Salesman found dead

A 38-year-old salesman was found dead on the ground floor of a car park of a high-rise residential building here, on the same day that he was to undergo an “exorcism”.

He was said to have been behaving strangely in front of his wife since moving into a rented flat in September.

Khoo Kim Bee was suffering from insomnia waking up at 2.30am and 5.30am yesterday before he was found dead around five hours later. Sudden loss: Xue Lin, 36, grieving outside the Penang Hospital mortuary after her husband Khoo (inset) fell to his death from the bedroom window of a Desa Mawar flat on Jalan Thean Teik in Penang.

He was found clad only in his underwear at the building's car park in Desa Mawar, Bandar Baru Ayer Itam.

His wife Xue Lin, 36, who is from China, claimed that her husband woke her up twice in the wee hours and whispered to her that he wanted to take his own life before he apologised to her.

In a groggy state, Xue pacified her husband and told him to go back to sleep.

She claimed that Khoo began behaving oddly when they moved into the flat at Batu Lanchang in September, alleging that the unit was haunted.

“We were disturbed by an unfriendly spirit,” Xue said at the Penang Hospital mortuary.

“Last week, Khoo had allegedly wanted to hang himself and even threatened to stab me with a pair of scissors,” Xue claimed.

She said they decided to move to her mother-in-law's home on the 12th floor of the Desa Mawar flats last Saturday.

They were advised to do so by a Siamese Buddhist Temple master monk who had inspected the flat in Batu Lanchang.

Xue said her husband was scheduled to be sent to the temple for an “exorcism” yesterday.

Housewife Malina Ayub, 45, who stays in a unit opposite the couple's home, said she was relaxing in front of her house when she heard a loud thud.

“I thought someone had thrown rubbish from the upper floors but I was shocked to see a man lying in a pool of blood at the car park,” she said.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Gan Kong Meng said initial investigations revealed that the deceased had no financial or personal woes.

“We have classified the case as sudden death. Foul play is ruled out,” he said.

It was learnt that Khoo married Xue about a year ago.

She has a five-year-old son from a previous marriage.