Buying a cheap house is usually a happy problem. You worry about renovations, leaking pipes, maybe bad feng shui. You do not expect a fridge to smell like death itself. Yet, in Kuala Lumpur’s upscale Mont Kiara, that’s exactly what happened. And till today, this case still refuses to rest in peace.
Let’s rewind.
A “Good Deal” That Was Too Good
In July 2007, a Chinese Malaysian man, Mr Wong, was on cloud nine. He had just scored a condominium unit in Mont Kiara at a bank auction. The price? RM400,000. That’s about one-third below market value. Wah, jackpot, right?
Mont Kiara isn’t some ulu place. It’s prime territory. Low density. Green views. International schools everywhere. Expats love it. Locals with money also love it. Basically, atas living.
The reason for the low price was simple. The previous owner defaulted on the mortgage. Bank took back. Auction time. Mr Wong won the bid fair and square.
Unfortunately, he also inherited a nightmare.
First Visits: Messy, But Nothing “Wrong”
On July 27, Mr Wong finally collected the keys. No electricity. No lights. The unit had been empty for over three months. Dust everywhere. Boxes in the living room. A mattress covered with bedsheets. And in the kitchen, a fridge sealed tightly with layers of tape.
Messy? Yes. Suspicious? Not really. At least, not yet.
He went back a couple more times. Still nothing unusual. No horror movie music playing. Life went on.
Until July 29.
The Smell That Changed Everything
That afternoon, Mr Wong returned with his Indonesian domestic helper to clean properly. The moment they opened the door, something felt off. A faint stench lingered in the air. Not rubbish-bin smell. Something… heavier.
Then the helper pulled off the bedsheet.
Underneath was a mattress soaked with dried blood. Slashed in multiple places. On the wall nearby, blood splatter. Not drip. Not smear. Spray.
At that moment, everything clicked.
The smell.
The blood.
The taped fridge.
With shaking hands, they started peeling off the tape. It took time. Too much tape. Whoever sealed it really meant business.
When the fridge door finally opened, the smell exploded. Thick. Rotten. Suffocating.
Inside were black plastic bags. Bulging. Leaking sticky fluid.
This was no spoiled chicken.
What the Police Found Inside the Fridge
Security was called. One guard arrived first. He didn’t dare touch the bags. He kicked one gently. The sound was wrong. Hard. Hollow.
Bones.
Police arrived shortly after. What they found was beyond disturbing. Five black bags containing 11 dismembered human body parts. One bag held a head. The remains were badly decomposed. Even the maggots had died.
Forensic tests confirmed the parts belonged to one adult male. The cuts were clean. Semi-professional. The internal organs were missing, likely discarded to reduce the smell.
Even worse, the victim had been skinned.
Death was estimated to have happened over a year earlier.
And suddenly, Mont Kiara wasn’t feeling very atas anymore.
The Former Owner Steps Forward
Clues in the unit led police to photographs, English books, and a copy of a driving licence. The woman in the photos matched the licence.
Her name: Nora Jawi Spreen Jawi.
She was also the previous owner of the condo.
On July 30, just one day after the discovery, Nora walked into police headquarters with her lawyer. Calm. Composed. Wearing red.
She was 33 then. From Sarawak. Well-educated. Former national bowler. NYU graduate. Ex-air stewardess. Worked in IT.
Her husband? A Singaporean businessman named Goh Yoke Seng, 39.
She claimed he had gone missing years earlier.
A Missing Husband Nobody Reported
Here’s where things start to smell funny again.
Nora said her husband disappeared shortly after they moved into the condo. She suggested he might have been murdered by someone else. Maybe even the body in the fridge was his. But she insisted she had nothing to do with it.
Problem is, she never reported him missing. Not in Malaysia. Not in Singapore. No police report. No public appeal.
That’s already weird.
Even more strange, a Singapore crime library later revealed that in 2005, a woman claiming to be Goh’s sister tried to seek help finding him. But she couldn’t provide official documents, so the case stalled.
Meanwhile, the condo sat empty. The fridge stayed taped. The mortgage went unpaid. The power got cut. Neighbours complained about smells months earlier. Nothing happened.
All this while, a body stayed inside.
Confessions, Then Take Back, Then Confess Again
After six hours of questioning, Nora changed her story. She admitted she knew her husband was dead. But blamed her lover. Said he killed Goh and ran away.
Police were sceptical. They searched. No lover found.
DNA results later confirmed the remains were indeed Goh Yoke Seng.
Confronted again, Nora broke down. This time, she confessed fully.
She said Goh abused her for years. One night, after a fight, she killed him while he slept. Alone. Then over three days, she used a saw to cut his body into 11 pieces. Organs went into a shared rubbish bin. The rest into the fridge.
She continued living there for months.
Let that sink in.
Then… She Took Everything Back
Despite the confession, police still had doubts. The cuts suggested skill. The strength required was questionable. They suspected drugs or a possible accomplice.
Before the case could be solidified, Nora changed her statement again. She claimed police pressured her into confessing. She denied killing her husband. She applied for bail.
Shockingly, she was granted oral bail. No passport seized. No money required. She was free to go shopping, meet friends, hug people, smile.
On September 19, 2007, prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence. Nora was released unconditionally.
Just like that.
The case went cold.
A Cold Case That Still Feels Warm
Years later, an inquest went nowhere. Key statements were thrown out. Nora exercised her right to remain silent. The court ruled her uncooperative, but still free.
Till today, no one has been convicted.
Officially, we don’t know who killed Goh Yoke Seng. Or how exactly he died. Or why justice never caught up.
And Mr Wong? The poor guy just wanted a cheap condo. Instead, he got lifelong trauma.
My Take: This Case Still Doesn’t Sit Right
Honestly ah, this case leaves a bad taste. Not just because of the fridge.
Too many gaps. Too many reversals. Too much leniency for something this brutal. Whether Nora acted alone or not, someone clearly got away with murder.
Domestic abuse is real. But so is responsibility. And chopping someone into 11 pieces, storing them for a year, then walking free? That’s hard to swallow.
This case also shows how evidence fades with time. Delay too long, and truth slips away. Justice becomes optional.
In the end, the scariest thing isn’t the fridge. It’s knowing that sometimes, even with blood, bodies, and confessions, the system can still shrug and move on.
