SUBANG JAYA, Malaysia: In just 60 minutes yesterday, a house in Taman Wawasan 3 in Puchong, near here, turned into a slaughterhouse as a mentally-ill man attacked his wife and young maid.

At the end of that hour, Shelley, 20, and Ang Soon Fen, 37, were lying dead in the kitchen and living room respectively.

The 49-year-old man, who helps out at a hardware business, was in the kitchen having breakfast about 7am when he flew into a rage after a tiff with the maid.

Man's mum Soh Chwee Kim, 78, who lives in the double-storey house, said she heard raised voices and came out of her room next to the kitchen to see a blood-soaked Shelley motionless on the floor.

She told The Star that she was shocked to see him "slit the maid's throat".

She said Ang also came to inquire but the man who was holding a knife pushed them away.

Soh said the man then attacked Ang who warned her to escape as she fought him off.

She then grabbed her four-year-old grand-daughter, who shares a room with her, and ran out of the house.

"We saw the maid on the floor and there was blood everywhere. The man was holding a knife and we tried to calm him down but he pushed us away.

"The man then started attacking Ang who told me to get away.

"I was afraid and I quickly grabbed my grandson and ran out to get help from the neighbours."

When she returned, her 3-year-old grand-daughter, who had come downstairs to investigate the commotion, told her that her mother and Shelley were lying on the floor.

Soh then grabbed her while police, who had arrived, helped bring a four-month-old grandson out of his parents room upstairs.

She said the man was sitting quietly on a sofa in the living room with Ang's body beside him.

It is learnt that the man slashed Ang's throat.

The man did not offer any resistance when taken into custody by police.

Police later obtained a remand order.

They also sent the bodies of Ang and Shelley to the Serdang Hospital for a post-mortem.

Neighbours were shocked when they heard about the double murder, describing the man as a friendly person who always had time for a chat.

"He had been diagnosed with mental illness several months ago and had been seeing the doctor regularly.

"However, he was not on any form of medication for his illness," Soh said