Husband manipulated teen to kill wife in $100K plot, then wept at her funeral

A shocking murder case in Singapore revealed how a husband secretly orchestrated his wife’s killing, even as he publicly appeared to mourn her death.

According to a Singapore High Court judgment reviewed by People, Anthony Ler Wee Teang persuaded a 15-year-old boy to murder his estranged wife, Annie Leong Wai Muen, promising the teenager $100,000 for carrying out the attack.

Leong, 30, was fatally stabbed outside an elevator in a residential apartment building in Singapore shortly before midnight on May 14, 2001. 

She had gone downstairs from her parents’ apartment to meet Ler to sign paperwork related to the couple’s shared property.

Realizing she needed a pen, Leong returned upstairs, leaving the couple’s 4-year-old daughter with Ler. 

Moments later, as she stepped out of the elevator on her floor, she was attacked from behind. 

Court records state that the teenage assailant slashed her neck and stabbed her in the chest before fleeing. Leong managed to stagger back to her mother’s nearby apartment before collapsing. 

She was rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead around 1 a.m. on May 15 after severe bleeding caused by stab wounds to her heart and lung.

Police arrested both the teenager and Ler four days later.

Investigators later learned that Ler had befriended the boy years earlier and gradually began discussing killing his wife with a group of teens he regularly met at a McDonald’s restaurant in the Pasir Ris area. 

Prosecutors said he ultimately convinced the 15-year-old to commit the crime in exchange for a six-figure payment.

The teen later confessed that Ler had shown him knives and demonstrated how to stab someone in the neck, while also instructing him to steal Leong’s wallet to make the killing appear to be a robbery.

Detectives also discovered a torn piece of newspaper at the crime scene that had been used to wrap the knife. 

The remaining portion of the same newspaper was later recovered from Ler’s home, linking him to the preparations.

Despite the mounting evidence, Ler initially denied involvement. In the days following the murder, he attended his wife’s wake and tearfully spoke to reporters beside her coffin.

But the presiding judge later described the display as an act.

“The expression of shock, the seeming concern for the dying Annie and the tears at the funeral were nothing more than rehearsed acts performed by an accomplished actor,” the ruling stated.

Prosecutors argued Ler’s motive stemmed from his wife’s plans to divorce him. Her death would allow him to retain their apartment and potentially gain custody of their daughter.

Because of his age, the teenager who carried out the stabbing was spared the death penalty and was detained indefinitely. 

Ler, however, was convicted of abetting murder. His appeal was later dismissed, and he was executed by hanging in Singapore in December 2002.