In the wee hours of last Oct 6, a police officer offered a $2 note to a man who did not have small change to buy a drink at a vending machine outside the Bukit Timah Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC).
The man had cuts and scrapes on his forearms and seemed disoriented. The needle of an intravenous drip was attached to his right hand, and his left wrist had a hospital identification tag.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Azri Aldrin Lim Teck Guan struck up a conversation with the man, Philippe Marcel Guy Graffart, which led to a shocking confession.
“I have done something bad to my son. I have done something really bad to my son,” said Graffart.
When the police went to his 32nd-storey apartment at D’Leedon Condominium at Leedon Heights, they found five-year-old Keryan Gabriel Cedric Graffart lying motionless in the master bedroom.
The boy was pronounced dead at 6.17am.
Yesterday, Graffart, 42, pleaded guilty to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The High Court heard that the Belgian expat was depressed over an ongoing custody battle with his French wife over Keryan when he smothered the sleeping boy with a cushion between 9pm and 10.17pm on Oct 5.
Graffart then cradled his dead son in his arms and cried. He told him that he “was going to join him” and left the room.
Graffart then tried to kill himself by speeding down the Marina Costal Expressway and deliberately crashing his Audi sedan into the tunnel wall after releasing his seat belt.
But he escaped with minor injuries after the airbags deployed.
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HE CALLED POLICE
After he was taken to Singapore General Hospital, he called the police twice about the accident, but then left before they arrived.
Graffart went home where he contemplated other forms of suicide, but did not act on it, said court documents.
Around 4am, he went to Bukit Timah NPC where he met ASP Lim.
The court heard yesterday that on the afternoon of Oct 5, Graffart became distressed after receiving an unexpected affidavit from his wife’s lawyer through his lawyer, Ms Poonam Lachman Mirchandani.
The affidavit was about Keryan’s care and custody proceedings, and contained transcripts of discussions between Graffart and his wife, Ms Theodet Gwendoline Cecile Anne, 40.
Graffart felt betrayed and accused his wife of divulging their private discussions to her lawyers.
He also faced mounting pressure about his next course of action in their custody battle.
Court documents said that shortly after the unexpected affidavit, Graffart, who was head of Asia Pacific fund distribution at Nordea Bank, thought about suicide but resisted it after thinking of his son.
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In a series of e-mails to his lawyer, Graffart wrote: “I can’t continue like this, I am so tired and don’t know what to do. I am so afraid to lose my son or the relation (sic) I have with him.
“I want to find a way out and be cleaned of all this past (sic). I made such big mistakes I will not do anymore. (sic)”
The couple’s 2011 marriage broke down in early 2014. They decided to separate but could not agree on custody matters regarding their son.
On the evening of Oct 5, Graffart did a number of Google searches on his phone – one on how long it took to suffocate a person and another on whether one could survive a crash at 150kmh.
After putting Keryan to sleep, Graffart pressed a cushion on the boy’s face and suffocated him.
An autopsy report stated that the boy had bruises and abrasions on his forehead and face.
Read also: There were marks on neck of boy found dead in condo
A toxicology report found Zolpidem – a hypnotic medicine used to treat insomnia that is not recommended for children – in Keryan’s blood.
A psychiatric report by the Institute of Mental Health said Graffart was suffering from major depressive disorder which had substantially impaired his thinking process and judgment of his acts, leading to the death of his son.
The initial charge of murder was later amended to the lesser offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Graffart, who faces jail of up to 10 years, a fine and caning, is expected to be sentenced on Aug 22.
This article was first published on Aug 02, 2016.
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