Although Soh managed to survive with timely medical intervention, Tan died as a result of massive bleeding from her wound.

Soh's parents remembered their son telling them that Tan was his former schoolmate, but they never knew the specific nature of the couple's relationship.

[3] On the night of 15 May 1990, two days after they first became a couple, James Soh and Kelly Tan went to have a date at East Coast Park.

Reportedly, Soh, who regained his consciousness in hospital and was in stable condition, was unaware of his girlfriend's death and kept asking his mother if she was all right.

Soh's parents had kept the news from their son for fear it may affect his recovery progress, in accordance to the doctor's opinion.

According to Soh's 47-year-old mother, whose surname was Tan, she and her husband were baffled over the horrific and senseless attack, and she knew that her son did not have any enemies since he was often well-behaved.

[14] In light of the violent killing of Tan, which shocked the nation, members of the public, especially young people and couples, were advised by the authorities to be vigilant when going out at night.

However, the police were able to gain a description that the men were dark-looking and that the person who attacked Soh had short hair and was about 173 cm tall.

[19] Although both Tan and Soh did not lose anything, robbery was theorized as a possible motive; this theory was corroborated by previous reports of people being robbed in East Coast Park during nights or late evenings.

Professor Chao Tzee Cheng, the senior forensic pathologist, certified that the knife wound to Tan's neck had cut through an artery, which resulted in excessive blood loss, which caused her death.

James Soh, who by then had begun to serve his National Service after completing his diploma, came to court to testify during the coroner's inquiry.

Tan's mother and sisters were reportedly still haunted by nightmares and sadness about the murder, due to the uncertainty of when the case would be solved.

[32] After surviving the attack, Tan's former boyfriend, James Soh Fook Leong, would eventually work in sales after completing his education.

Soh also held on to the hope that the killer(s) of Tan would be brought to justice, and asked that anyone with information about the killing to step forward to help crack the case.

[36][37] Lee Teng, a Taiwanese television host based in Singapore, revealed that when he and his friends camped near the tower in East Coast Park back in secondary school, his Buddha pendant mysteriously disappeared the next morning.