KOTA KINABALU: A man with mental issues hacked his close friend to death, claiming he thought a buffalo was charging at him at an oil palm estate in Sabah’s east coast Tawau district yesterday.
Witnesses saw the suspect, a 31-year-old Indonesian, swinging his parang at the victim, who was riding a motorcycle, in the 1pm incident at the estate, off Jalan Sin Onn.
Tawau police chief Peter Umbuas said the 57-year-old victim, also an Indonesian, was a close friend of the assailant.
“They were never known to have had any misunderstandings before this. We believe the assailant, who had been undergoing traditional treatment for his mental ailment, was hallucinating at the time.”
Peter said the suspect tried to flee after the incident but was caught by the workers and handed over to police.