Sis killed by husband: Man tries to make sense of tragedy

Almost two years on, he is not ready to forgive his brother-in-law, who is in prison

- Christine Tan and Samuel Devaraj

His sister was in a happy marriage and expecting her first child but on Jan 11, 2022, her husband killed her a tragedy Mr Emanuel Francis is struggling to make sense of.

Ms Isabel Elizabeth Francis, 30, was 15 weeks pregnant. She and her husband David Brian Chow Kwok-Hun were expecting a girl.

He was the managing director of a security training centre, and the mother-to-be was enrolled as a law student at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, while juggling work as a communications professional.

Mr Francis was close to the couple, but especially to his sister, who would tell him everything. The three of them had dinners together just about every week.

He never saw them fight, and there was never a hint of trouble.

Until the call to tell him that his sister was dead, and that Chow, now 35, was responsible.

Mr Francis said he had hoped Bel, as he calls his sister, was killed in her sleep. In court on Oct 26, 2023, it was revealed that she had tried to crawl to safety as her husband stabbed her repeatedly.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Mr Francis said: "I was hoping that she didn't feel any pain, but I'm very certain that she did.

"When the (facts of the) case were read out, I cried in the courtroom. To know she was awake, it was the most painful." Chow was convicted of culpable homicide on Oct 26 and sentenced to seven years' jail. He was originally charged with murder, but the charge was reduced after he was diagnosed with a disorder that diminished his responsibility for the acts.

Mr Francis said his sister died under grim circumstances. He wants her to be remembered for how she lived.

VERY CLOSE SIBLINGS

Ms Francis was the middle child of three siblings two years older than Mr Francis and three years younger than their older sister, who has special needs.