Eighteen-year-old Winnifred Teo was a pretty, hard-working, eighteen-year-old student at Catholic Junior College in Singapore. In the late spring of 1985, she was gearing up for a school adventure camp and had taken to jogging regularly at Bukit Batok Nature Park, a popular spot for runners and cyclists.
At six p.m. on May 22nd, Winnifred left her home on Maryland Drive to go on her usual jog. But on this particular evening, she would never return.
At four a.m., Winnifred’s frantic mother called the police and reported her daughter missing. Officers began their search, and six hours later, they discovered Winnifred’s body lying in the undergrowth off Old Holland Road, covered in bruises and mud. Her hands had been tied behind her back with her own t-shirt, and her shoes and shorts were tossed a short distance away. Later forensic examination confirmed that she had been attacked and raped by at least two assailants, who she had fought savagely. She died from blood loss owing to the six stab wounds found in her neck.
Locals were appalled at the viciousness of the random crime, and authorities warned women in the area to cease jogging alone in the park. Leads in the case seemed thin on the ground; investigators did arrest a man who had been exposing himself to female joggers with some regularity, but he was released after they found no evidence of his connection to the murder. The case went cold shortly afterward.
In 2000, the slaying was back in the news once again after a twenty-seven-year-old woman named Linda Chua was also brutally raped while jogging in Bukit Batok Nature Park. Though she initially survived the assault and was taken to the hospital, she succumbed to her injuries eight days later. Police were intrigued by the similarities between the killing of Linda Chua and that of Winnifred Teo, and for a time they entertained the idea that the area was home to a serial killer. However, upon further investigation, it was discovered that the two crimes were most likely not linked.
The rape and murder of Winnifred Teo remains one of Singapore’s most notorious unsolved crimes.
Crime Immemorial 