Reasonable doubt found in decision to acquit Singapore Ram Tiwari of murder

The New South Wales Court of Appeal found reasonable doubt when it acquitted Singaporean Ram Tiwary of murdering his two flatmates in Sydney. 

Singaporeans Tay Chow Lyang and Tony Tan Poh Chuan, were stabbed and clubbed to death with a baseball bat, in 2003. 

In a 56 page document on the grounds of release, the court said two bodies of evidence raised reasonable doubt. 

Firstly the existence of the three people in the car picking up Tan. 

Witnesses had said a group of people had picked Tan up from university. 

The court said they were the last people to see Tan alive and did not come forward to help police despite media coverage asking them to do so.

The three had apparently arranged to pick him up and were waiting for him after allegedly killing Tay. 

There is reasonable possibility that these people had a connection with the re-arrangements of the usual pattern of both Tay's and Tan's day and had organised to meet Tan after his lecture when, unbeknownst to him, they had killed Tay and were driving Tan to the unit where he would also be killed.

Its not known why these people would want Tay or Tan killed but the court said the killing did not appear to have been random violence. 

Secondly the dearth of connecting forensic material linking Tiwary to the death of either, especially Tan. 

None of the blood found on Tiwary or his clothes was that of Tay. 

The court said there was a dearth of Tan's blood on Tiwary considering the ferocity and violence of the attack . 

And it was possible that the relatively small amount of blood on Tiwari was the result of chance. 

Tiwary said Tan had expirated blood by a reflex cough as he crouched down to check his pulse. 

The court accepted that such a reflex cough from a dying man is possible. 

Tiwary who spent more than more than eight years behind bars, was released on the 27th of July. 

Australian immigration authorities say the 33-year-old is being held at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, which is located in a western suburb of Sydney.