According to the prosecution, on the night of the murder, Frederick drove to where his uncle worked in the industrial area of George Town and lay in wait. He then struck Johnson in the head from behind, knocking him to the ground, before beating and then strangling him. Just days after killing his uncle, Frederick travelled to the UK to return to university, where he was studying for an engineering degree. Defence attorney George Carter-Stephenson KC had urged the court to consider his personal circumstances as well as provocation. Barnaby Jameson KC, who prosecuted the case, had argued that the murder was the violent culmination of the long‑running family feud, which he had described as a “poison river” flowing through the family relationships.