Anthony Ler

A 2021 article from The Smart Local named the case of Annie Leong's murder as one of the 9 most terrible crimes that brought shock to Singapore in the 2000s.

The boy was not named to protect his identity since he was a minor. Court documents and media instead referred to the boy as "Z". Anthony Ler was convicted of masterminding the murder, and was hanged after he lost his appeal and clemency plea. As Z was a minor below the age of 18 at the time of the crime, he could not be sentenced to death and was hence detained indefinitely, serving nearly 17 years in prison before his release on 2 November 2018.

In 2013, Z filed for clemency, but was turned down by President Tony Tan. Four years later, in November 2017, through his original lawyer Peter Ong Lip Cheng, Z once again appealed for clemency, this time to President Halimah Yacob, garnering widespread media coverage and public attention in Singapore. Ong also spoke to reporters on 6 January 2018 about his client, who celebrated his 32nd birthday the week before (possibly 31 December), stating that there were testimonials backing his model behaviour and maturity in prison, and that Z was hopeful to be given a chance to return to society and reunite with his parents.

In April 2018, Z's mother spoke publicly, expressing her hope for a positive outcome from the clemency petition. Two of Z's former fellow detainees, 42 year-old Allan Ong and 42 year-old Kyaneth Soo, also spoke publicly in newspapers, citing examples of their current stable and clean lives and jobs in support of Z to allow him be given a second chance to reintegrate into society. Both Ong and Soo were detained for 13 years and six months under the President's Pleasure after their conviction in 1999 for a 1994 gang-related murder, and were released in 2012. They were both neighbours with Z in the prison where they were detained at.

Eventually, on 2 November 2018, President Halimah Yacob decided to, on the advice of the Cabinet, grant Z clemency and remitted the remaining part of his sentence. Z was released on the same day he received clemency from the President, more than 17 years after he killed Annie Leong, but his release was only reported in newspapers a month later on 13 December 2018. Z was also told to adhere to special conditions such as curfew hours and electronic monitoring, and he would continue to receive rehabilitative support to ensure his reintegration into society. In addition, a gag order remains in force to protect his identity due to his age at the time of the murder. Z's lawyer Peter Ong told newspapers that he was grateful that the President pardoned Z and gave him a second chance in life, and told reporters that when he finally came home 17 years since his arrest, Z was celebrating his birthday together with his family in the same month when newspapers reported his release.

An article from The Straits Times on 16 December 2018, 3 days after Z's release, reported that Annie Leong's family still reside in the Hougang flat where Leong was murdered. Chin Chooi Ling, Leong's mother (who was in her seventies), said that she did not feel bitter despite the tragedy and memories that manifested in the corridor where her daughter was stabbed. A friend of the family stated that through her Christian faith, Chin moved on with her life while raising her granddaughter Avelyn, who was reportedly a university undergraduate, together with other family members.

In July 2015, Singapore's national daily newspaper The Straits Times (ST) published an e-book titled Guilty As Charged: 25 Crimes That Have Shaken Singapore Since 1965, which included the criminal case of Anthony Ler as one of the top 25 crimes that shocked the nation since its independence in 1965. The book was borne out of collaboration between the Singapore Police Force and ST, with editing done by a ST news associate editor, Abdul Hafiz bin Abdul Samad. The paperback edition of the book was published and first hit the bookshelves in end-June 2017. The paperback edition first entered the ST bestseller list on 8 August 2017. Some edited excerpts of the hand-written confession which Z submitted to the police and court were reproduced in the book's chapter of the Anthony Ler incident. The original version of Z's hand-written confession was available in the High Court's judgement of Anthony Ler's murder trial.

After Z was released, Muhammad Nasir bin Abdul Aziz was the only prisoner left currently detained at the President's Pleasure, which was abolished after a review of the Criminal Procedure Code of Singapore in 2010.

Subhas Anandan, the former lawyer of Anthony Ler, published his first memoir The Best I Could. He wrote Anthony Ler's case as one of the cases he was well known for. The book was first published in 2009.

The case of Anthony Ler was re-enacted in Crimewatch in 2002. Similarly, Ler's case and trial was re-enacted in the second season of True Files, a Singapore crime show; which was aired as the season's first episode on 26 August 2003. In the episode, Z was renamed as "Steven" by the producers of the show to protect the boy's identity. Z's friends were also featured in the show with their true identities changed and both Ler's lawyer Subhas Anandan and Z's psychiatrist Dr Lim Yun Chin appeared on screen to be interviewed in the episode.

Anthony Ler Wee Teang (c. 1967 – 13 December 2002) was a Singaporean convicted murderer who hired a youth to murder his wife, 30-year-old real-estate agent Annie Leong Wai Mun, who was in the midst of a divorce with him. Ler's motive was to become the sole owner of their flat and to gain custody of their four-year-old daughter. Ler approached five youths and offered them a reward of S$100,000 to kill Leong. A 15-year-old boy whom Ler had known for five years accepted the offer. Ler threatened and manipulated the youth to carry out the deed. After several failed attempts, the youth fatally stabbed Leong.

After the original trial, Subhas appealed the verdict on behalf of his client Anthony Ler (who still smiled even after he was sentenced to death), and it was heard before three judges - Chief Justice Yong Pung How, Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin and High Court judge Tan Lee Meng - in the Court of Appeal of Singapore. However, the appeal was rejected on 4 March 2002; the three judges agreed with the High Court's decision and reject Anthony Ler's claims of innocence based on the evidence they reviewed. Initially, Z also appealed against his conviction but later withdrew his appeal. The clemency plea to President S. R. Nathan, which Ler submitted in hope of having his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment was also dismissed. Eventually, on 13 December 2002, for abetting the murder of his wife, 35-year-old Anthony Ler Wee Teang was hanged in Changi Prison at dawn.

Anthony Ler began in February 2001 by befriending a group of five teenage boys who had gathered outside a McDonald's restaurant in Pasir Ris. Ler acted as a mentor to them, and went on meeting them a few times. After they first met, Ler asked the boys if they dared to kill people and when one of them asked how much he was willing to pay, Ler asked them to name their price. One of the boys, a 15-year-old secondary school student whom Ler had known for five years, replied S$1 million; another boy, a 16-year-old school drop-out named Gavin Ng Jin Wei (Chinese: 黄敬伟; pinyin: Huáng Jìngwěi), said S$100,000; a third boy named Seah Tze Howe (Chinese: 佘子豪; pinyin: Shé Ziháo) said S$100; the others gave unknown prices. Ler agreed to Gavin's price, and asked them to name a target. That was when Ler expressed that his target would be his wife, whom he said he hated for not allowing him to visit his daughter frequently and everything else. He said he would pay that amount to any boy who dared to do it. All the boys perceived it as a joke.

In the first week of May 2001, Lee again met up with Gavin and the 15-year-old boy (who was also Gavin's childhood friend of 11 years). Ler then once again brought up the issue of wanting his wife dead, and asked if Gavin would do it, even asking him to kill his wife by covering her mouth with one hand and slit her throat with a knife from behind. It was then Gavin realised that Ler was serious about killing Leong. Gavin was later brought to Ler's flat to practice by using a newspaper and knife, and being shown the photos of Leong and Avelyn. Gavin later talked to a 14-year-old female friend (who was not named in the media due to her aged below 16), about this incident, and he decided to back out after she told him to not do the job. Gavin tried to warn his 15-year-old friend to not do the job.

The first attempt was on 10 May 2001. The youth was brought to Hougang Avenue 9 by Anthony Ler, who told him to go to Block 923, to the flat where Annie Leong lived. On the instructions of Ler, the youth wore a helmet to prevent facial identification, and armed himself with a long steak knife given to him by Ler. After seeing a woman alighting the taxi, the youth, from what he said in his police statements, asked Ler by phone about Leong's facial description. After receiving Ler's description of Leong, which roughly matched the description of the woman whom the youth seen, the boy began to make his move but he missed Leong after reaching the fourth floor (the floor where Leong lived). Later, the boy saw Leong coming out with her daughter to go to the playground. The 15-year-old, upon seeing Avelyn, could not bring himself to attack Leong in the presence of the little girl despite Ler's insistence that he do so.

An ambulance arrived and brought Leong to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. A few hours later, on the midnight of 15 May 2001, 30-year-old Annie Leong Wai Mun died from her injuries. An autopsy had certified that Leong had died from "acute haemorrhage due to stab wounds of heart and lung". The neck and chest wounds were measured 6 cm and 15 cm long respectively.

After his police interview, Ler agreed to allow police to search his flat and there, police found out that one of the newspapers in Ler's home had its front page torn out. When asked about this, Ler lied that he did not know where the missing torn page was. The police collected additional evidence from Ler's home for investigation purposes. On 18 May 2001, four days after Annie Leong's murder, the police officers also brought in two of Ler's known acquaintances for questioning. One of them was Gavin Ng and the other was the 15-year-old himself. Earlier on, the 15-year-old teenager had told Gavin that he had killed Annie Leong, much to the shock and anger of Gavin, who also informed the other boys about the murder.

On 19 November 2001, both Anthony Ler and the 15-year-old boy stood trial together in the High Court of Singapore for the murder of Annie Leong. The case was heard before Judicial Commissioner Tay Yong Kwang of the High Court. The prosecution consisted of Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPPs) Low Cheong Yeow and Edwin San Ong Kyar, while for the two defendants, Anthony Ler was represented by veteran lawyer Subhas Anandan (1947 – 2015) and his assistant Anand Nalachandran, while the youth was represented by lawyers Edwin Seah Li Ming and Peter Ong Lip Cheng. Additionally, to protect his identity due to his age, the teenager was renamed "Z" in the court documents and the media.

In his defense on 26 November 2001, Ler stated that he was innocent, and that he did not mastermind the murder of his wife or tell Z to kill his wife. He stated all those talks of wanting his wife dead, were all a "joke" and a bluff. When he was asked why he did not bring a pen beforehand, Ler claimed that he had no habit to bring a pen (though he was being told that he could have borrowed the pen from the nearest coffee shop, which is just a 10-minute walk away from the playground). When asked why he stayed behind with his daughter instead of accompanying his wife up the 4th floor, Ler said that he just wanted to spend more time with his daughter Avelyn, whom he loved very much. He showed no remorse throughout the trial for his heinous crime and only smiled.

Z took the stand after Anthony Ler on 28 November 2001 to put up his defence. On the stand, he said essentially the same thing as what he told the police. He also stated that he was forced and manipulated by Anthony Ler to do the killing, for which he claimed that his actions as a result of the manipulation did not amount to the crime of murder, but of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

At the end of the trial on 5 December 2001, nearly seven months after the death of Annie Leong, and after receiving the closing submissions from the prosecution and defence the day before, JC Tay Yong Kwang delivered his judgement.

Apart from the affairs her husband engaged in, Leong had to also cope with her husband's financial difficulties by using their savings to settle his debts. She had quit her job from the bank to help her husband to set up a business, but returned to work after their daughter was born. In October 1999, Leong, together with Avelyn, left her husband to live with her mother. In August 2000, Ler nearly faced bankruptcy because of a failing publishing business. As a result, he attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills and was hospitalised for this. Leong returned to help him, and for Ler, it was a sign that their marriage could be reconciled. However, that was not to be, as Leong began to file for divorce in February 2001, and was pending custody of their daughter. It was also informally agreed that Ler would visit Avelyn on the weekends.

After completing his mandatory two-year National Service and pursuing a subsequent five-year army career, Anthony Ler established several businesses but all ended in bankruptcy and failure. At the time of his arrest, Ler was working as a graphic designer. Ler first met his wife Annie Leong Wai Mun (Chinese: 梁慧敏; pinyin: Liáng Huìmǐn) in a church when he was 19 years old. At that time, Leong was 15 years old. They later began a relationship, which lasted for five years before their marriage in 1995. The couple's first and only child, a daughter named Avelyn Ler Long Shou (Chinese: 吕龙树; pinyin: Lǚ Lóngshù), was born on 13 April 1997.

Anthony Ler Wee Teang (simplified Chinese: 吕伟添; traditional Chinese: 呂偉添; pinyin: Lǚ Wěitiān), who was born sometime in 1967, was the youngest of four children. It was stated that he had an unhappy childhood, and his parents divorced when he was young. Ler, who was not close to his two brothers and one sister, completed his primary and secondary education at River Valley English School and Thomson Secondary School respectively before moving on to study in a polytechnic. However, Ler dropped out in his first year after his father refused to continue paying for his education. It was said that Ler was an average student in terms of academic performance.

The murder case was adapted into a documentary and an episode of a true crime TV series. The memoir of Subhas Anandan, Ler's lawyer, was subsequently adapted into another true crime series and published in Guilty As Charged: 25 Crimes That Have Shaken Singapore Since 1965, a collection of crime stories by The Straits Times.