IT was a horrible way to die.
A wealthy restaurant owner in London suffocated to death after a family friend wrapped over 21m of sticky tape around her head to form a 'death mask'.
The 5cm-wide tape covered Mrs Phuah Yuk Ying (right), 42, from her forehead to the lower part of the neck, with the only opening being a small slit at one eye.
The killer, Malaysian-born Choy Sun Nay, is currently on trial for murder and robbery, reported The Times.
A London court heard on Thursday that in August, 2003, Mrs Phuah's Malaysian-born husband Phuah Boon Fatt, returned from work to find their home ransacked and his wife missing.
Also missing was a plastic box with 2,000 ($6,000) in cash that was meant to pay staff wages.
Mrs Phuah's body was found the next day, left in a kneeling position by the roadside and covered in a sleeping bag taken from her home.
'She had been bound by the hands with sticky tape... her head and face had been completely wrapped in brown sticky tape,' said prosecutor William Boyce.
He said that Choy, 39, became a suspect in the killing after Mr Phuah started hearing rumours within the Chinese community about his friend.
The couple had helped Choy, who arrived in Britain in 1988, to set up a vegetable delivery business.
Two weeks earlier, Choy had reportedly visited their home to borrow 2,000.
'He said he would repay the money in a few weeks,' Mr Boyce said.
'The money was not repaid. He was in desperate financial straits. He had debts of 20,000.'
While Choy has admitted to manslaughter, he denies that he murdered Mrs Phuah or robbed her.
However, Mr Boyce argued that Choy must have known that 'anyone who has 21m of this tape bound round their face in this manner cannot possibly live.'
The trial continues.
Source
'Death mask' tape used to kill restaurant owner 
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