echo Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of sexual assault, murder, death as well as violent and graphic imagery. Reader’s discretion is advised.
SECTION A: Introduction
While Malaysia is no stranger to despicable crimes, not many have garnered the shock and mourning that rippled across the nation. Yet in 2003, a case echoed throughout the mouths of Malaysian citizens due to its gruesome and mysterious nature. In the following years, this very case would become the foundation and change the trajectory of public security in the country. This case is none other than the horrifying rape and murder of Canny Ong in Kuala Lumpur by an unsuspecting father, Ahmad Najib Aris.
Canny was a Malaysian citizen who was living in the United States, where she worked as an IT analyst. Prior to that, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Hawaii Pacific University. After moving to Los Angeles for work, she met her future partner, Brandon Ong, whom she married in 2001. Her future was bright, but it was horrifically cut short as she was caught at the wrong place at the wrong time when she made a return to Malaysia in 2003. The terrifying crime that was carried out by Ahmad Najib Aris is one that has been in the attention of Malaysians since its beginning, more than a decade ago. In this instalment of Echo Enigma, we take a deep dive into the details of the case.
Canny Ong and her husband Brandon Ong
SECTION B: Who was Ahmad Najib Aris?
Name : Ahmad Najib bin Aris
Born : 1976
Died : September 23, 2016 in Kajang Prison
Spouse : Unknown
Children : Two
From : Muar, Johor
Career : Malaysian Airlines aeroplane cabin cleaner.
Crime : Murder and rape
Cause of Death : Death by Hanging
The heinous acts by Ahmad Najib bin Aris left Malaysians in a daze. Ahmad Najib, who was a husband and a father to two children, had a good reputation amongst those around him as being a filial and responsible individual for his family and work. At the time, his alleged actions left Malaysians in shock and his closest family and friends in denial due to its brutal nature.
However, Ahmad Najib had a dark side to his innocent persona as a reliable family-man. Unbeknownst to his peers and family, the man had carried out one of the most merciless crimes in Malaysia to date. The lawful and legal facade that was created by the man took an eerie turn in June 2003 as he was charged with the murder and rape of Canny Ong. Not much is known of the killer’s background, making the crime even more shocking to the public.
SECTION C: The Bone-Chilling Rape and Murder of Canny Ong
- EARLY 2003
In early 2003, Canny’s father had been diagnosed with kidney cancer. Due to this, Canny had returned to Malaysia from the United States, where she took care of her ill father. Fortunately, her father’s condition had stabilised and she was set to return to Los Angeles on June 14th.
- JUNE 13TH 2003
Canny and her family had a celebratory dinner for her father’s recovery as well as a farewell dinner for her departure back to Los Angeles. They had enjoyed a dinner of steaks and crabs at Monte’s Restaurant & Wine Bar located in Bangsar Shopping Centre. While having dinner, Canny realised her mother, Pearly, was beginning to feel tired as the night got later. Due to this, she offered to send Pearly back home before returning to the dinner.
Canny and her family at her farewell dinner.
Before they could leave, Canny realised she had left the parking ticket in her car while at the autopay machine. Thus, she told her mother and her sister, Elsie, to stay put while she went and grabbed the ticket in the car. However, this would be the last time both Pearly and Elsie would see Canny alive.
After 20 minutes of waiting, both Canny’s mother and sister started feeling unsettled at the time that it was taking her to get back to them. Their growing worry led them to try calling Canny’s phone, but to no avail. As a last resort, the two went to the carpark in search of Canny but were left dumbfounded as both Canny and her Proton Tiara were nowhere to be found.
Pearly and Elsie returned to their family who were still having their dinner to deliver the news. The family then rushed to the shopping complex’s security office to view the parking lot’s CCTV recording to get a form of explanation for Canny’s disappearance. Confirming the unsettling gut feeling of both women, Canny is seen to be kidnapped by an unknown man in the recording. While the kidnapping had happened in a blindspot, the CCTV footage clearly showed Canny to have been followed by an unidentified man before her car was seen to have speeded and crashed through the barrier to the exit of the complex’s underground car park.
CCTV footage from the night of Canny’s disappearance.
An hour after Canny was last seen, the police were notified of the disappearance of the woman, and she was officially named missing. Ultimately, law enforcement were kept on their toes all night as they kept a lookout for the purple Proton Tiara on the road.
Close to midnight, the police had picked up on a suspicious purple car parked at the side of the road. Two non-uniformed police officers approached the car and were met with both Canny and Ahmad Najib. The officers proceeded to request the pair’s identification cards while speaking to Ahmad Najib. Despite this, the police officers could not recognise Canny as the missing woman and instead thought that Canny and Ahmad Najib were a pair of lovers.
Canny proceeded to make unidentifiable gestures to get the attention of the police; however, they could not understand her. Taking note of this, Ahmad Najib had abruptly hit the accelerators and sped off while the police had both individual’s identification cards. The policemen swiftly fired their pistols at the tyres of the car but it was too late, the car had sped off without a trace. Unusually, the policemen had not reported this incident, and it was only discovered later on during investigations.
Canny’s Proton Tiara and its deflated tyre.
With a quickly deflating tyre, Ahmad Najib was forced to make a stop and ask a woman and her brother for help. While Ahmad Najib attempted to fix the tyre with a borrowed car jack, Canny once again tried to signal for help to the generous lady. The lady had felt uneasy with the gestures by Canny and decided to take note of the number plate of the Proton Tiara. However, Ahmad Najib quickly realised that fixing the tyre would take too long and hastily got back into the car to once again drive away. This interaction would be the last sighting of Canny before her untimely death.
- JUNE 14TH 2003
In the wee hours of the morning, the tortuous actions of Ahmad Najib towards Canny had begun. As the clock approached dawn, the car was parked under an abandoned bridge near Taman Datuk Haran in Jalan Klang Lama. There Canny was held at knifepoint by Ahmad Najib and forced to get in the backseat of the Proton Tiara. Canny was raped by Ahmad Najib between the hours of 3:00AM to 5:00AM. When Canny eventually fought back against the man, she had been stabbed twice and strangled by Ahmad Najib Aris, killing her in the process.
The backseat of Canny’s car which was discovered with her bloodstain.
In order to dispose of the body, Ahmad Najib had located a small hole at the side of the highway near a construction site to squash the body into. The hole was then covered by two car tyres filled with cement, and Canny’s body was left there to rot. The car was later abandoned at a nearby shophouse before Ahmad Najib took a taxi back home.
- JUNE 15TH 2003
Ahmad Najib had returned to the scene of the crime with two petrol canisters with plans to burn the remains of Canny’s lifeless body. He poured both containers of petrol down the hole and set it alight, before covering the hole back up with the two tyres.
- JUNE 17TH 2003
Construction workers had noticed a pungent smell coming out of the hole. Thinking it was a small animal that had crawled into the hole and died, the construction workers unveiled the hole to find something much more horrific. Inside the hole was Canny Ong’s body, with a scarf tied tightly around her neck and her hands placed crossed on her chest. Shocked by the sight, the construction workers quickly notified law enforcement about the body.
The hole where Canny’s remains were found.
After authorities had arrived on scene, police officers contacted Canny’s family in order to get confirmation of the body’s identity. Not only that, DNA was also taken by authorities to get full recognition of the identity, as mistakes could have happened due to the burnt state of the body. The results and identification from family had unfortunately confirmed the cruel murder of Canny Ong.
The situation when Canny’s body was found.
On the same day, Canny’s Proton Tiara was also located. There, the police had found the crime scene of the gruesome murder, and after tests were run, it was confirmed that the blood patch in the car matched Canny’s DNA. Thus, the hunt for Ahmad Najib Aris began.
- JUNE 20TH 2003
The man in question was easily located as his identification card, which was still in the hands of the police, had stated his address. Fortunately for the police, Ahmad Najib was at his home with his wife and children, and he was subsequently arrested.
SECTION D: Charged, Sentenced and Hanged
It did not take long for Ahmad Najib to be formally charged with his crime after several recounts of his involvement with Canny from being stopped by the police to asking for a car jack from a passerby to the bloodstained jeans from the night of the murder. The stack of evidence that kept growing made for an easy charge for the murder and rape of Canny Ong. With all odds against him, Ahmad Najib confessed to the crime in hopes of getting a lighter sentence.
Ahmad Najib’s jeans which were stained with blood.
Additional Note: Further investigations had also tied Ahmad Najib to four other rape cases, suggesting that this was not his first rodeo. However, these cases never fully bloomed, as the victims chose not to further the cases.
Ahmad Najib Aris being arrested for his crimes.
- SEPTEMBER 15TH 2003
Things were looking up for justice as the trial for the case kicked off just three months after the murder. However, a strange twist of fate began as a lengthy trial case was held in the courtroom. Although Ahmad Najib had confessed to his crimes, he ultimately pleaded not guilty. He had claimed to have been coerced by law enforcement to confess, but his claims were flimsy and unable to be backed by hard evidence.
The first part of the trial lasted 10 days, in which a whirlwind of preposterous defence statements was made by Mohammad Haniff, Ahmad Najib’s lawyer. Victim blaming was rampant, trying to pin Canny as a woman who had consented to having sexual relations with Ahmad Najib and even tried to paint the picture of her death being an accident from sexual asphyxiation. The prosecution had dismissed the statements as not making any sense.
- FEBRUARY 23RD 2005
The long-winded trial had ended after 53 days, and Ahmad Najib Aris was found guilty of the murder and rape of Canny Ong in 2003. Ahmad Najib was sentenced to 20 years in jail and 10 strokes of the cane for rape and hanging for murder. The harsh punishment for his crimes was a relief to the general public, and most importantly, to Canny’s family. Although it was obvious that a harsh punishment would not bring Canny back, it felt like justice was going to be served and that Ahmad Najib would pay for his crimes.
- SEPTEMBER 23RD 2016
After 11 years on death row and multiple failed appeals, Ahmad Najib was executed 13 years after committing his crimes.
SECTION E: How the Case Shook and Changed Malaysia Forever
Despite the case taking place over two decades ago, it made impactful changes to Malaysian society and its practices. Most notably, the introduction of ‘ladies parking’ became nationwide after the horrific case made headlines across Malaysia. Emergency help buttons also became the norm in parking lots as access to authorities in case of a dangerous situation. Shopping malls and centres across Malaysia began implementing heavier security and stricter rules in their parking lots to prioritise the safety of women across the nation. Hence, 21 years after her passing, Canny Ong’s untimely death has become a pinnacle in the safety of women in Malaysia, as the country has banded together to avoid similar instances from ever happening again.
Written by: Trezshur
Edited by: Ruby
