A man convicted of killing one of Australia's top heart surgeons has apologised for causing his victim's family pain
Phillip Choon Tee Lim, 50, made the apology while hiding behind a curtain on a plane on his way back to Malaysia after serving an 18-year prison term in Australia for the murder of Dr Victor Chang.
Lim was one of two men jailed over the fatal shooting in 1991 of renowned doctor Victor Chang during a failed extortion attempt.
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He was released from prison into immigration custody earlier this week and was Wednesday on a Malaysia Airlines flight bound for Kuala Lumpur, an immigration department spokesman told AFP.
Malaysian police said Choon would be allowed to enter the country as there were no outstanding criminal charges against him. He was expected to arrive at 8:50 pm local time (1250 GMT).
"He is a free man now. After all he has not committed any crime in Malaysia, he has been sentenced and released there (Australia)," federal criminal investigation chief Bakri Zinin told AFP.
"We will monitor his movement but as far as Malaysian police are concerned, he has no criminal record here," he added.
Chang, who had earned an international reputation for his pioneering work on heart transplant methods, was gunned down on a pavement near his home as he made his way to work in a killing which shocked the country.
Lim and co-offender Chew Seng Liew were sentenced to maximum terms of 24 and 26 years respectively, but Lim had served his non-parole period of 18 years by November 2009.
He was released from custody on Monday after winning a legal battle for freedom. Australian authorities had attempted to keep him in prison amid public outcry about his release.
