Pubdate: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia) Copyright: News Limited 1999 Contact: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ KILLING AS EASY AS DOING AN ESSAY A LAW student who drugged her boyfriend before injecting him with a lethal dose of heroin, later said planning the killing was like "doing a university assignment", a court heard yesterday. Anu Singh was once a gifted student whose borderline personality disorder led to her suffering a "slide from grace", the ACT Supreme Court was told. After becoming obsessed with her health and believing she was suffering numerous diseases including multiple sclerosis and AIDS Singh set out on a path to kill. Blaming her boyfriend, Joe Cinque, for giving her a drug which she thought had caused her to suffer a degenerative disease, she planned a "payback". At a dinner party organised for Mr Cinque, 26, at her Canberra home, Singh placed the drug Rohypnol in his coffee. Later, after he had passed out, Singh injected him with heroin, leading to his death a short time later. Singh, 26, was found guilty of manslaughter in April, after Justice Ken Crispin ruled she was suffering an "abnormality of mind". During a sentencing hearing yesterday, a senior probation officer said Singh's lethal plan had given her "a purpose" in life. "(Singh) said planning the offence gave her a focus and allowed her to take the focus off her own health," parole officer Naomi Buick said. "She claimed the reality of the situation did not hit her until she saw Mr Cinque gasping for breath. "She said she did not think about murder or death, rather that her actions gave her something to do, a purpose. She likened it to doing a university assignment." Reading from a report she prepared after interviewing Singh, Ms Buick told the court the killer had described her offence as "bizarre" and was "still grappling with the consequences". "She said the consequences should have seemed obvious, particularly as she was studying law. She said she could not explain why she did not simply stop and think of the implications." The court was told Singh whose parents are doctors had unfounded concerns about her physical health which became more severe in the lead-up to Mr Cinque's death. "She stated she began to become increasingly obsessive and visited a multitude of doctors and undertook almost every conceivable test," Ms Buick said. "She said she thought she had central nervous system problems ... and when the doctors said there was nothing wrong, she became angry. (Singh) stated she checked her parents' medical books and decided she had multiple sclerosis and later AIDS." Despite her parents attempting to convince their daughter she was suffering from a psychological disorder, Singh was "too headstrong" to believe them, Ms Buick said. "She said she prided herself on her level of intelligence and was discouraged from co-operating with treatment because of the stigma attached." But, since receiving medication in jail, Singh said she is "freer now behind four walls".She is expected to be sentenced on Thursday. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea