Anthony Ler

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.

Anthony Ler Wee Teang, 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.

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 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, was born on 13 April 1997.

Anthony Ler slowly began to be unfaithful to his wife.

He had an affair with a woman named Belinda Ho Wei Lynn, who later found out that Ler was a husband and father.

Later, Ler even allowed Ho into his flat to live with him and his wife and daughter.

Leong subsequently found out about the affair between her husband and Ho.

This affair was riddled with the financial problems racked up from Ler's failed business ventures, and ended three and a half years later.

This affair became the main factor in Leong's decision to separate from him.

Ler also had an affair with another woman named Marilyn Tan Su Fen, with whom he also engaged in business.

This business ended in financial trouble, as did their affair.

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.

The debt-ridden Ler knew that given his precarious financial situation he would be unlikely to gain custody of his daughter, believing he did not have the ability to raise her well due to the substantial debts incurred from his failed businesses; another factor was the pending sale of their flat.

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.

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 committing 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.

The murder case was adapted into a documentary and an episode of a true crime TV series.