Student convicted of murdering his flatmates

Singapore, June 20 (UNI) A Singaporean student has been convicted of murdering his two flatmates in Sydney.

Ram Tiwari, a 24-year old Singapore Indian was found guilty of murdering Chow Lyang Tay and Poh Chuan Tan on September 15, 2003, after a New South Wales Supreme Court jury of six men and six women deliberated for four days, the Channel News Asia reported today.

Tiwari was a student at the University of New South Wales along with two of his Singaporean victims. He had been accused of bludgeoning the two with a baseball bat, which, the court was told Tiwari had bought two days before the killing.

The court was also told that Tiwari had owed one of his flatmates five thousand Australian dollars.

Tiwari had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and claimed that on the day the men were killed, he had been woken by a commotion but had been too scared to leave his room.

He did not react as the jury delivered its verdict. His parents and brother, who were at the trial, also showed no emotion although his mother clutched her husband's hand.

Tiwari has been remanded in custody to face sentencing submissions on July 7, the report said.

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