SINGAPORE, Feb 21 — The family of Audrey Fang has requested that a Spanish court extend the pre-trial detention of her suspected killer Mitchell Ong for another two years, The Straits Times reported today.
Fang was an insurance agent when she was found dead with 30 stab wounds on April 10, 2024, in a field in Abanilla, six days after she travelled to Spain alone and became uncontactable.
Fang was Singaporean, as is Ong, but he must stand trial in Spain as the country’s laws bars expedition of suspects to countries with a death penalty.
Manuel Martinez, a lawyer representing Fang’s family as a private prosecutor, was reported to have asserted that Ong could try to evade justice or influence the investigation if released, citing his lack of financial ties or residency in Spain.
The murder case made regional headlines in 2024 due to the violent nature of the crime, the allegedly financial motive, and international intrigue as well as the legal complexity.
Spanish law allows suspects in pre-trial detention to be held for up to two years, extendable if a trial cannot proceed within that period, with a potential sentence of 15–25 years for murder; Singapore cannot prosecute because the crime occurred abroad.
Ong’s court-appointed lawyer, Maria Jesus Ruiz de Castaneda, has requested that the case be dismissed, while authorities continue to review evidence ahead of the trial.
Ong, who was also an insurance agent, was arrested on April 16, 2024 when he was 43.
He was named the sole beneficiary of Fang’s Central Provident Fund savings, and investigators have found that one of two male DNA profiles on her body matches his paternal lineage, though his lawyer says this cannot conclusively identify him.
Friends of Fang told Spanish courts she had been romantically interested in Ong, but also claimed he appeared focused on selling her financial assets, including two investment-linked policies he sold her in 2015.