for toilet paper. However, no one by the name of Andrew had ever lived at the property. A fourth tenant, a Taiwanese student named Vincent, had resided there during 2002, but he'd moved out around the same time that Tony moved in. Vincent told the police that he'd returned to the house for a brief stay in July 2003 and that during his visit, Ram mentioned that a friend of his was supposed to be moving into the spare room. While Vincent couldn't remember who exactly gave him this information, he recalled that the new tenant was named Andrew and that he was an Australian from the New South Wales city of Bathurst. Emails sent from Chow Liang to Ram and Tony in July 2003 also made mention of one of Ram's friends moving in. When asked about Andrew during a phone call from the police, Ram said he didn't know anyone by that name and there were no plans for a fourth tenant to move in. He said he'd met someone at uni who mentioned they wouldn't mind moving into the Barker street apartment, but they'd changed their mind and Ram never mentioned it to Tony or Chow Liang. No one close to Ram had ever heard him mention a friend named Andrew. Despite their best efforts, investigators found no evidence to suggest who the elusive Andrew was. A forensic accountant examined Ram's Australian bank accounts and concluded that he hadn't reimbursed Charlie Young his share of the rent or household expenses since March 2003, six months before the murders. Furthermore, on September 10, he received his wage from the security company he worked for, giving him a little over $700. After making some other payments, Ram didn't have enough left over to cover the rent due on September 13, let alone reimburse the money he already owed. Investigators obtained Ram's university records and discovered that his struggles weren't solely financial. As part of his military scholarship Ram was required to maintain good grades. If he failed to do so, he had to pay the tuition money back. Any debt would ultimately be the responsibility of his brother and cousin, as they had signed as guarantors on Ram's scholarship. Records showed that in the second semester of 2001, Ram failed three out of the five subjects he was enrolled in. He then lied about his results to the military to ensure they'd continue financing his scholarship. Things didn't improve in 2002. He failed most of his subjects, leaving him with no choice but to retake the courses before he could submit his grades to the military. In mid August 2003, one month before his housemates were killed, Ram received an invoice from the University of New South Wales demanding immediate payment of outstanding fees, some of which were almost a year overdue. In total, Ram owed the university a little over $7,000. Both Tony and Charlie Young had been set to graduate at the end of 2003, at which point they intended to return to Singapore. The plan was that Ram would take over the lease, as well as the responsibility of paying rent to the landlords. With the money Ram already owed Chow Liang in rent and expenses, along with the overdue fees due to the university, investigators believed it stood to reason that Ram was under a considerable amount of financial pressure. Additionally, he knew that Tony was returning to Singapore to pursue a military career, which might have contributed to a growing anxiety that his poor academic results would be revealed. Police believed that desperate times had led to desperate measures, prompting Ram to invent the fictitious character of Andrew to ease his financial pressure by reducing the amount of rent he owed each month. While this might have momentarily relieved some pressure, the receipt of his overdue university fees finally pushed him over the edge. Based on all the information they'd gathered, investigators suspected that Chow Liang had decided to skip his lecture on Monday, September 15, so he could confront Ram about the unpaid rent and organise his taking over the lease. As they spoke, Ram started to panic about the mess he'd made. The two began to argue, at which point Ram lashed out, grabbed the baseball bat he'd purchased with this very confrontation in mind, and used it to bash Chow Liang over the head. Thinking Chow Liang was dead, Ram then washed himself and the baseball bat clean and waited two hours for Tony to return home from his lecture. Ram killed Tony to cover up what he'd done to Chow Liang and to ensure Tony couldn't tell the authorities about the ongoing financial dispute between the two. Perhaps detecting a sign of life in Chow Liang, Ram then stabbed him in the neck to make sure he was definitely dead. He quickly cleaned himself up before calling emergency services and concocting the false story about sleeping through the attacks. Only when realising that there was blood spatter on his feet and ankles did he try to explain its presence by making up the story about Tony coughing up blood. Eight months after the double homicide, as Ram Tiwari sat down for his second recorded police interview, he declined an offer to speak to a lawyer. The detectives put it to Ram that he was the one who killed Charlie Young and Tony. He flatly denied all of the allegations to no avail. Ram was placed under arrest and charged with two counts of murder. Seemingly in disbelief, Ram asked, but what about the people in the car? The detectives did not respond. Casefile will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors Attention renters. If you haven't heard of bilt, it's time to take note. You can now earn points just by paying rent through bilt. No landlord approval needed. Here's how it works. There's no cost to join bilt and as a member you'll earn valuable points on rent and your everyday spending. BILT points can be transferred to your favourite hotels and airlines and even the ones you haven't heard of. There are over 500 airlines and 700,000 hotels and properties around the world. You can redeem. Your build points toward points can also be redeemed towards a future rent payment and unique experiences that only built members can access. So if you're not earning points on rent, my question is why not start earning points on rent you're already paying by going to joinbuilt.com casefile that's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T.com casefile make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you. Join bilt.comcasefile to start earning points on your rent payments today.