HE was all smiles when he was charged, and all smiles again yesterday when he was led back to the flat he once shared with two study mamas and their daughters.

Three of them are dead now and the fourth is recovering from slash wounds.

Murder accused Wang Zhijian, 42, looked smug at times.

He was restrained with wrist and ankle straps and had to take small steps. But he held his head high. Not once did he attempt to hide his face from the flashbulbs.

It was as though he revelled in the attention.

Then suddenly, he seemed to snap.

As he was about to get into the waiting police van, he pointed his bandaged finger at The New Paper's photojournalist Kua Chee Siong.

Staring directly at Mr Kua, Wang mumbled sternly in Mandarin: 'Stop it.'

A Criminal Investigation Department officer who was with Wang then told him 'don't' in Mandarin, before hurrying him into the van.

Wang, who is tall and well-built, has been charged with the murder of study mama Zhang Meng, 42, in a sixth-storey flat in Block 349, Yishun Avenue 11, between 11pm on 18 Sep and around 12.50am the next day.

Madam Zhang's 17-year-old daughter, Feng Jianyu, was found stabbed to death in their bedroom.

Their flatmate, another study mama, 36, was found dead at the void deck, after she fell from the kitchen window.

Her 14-year-old daughter is the sole survivor. She was slashed repeatedly in the kitchen toilet of the flat and is now recovering in hospital.

The teenager cannot be identified under the law as she is a minor.

All five were from China and lived in the rented flat.

Wang, dressed in a red polo T-shirt and dark blue bermudas, was taken back to the scene around 11.15am yesterday, 11 days after the bloodbath.

At least five CID officers took him into the five-room flat, where they stayed behind closed doors for 31/2 hours. Forensic officers were also present.

In complex cases, suspects are taken back to the scene to help investigators reconstruct the events on the day of the crime.

Police officers cordoned off the staircase landing leading to the flat, but Wang's return was low key.

Residents unaware

Most of the residents were out and those who were home did not seem to be aware that the suspect was back.

On Sunday, four cleaners - engaged by the flat owner - were allowed into the five-room unit by police officers. They took more than an hour to clean up the flat, after forensic officers had finished collecting evidence.

Madam Zhang's younger brother and sister, who came to Singapore from Tianjin to identify their bodies, told Shin Min Daily News that the stab wounds were mostly on her back.

Her daughter, Jianyu, suffered stab wounds on her chest and abdomen. They were said to be hugging each other when their bodies were found in the bedroom.

Mother and daughter were cremated last week and the family has flown back to China with their ashes.

The family of the other study mama, who is from Shenyang, also arrived early last week. The injured girl's maternal grandmother and aunt are now with her in hospital.

The girl's father, Mr Li Wenge, 39, had earlier told Lianhe Zaobao that his daughter was so badly injured that doctors had to remove her right eyeball and that she is now blind in that eye.

Mr Li said the girl was disfigured from slashes on her face.

He told Lianhe Zaobao: 'I last spoke to my daughter on the day before the mid-autumn festival. She was telling me happily that she had adapted to school life in Singapore and I was glad for her.'

The girl had arrived in Singapore in November last year, together with her mother.

Mr Li, who is unemployed, is now in Singapore. So is the girl's step-father.

The girl's parents had divorced and her mother remarried soon after.

The body of the girl's mother is expected to be collected by her husband on Thursday.

Wang is due back in court on Friday.