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Murder of Dexmon Chua
Murder of Dexmon Chua
Murder of Dexmon Chua
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Dexmon Chua Yizhi (Chinese: 蔡谊志; pinyin: Caì Yìzhì; c. 1976 – 28 December 2013) was a material analyst and Singaporean who was brutally murdered in Singapore by his former girlfriend's husband, Chia Kee Chen (Chinese: 谢其晋; pinyin: Xiè Qíjìn), who craved revenge on Chua for having an affair with his wife and had convinced two people to help him abduct and kill Chua. Chua's death was due to a grievous assault that caused severe fatal injuries. Dexmon Chua was 37 years old when he died at Lim Chu Kang on 28 December 2013.[1]

Key Information

Despite being found guilty of capital murder, Chia Kee Chen was initially sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017, before the highest court of Singapore passed the death penalty on Chia in 2018. Chia's best friend and accomplice, Chua Leong Aik (Chinese: 蔡良益; pinyin: Caì Liángyì), was jailed five years for abetting the abduction, while the final accomplice, Indonesian Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko, was never arrested and charged as he fled from Singapore and hid in Indonesia.[2][3][4]

Murder and background

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On 28 December 2013, 53-year-old Singaporean businessman Chia Kee Chen, together with his 31-year-old Indonesian employee, Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko (born 25 February 1982), and Singaporean, Chua Leong Aik (Chia's best friend), kidnapped 37-year-old Dexmon Chua Yizhi from a carpark in Choa Chu Kang. They dragged him into their van, which they had earlier borrowed from an acquaintance of Chia's. While Chua Leong Aik drove the vehicle, Chia and Febri electrocuted and grievously assaulted the victim until he died. The attack was so severe that there were fractures to the face, jaw and eye socket, and the van's ceiling was covered in blood. Chia and Febri then abandoned Dexmon Chua's body in the SAFTI Live Firing Area at Murai Park Avenue, and then spent an hour cleaning the van at Chia's fish farm before returning it. The police later received a report from Dexmon Chua's family, who reported him missing.[5]

Prior to the murder, in November 2012, Chia, who also owned a fish farm in Indonesia, discovered that his 47-year-old wife, Serene Goh Yen Hoon, was having an affair with Dexmon Chua (who was Goh's colleague). Chia demanded that Goh end the affair, which she first started with Dexmon Chua in July 2011 after the latter began to regularly send her back home from work. In February 2013, Chia discovered a Chinese New Year greeting mistakenly sent to his wife by Dexmon Chua over WhatsApp, which enraged him. He subsequently made threatening calls to the murder victim and stalked him twice throughout the year 2013 until Christmas Eve. He finally hatched a plan to kill Dexmon Chua. He planned the murder with Febri and Chua Leong Aik. Chia told Febri (who helped Chia run his Indonesian fish farm) that he should come to Singapore to help kill someone who had raped his wife, and that, if the murder was successful, Chia would set up a business for him in Tanjung Pinang.[6]

After the murder, Chia went for a holiday trip to Malaysia with his wife and two daughters (then aged 18 and 22 respectively), while helping Febri to flee the country. Due to police investigations, Chia was identified and arrested on 31 December 2013 upon his return to Singapore. The next day, after leading the police to where he disposed of the victim's body, Chia was charged with murder and placed under remand pending his trial.[7][8]

64-year-old Chua Leong Aik, who acted as the driver, was subsequently arrested on 9 January 2014 and charged with murder as well.[9][10][11]

The Singapore Police Force also placed Febri's name on the wanted list. Interpol also issued a red notice for Febri's arrest, and Febri became one of the fugitives on top of Interpol's wanted list.[12][13][14][15] Later, Febri was located by Indonesian authorities in Bintan and was taken into custody, but as there was no extradition treaty between Indonesia and Singapore, Febri was not taken back to Singapore for trial; however, his police statements would be given to the court during Chia's murder trial.[16]

Trial of Chua Leong Aik

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Some time after he was charged, Chua Leong Aik's murder charge was reduced to abduction and causing grievous hurt. Nearly two years later, on 8 January 2016, Chua Leong Aik pleaded guilty to helping both Chia and Febri abduct and assault the victim. During mitigation, Chua Leong Aik's defence lawyer, James Ow Yong, asked for a jail term of four years, arguing that his client, who had two children aged seven and two in Indonesia after he remarried, was mostly a law-abiding citizen. He also noted that Chua Leong Aik had nothing to gain and was trying to help a friend, and thus played a minimal role in the entire incident. Deputy Public Prosecutor, Tan Wen Hsien, who pressed for a five-year sentence, rebutted that Chua Leong Aik had knowledge that a possibly vicious attack on a stranger would be conducted, given his awareness of the weapons that were used, so dismissed his supposed minimal role in the crime.

In his judgement, Senior Judge Kan Ting Chiu admonished Chua Leong Aik for his lack of remorse and not stopping the assault. He stated that Chua was not an instigator, but he did nothing to intervene, and he had denied his role or knowledge relating to the murder at the moment he was arrested. Justice Kan ordered Chua Leong Aik to serve five years in prison, which was the sentence sought by the prosecution. Chua Leong Aik was released from prison in 2021.[17][18][19]

Trial of Chia Kee Chen

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High Court verdict

[edit]

Chia Kee Chen was brought to trial in the High Court of Singapore for murder on 25 October 2016. The charge of murder Chia faced was not of intentional murder, which is solely punishable by death, but murder with an intention to fatally injure a person and cause death. This type of murder with no intention to kill warrants either life imprisonment or the death penalty if found guilty. During the trial, both Chia's wife and Chua Leong Aik testified against Chia.[20][21]

Despite the prosecution's case and incriminating evidence against him, Chia denied that he abducted Chua for revenge for the affair Dexmon Chua had with his wife, and denied having taken part in the assault. Having cited that he had another wife and three more children in Indonesia, Chia stated that affairs are "very common in Singapore". He also stated he naturally felt enraged as a man if his wife had an affair. He put the blame on a Malaysian man named "Ali" for doing most of the harm to the victim, with Febri's help during the assault. He stated that he abducted Dexmon Chua for allegedly filming his wife having sex with the victim, and had wanted to retrieve the tapes to protect his wife's dignity. He stated he had never thought of revenge against Dexmon Chua.[22][23][24]

The prosecution argued that Chia was lying in his account in the court and fabricated the existence of his fourth accomplice Ali, pointing out that both Febri and Chua Leong Aik did not tell the police about the participation of Ali in their kidnapping plan, and it was puzzling that Ali could not be contacted by phone but appeared in the accused's account at convenient moments. They stated that Chia had told police in his account of how he used the hammer to hit Dexmon Chua and he had clearly participated in the assault, with the inference from the unwashed blood patterns that the forensic experts discovered inside the van. They also pointed out that Chia had the motive to attack Dexmon Chua, since he had ill feelings regarding the affair. The trial concluded on 3 November 2016 after seven days before the High Court.[25]

On 17 January 2017, Chia's defences were all rejected by High Court judge Choo Han Teck, who found Chia guilty of murder under Section 300(c) of the Penal Code. In convicting Chia, Justice Choo Han Teck noted that Chia had intentionally assaulted the victim together with Febri with the common intention to cause the fatal injuries to the victim. The judge labelled Chia an "unreliable witness", as there were many contradictions in his account, which only corroborated his guilt. He also rejected the allegation that there was a fourth man named Ali who helped assault Dexmon Chua, since Chia did not make any mention of Ali in his police statements. The judge stated that Chia played the most critical role in the case, as he was the one with the motive and hated Dexmon Chua. Sentencing for Chia was postponed till a later date.[26][27][28]

The prosecution, led by DPP Tan Wen Hsien, sought the death penalty, due to the brutal and bloody nature of Dexmon Chua's murder and the cruel, savage, and callous execution of Chia's fatal assault on the victim. DPP Tan argued in her submissions that Chia had an utter lack of remorse for his actions and had acted in a calm and collected manner during the killing, which made it more appropriate for Chia to serve a death sentence. Tan also pointed out that he only confessed to using a hammer to hit Dexmon Chua ten days after the murder. The defence, led by defence lawyer Anand Nalachandran, argued for life imprisonment, as there was no conclusive evidence that Chia planned to murder Dexmon Chua. He also argued that there was only a plan to abduct, not to kill the victim, in contrast to Febri's account (which he made to the Indonesian police), which detailed a murder plan. Anand said Febri's account was "self-serving" and should not be accepted, as it was inconsistent with Chua Leong Aik's account of a non-fatal kidnap plot. The defence counsel also tried to claim Chia suffered from a mental disorder and had impaired responsibility to avoid capital punishment, which the prosecution rejected due to Chia being certified as mentally sound and normal prior to the trial.[29][30]

On 4 August 2017, Chia was sentenced to life imprisonment, which fell short of the maximum penalty of death the prosecution sought. Justice Choo stated in his brief oral judgement (which was not published) that there was a possibility that Febri inflicted the fatal blow even though Chia had the motive and intention to kill, and the murder charge which Chia faced was under Section 300(c) of the Penal Code instead of Section 300(a) (under which the death penalty is mandatory if found guilty), which was why he decided not to pass a death sentence on Chia. The sentence was backdated to 1 January 2014, the date Chia was first remanded.[31][32]

Prosecution's appeal and death sentence

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After the conclusion of the trial, the prosecution, which was now led by DPP Hri Kumar Nair, appealed for the death penalty. After hearing the appeal, the Court of Appeal unanimously allowed the appeal on 27 June 2018 and raised Chia's life sentence to death, condemning him to hang on a later date for Dexmon Chua's murder.

The Court of Appeal, in sentencing Chia to death, citing the guiding principles set by the 2015 landmark appeal of the Kho Jabing case, stated that the unremorseful Chia had "exhibited such viciousness and such a blatant disregard for the life of the deceased, and are so grievous an affront to humanity and so abhorrent that the death penalty is the appropriate, indeed the only adequate sentence", given that he masterminded the abduction out of revenge for his wife's adultery, and had shown a high degree of premeditation and planning. They also dismissed his psychiatric report of diminished responsibility, since there was no contributory link between the offence and the alleged major depressive disorder; it also lacked reason and only contained ambiguity.

The three-judge panel, led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, also stated that although it may be true that Febri could have inflicted the fatal injuries, he did so under Chia's directions, and Chia not only did not tell Febri to stop the assault, but joined in the attack. Before his arrest, Chia even calmly went for a holiday trip to Malaysia with his wife and two daughters while helping Febri to flee the country. They also pointed out that in his first statements to the police, Chia voiced to the police interrogators that his only regret was not causing Dexmon Chua more suffering before his death, showing that Chia was not remorseful for killing Dexmon Chua.

CJ Menon, who read out the judgement he made together with two other judges, Judith Prakash and Tay Yong Kwang, said that regarding Chia's role, "One who hires an assassin to kill another or who otherwise controls a killer, cannot be less culpable than the one who does the killing." Chia's appeal against his conviction was dismissed by the same three judges.[33][34][35]

Aftermath

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When her daughter informed Dexmon Chua's elderly mother that her son's killer was sentenced to death, she made a comment in Chinese, "Justice is finally served for my son, but my beloved son will never come back to life anymore." She described her son, who was the second of her three children, as a filial and dutiful son who cared about his parents and always bought his parents' their favorite snacks to eat. She described her son's death as a huge blow, and she took it very badly when she heard that Chia was sentenced to life imprisonment instead of death. Dexmon Chua's mother had earlier begged for the prosecution to argue for the death penalty in their appeal against Chia's life term.[36] The family of Dexmon Chua also had earlier told the press that they were not aware of Dexmon Chua's relationship with Chia's wife.[37]

The prosecution's appeal of Chia Kee Chen's death sentence would be a landmark case that influenced the sentencing outcomes of other murder cases, as it led to more sentencing guidelines relating to murder under the death penalty laws of Singapore. Notably, in the case of Leslie Khoo Kwee Hock, who killed his girlfriend Cui Yajie, the High Court's judge, Audrey Lim, compared the case of Khoo with Chia's case, stating that Khoo did not premeditate the murder and his conduct, at the court's consideration, did not show any viciousness or blatant disregard for human life; therefore Khoo was sentenced to life imprisonment instead of death on 19 August 2019.[38][39]

Chia Kee Chen was hanged sometime in 2019, and prison statistics confirmed that two people (including Micheal Anak Garing)[40] were hanged in 2019 for murder.[41] Chia was not among the 50 inmates remaining alive on Singapore’s death row in August 2023, and only three of these prisoners were held on death row for murder; (Iskandar Rahmat, Ahmed Salim and Teo Ghim Heng), while the remaining 47 were convicted of drug trafficking.[42][43][44] Febri still remains on the run, with theories claiming he had returned to Indonesia.

In 2023, a Singaporean Tamil-language crime show titled Theerpugal, which meant "The Verdict" in Tamil, re-enacted the murder of Dexmon Chua, and it aired a total of two episodes covering the case. A lawyer confirmed that Chia's death sentence had been carried out, although the exact date of his execution in 2019 was not specified.[45][46]

See also

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References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Murder of Dexmon Chua

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The murder of Dexmon Chua Yizhi was the abduction and fatal beating of a 37-year-old Singaporean material analyst on 29 December 2013 in , orchestrated by businessman Chia Kee Chen upon discovering Chua's affair with Chia's wife, involving accomplices who forced the victim into a van and assaulted him with blunt weapons, causing death by head trauma. Chia Kee Chen, aided by friend Chua Leong Aik and employee Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko, executed the attack driven by jealousy, dragging Chua from his car and inflicting over 100 injuries, including skull fractures. Following a , Chia was convicted of under section 300(c) of the Penal Code in January 2017, initially receiving in August 2017, but the Court of Appeal overturned this to the mandatory death penalty in June 2018, citing the premeditated brutality.

Background

Victim and Perpetrators

Dexmon Chua Yizhi (c. 1976 – 2014) was a 37-year-old Singaporean employed as a material analyst in the , also described in reports as a production technician. He resided in a public housing flat in , , maintaining a professional life centered on his work in materials analysis up to late 2013. Chia Kee Chen (c. 1959), a businessman in his mid-50s at the time, managed operations involving employees such as Indonesian national Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko and maintained a household in . Chua Leong Aik (born 1963), an unemployed associate of Chia Kee Chen, had worked previously as a and was engaged by Chia to execute tasks, including driving during the events leading to the murder.

Relationship Dynamics and Motive

Serene Goh, the wife of Chia Kee Chen, initiated an extramarital affair with Dexmon Chua Yizhi in August 2011, shortly after they developed a close rapport as colleagues at a packaging factory. The liaison involved repeated sexual encounters in Chua's vehicle after work shifts, persisting until its termination in 2012. By late 2012, Chia uncovered text messages on Goh's phone indicating , including one referencing "" that he interpreted as evidence of with another man. Confronting Goh, who acknowledged the relationship and committed to severing ties, Chia grew increasingly distrustful upon learning Chua had secretly filmed their encounters, fearing potential or dissemination. This betrayal fueled Chia's jealousy, prompting him to stalk and harass Chua starting in November 2012, while expressing explicit revenge motives to confidants over the ensuing year. In December 2013, Chia's resentment culminated in premeditated action: he enlisted longtime associate Chua Leong Aik and Indonesian contact Djatmiko Febri Irwansyah, promising payments of S$30,000 to S$50,000 for executing a fatal on Dexmon Chua. On December 24, Chia directly solicited Febri's aid to "take revenge on someone in by killing him," followed by coordination meetings to plan the operation. This causal progression—from discovery of the to sustained and orchestrated retribution—underscored the personal animus driving the plot.

The Murder

Abduction Sequence

On the late evening of 28 December 2013, Dexmon Chua Yizhi, a 37-year-old materials analyst, was abducted from a multi-storey car park at Block 429A Avenue 4, near his residence in . The perpetrators, led by businessman Chia Kee Chen, had planned the operation after Chua discovered his wife's affair with the victim, enlisting accomplices Chua Leong Aik, a 67-year-old former cleaning supervisor, and Indonesian national Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko to execute the seizure. Chia had borrowed a specifically for transporting the victim, positioning it at the site in anticipation of the encounter. Upon spotting Chua Yizhi in the car park, Chia, Leong Aik, and Febri assaulted him with physical force to subdue resistance, binding his arms and legs with restraints before dragging him from his position—likely near or inside his own vehicle—into the rear of the waiting van. Leong Aik, who pleaded guilty to charges of abduction and voluntarily causing grievous hurt, assisted in the forcible entry into the van, while Chia and Febri directly handled the initial overpowering. No independent witnesses or CCTV footage from the car park were cited in trial proceedings as directly capturing the initial seizure, with details primarily derived from the accomplices' post-arrest statements and forensic traces like bloodstains later found in the van. Once inside the van, Leong Aik took the wheel and drove the group toward the isolated rural area of , following instructions from Chia, who remained in the cargo area with Febri and the bound victim. This route facilitated isolation from public view, setting the stage for subsequent events away from the urban abduction site. The entire occurred rapidly, with Chua Yizhi failing to return home that night, prompting his father to report him missing by the early morning of 29 December.

Assault and Death

Dexmon Chua Yizhi was forced into the rear compartment of a van following his abduction on 28 December 2013, where he was subjected to a prolonged and brutal beating by the perpetrators using blunt force instruments, including a hammer-like object. The assault targeted his head and face repeatedly, with evidence indicating his head was also smashed against the van's interior surfaces, resulting in bloodstains splattered across the vehicle's ceiling. Forensic examination confirmed the attack's savagery through multiple blunt force impacts, causing extensive craniofacial trauma sufficient in the ordinary course to prove fatal. Chua remained alive during much of the beating, as the injuries were inflicted with great force by heavy objects while he was likely restrained. An revealed fractures to nearly every bone from below the eye sockets to the lower jaw, alongside depressed fractures, massive internal hemorrhaging, and organ damage leading to by traumatic shock from hypovolemic and neurogenic causes, occurring approximately between 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM on 28 December 2013. The perpetrators then disposed of Chua's body in a remote live-firing area off Road, near Sungei Gedong Camp, where it was found decomposed and maggot-infested on 1 January 2014, exhibiting extensive scalp loss from traction and multiple lacerations. The van was subsequently washed at a nearby fish farm to remove evidence of the assault.

Investigation and Arrests

Police Response

Dexmon Chua Yizhi was reported missing on 29 December 2013 after failing to return home following his departure the previous evening. His father discovered Dexmon's spectacles and blood droplets in his parked car at the family residence, prompting immediate police notification. Initial inquiries focused on evidence of foul play, including analysis of Dexmon's records, which revealed prior threatening calls received by the victim from a prepaid line registered under a name associated with suspect Chia Kee Chen. These calls, traced during the investigation, indicated patterns of surveillance and harassment linked to Dexmon's past relationship with Chia's wife, providing early leads toward suspect identification. Police also examined the abduction site at a multi-storey car park in , where forensic traces confirmed violent restraint and assault. On 1 January 2014, following these leads, authorities located Dexmon's decomposing body in a forested military training area off Road near Sungei Gedong Camp, with limbs bound and severe injuries consistent with prolonged beating. The discovery, aided by information from an initial suspect, shifted the case to , with post-mortem confirming death from multiple blunt force traumas. One perpetrator's subsequent flight to necessitated later cross-border coordination with Malaysian authorities for apprehension, though immediate response remained Singapore-led.

Key Evidence and Suspect Apprehension

Chia Kee Chen was arrested on 31 December 2013, two days after Dexmon Chua's body was reported missing and shortly before leading investigators to the disposal site in a restricted live-firing area at Lane 8. Chua Leong Aik, a longtime associate of Chia, was arrested on 9 January 2014 during the ongoing probe into the abduction and assault. Forensic examination of the borrowed van recovered by police revealed copious bloodstains matching Dexmon Chua's DNA profile, extending to the ceiling and indicating the ferocity of the sustained beating inside the vehicle. Although the primary implement—a hammer suspected in delivering blunt force injuries—was not located, autopsy findings corroborated multiple skull fractures and internal hemorrhaging consistent with repeated strikes from such a tool during the assault. Chua Leong Aik provided a detailing his participation in luring the victim into the van and administering blows as part of the attack, which police used to corroborate timelines and movements. records extracted from Chia's devices showed prior coordination with Chua Leong Aik and Indonesian national Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko, including calls and messages aligning with recruitment for the operation on 28 December 2013. Statements from Febri, whom Chia had approached to assist but who withdrew before the act, further evidenced premeditated orchestration, including discussions of tools like knives and an device brought to the scene, though not ultimately deployed in the fatal beating. These elements, combined with footage tracing the van's path from to the remote site, enabled swift linkage of suspects to the crime sequence without reliance on the missing weapon.

Trials

Chua Leong Aik's Trial

Chua Leong Aik, a 66-year-old former cleaning supervisor, faced charges related to the abduction and of Dexmon Chua Yizhi as an accomplice to Chia Kee Chen. On 8 January 2016, in the , he pleaded guilty to one count of abduction under section 361 of the Penal Code and one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt under section 325 of the Penal Code. These charges stemmed from his actions on 28 December 2013, when he drove the used in the abduction, assisted in forcing the victim into the at a multi-storey car park in , and participated in the beating inside the van using his fists and possibly other objects, inflicting severe injuries including to the head and body. During mitigation, Chua's lawyer highlighted his limited role compared to the principal offender, noting that he had been recruited by Chia under the pretext of a severe beating but without knowledge of murderous intent, and that he fled the scene midway upon hearing the victim's pleas and fearing escalation. The prosecution acknowledged his cooperation, including providing a statement that corroborated key details of the assault sequence, but emphasized the brutality of the attack, which left the victim with multiple fractures and head trauma contributing to his death. Justice Choo Han Teck, presiding, sentenced Chua to a total of five years' , deeming it appropriate given the guilty plea and his secondary involvement, with the term backdated to his arrest date in early 2014. Chua did not contest the charges, avoiding a full on higher offenses such as under section 300, which requires proof of to cause or grievous hurt likely to cause ; his reflected an acceptance of liability for the hurt inflicted but not the fatal outcome directly attributable to him. Post-sentencing, he began serving his term while Chia's separate proceedings continued, with Chua's later referenced in those as of the coordinated . The sentence aligned with precedents for accomplices in grievous hurt cases involving common , where pleas mitigate against .

Chia Kee Chen's Trial

High Court Proceedings and Verdict

Chia Kee Chen, aged 56 at the time of sentencing, stood trial in the before Choo Han Teck for the murder of Dexmon Chua Yizhi under Section 300 of the Penal Code. The prosecution established that on 28 2013, Chia orchestrated the abduction of the 37-year-old victim near his residence, forcing him into a borrowed van before subjecting him to a prolonged involving multiple perpetrators, including Indonesian national Febri Budiman and Chua Leong Aik, who had earlier pleaded guilty to causing grievous hurt. The victim's body, exhibiting severe facial fractures and other injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, was discovered the following day in a shallow grave at . On 17 January 2017, Justice Choo convicted Chia of , finding that he acted with the intention to cause death or grievous hurt likely to result in death, motivated by over the victim's with Chia's wife. included testimonies, forensic reports confirming the extent of injuries—nearly every facial bone fractured—and Chia's own statements indicating premeditation, such as recruiting accomplices for the act. However, during mitigation on 4 August 2017, the judge imposed rather than the mandatory death penalty, citing a residual possibility that Chia did not personally deliver the fatal blows amid the group assault, despite his central role as instigator. The prosecution immediately signaled intent to appeal the sentence, arguing Chia's dominant participation and clear homicidal intent warranted .

Prosecution Appeal and Court of Appeal Ruling

The Attorney-General's Chambers filed a cross-appeal against the life sentence, while Chia appealed his , claiming insufficient of to kill and citing a psychiatric report diagnosing at the time of the offense. On 27 June 2018, a three-judge Court of Appeal dismissed Chia's appeal and allowed the prosecution's sentencing appeal, substituting with the death penalty. The apex court held that Chia's premeditated planning—evidenced by his December 2013 call to an accomplice seeking help to "kill" the victim—and active involvement in the van demonstrated under Section 300(a) of the Penal Code, with common intention binding participants under Section 34. The judges rejected the High Court's "possibility" of non-fatal participation, noting forensic and testimonial evidence placing Chia at the scene delivering blows, and emphasized that liability extended to intentional acts foreseeably causing death in a group context. Defense arguments on depression were dismissed as unsupported by medical evidence linking it to , with the court affirming Chia's full culpability as the orchestrator driven by personal vendetta. This ruling, rendered before amendments allowing judicial in capital cases, underscored the mandatory nature of the death penalty for established intent.

High Court Proceedings and Verdict

Chia Kee Chen's trial took place in the before Judicial Commissioner Choo Han Teck, commencing in late 2016. He faced a single charge of under section 300(c) of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed), which requires that the accused intentionally caused bodily injury to the deceased while knowing that such injury was likely to cause death. The prosecution's case rested on including Chia's police statements, witness testimonies from the accomplice Chua Leong Aik, forensic reports detailing the victim's extensive injuries from blunt force trauma (including skull fractures and ), and of premeditated abduction and using a and other objects inside a van on 28 December 2013. The defense, drawing on Chia's testimony, contended that while he participated in the assault driven by jealousy over an SMS about "stretch marks" suggesting infidelity, he lacked the requisite knowledge that the injuries would likely prove fatal, arguing instead for a lesser offense such as not amounting to . Chia claimed he only wielded the briefly and stopped upon seeing blood, without intent to kill. The rejected this, finding Chia's actions—repeatedly striking the bound and defenseless victim during a prolonged beating—demonstrated of the high of , as corroborated by medical evidence and inconsistencies in his account. On 17 January 2017, the convicted Chia as charged, holding that the prosecution had proven beyond the elements of under section 300(c). Sentencing submissions followed, with the prosecution urging the death penalty due to the premeditated and brutal nature of the killing, while the defense highlighted Chia's , family background, and lack of prior convictions. On 4 August 2017, the judge exercised discretion under section 302 read with section 300(c) to impose and (subsequently remitted due to Chia's age), deeming it proportionate given mitigating factors despite the severity of the offense.

Prosecution Appeal and Court of Appeal Ruling

The prosecution appealed against the life imprisonment sentence imposed on Chia Kee Chen by the High Court in August 2017, arguing that the mandatory death penalty under section 302 of the Penal Code was warranted given the premeditated and egregious nature of the murder. Chia's concurrent appeal against his conviction for murder was dismissed by the three-judge Court of Appeal, comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Judges of Appeal Chao Hick Tin and Quentin Loh. On June 27, 2018, the allowed the prosecution's appeal, substituting the life term with the death penalty, on the grounds that the offence was "undeniably vicious and brutal," involving extensive premeditation, meticulous planning, and a shared among Chia and his accomplices to inflict severe harm likely to cause death or death itself. The emphasized Chia's central role as the mastermind, including tracking the victim, recruiting accomplices like Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko for their capacity to execute a violent , directing the beating, and subsequently disposing of the body, which demonstrated a "blatant disregard for the life of the deceased" and an intent to maximize suffering. Menon noted that "one who hires an assassin to kill another or who otherwise controls a killer cannot be less culpable than the one who does the killing," underscoring that was inadequate for such a "grievous affront to humanity." The court rejected the defence's psychiatric evidence claiming Chia suffered from at the time, finding the report deficient in reasoning and failing to establish any causal link between the condition and the offence, thus deeming it an invalid mitigator. This ruling aligned the sentence with the prescribed for intentional under Singapore law, reflecting the court's assessment of Chia's high degree of culpability and the premeditated brutality evidenced by the victim's severe injuries, including multiple facial fractures.

Rationale for Death Penalty

In , the Penal Code prescribes as a possible sentence for under sections 300(b), (c), or (d), which encompass acts where the offender voluntarily causes bodily injury likely to result in death, as in Chia Kee Chen's for masterminding the fatal on Dexmon Chua Yizhi. Following amendments in , the death penalty is not mandatory for these clauses but is reserved for cases exhibiting high culpability, such as premeditated orchestration of violence, distinguishing them from impulsive or lesser-involved offenses that attract or shorter terms. In Chia's case, the Court of Appeal in 2018 overturned the High Court's life sentence, emphasizing that his central role in planning the abduction and prolonged beating—intended to inflict maximum suffering—warranted the ultimate penalty to reflect the gravity of such deliberate depravity. The court's rationale highlighted the premeditated brutality of the attack, which inflicted extensive injuries on Chua over approximately 24 hours, including repeated blows with blunt objects that left the victim's body decomposed when discovered, underscoring Chia's intent not merely to harm but to exact prolonged retribution driven by personal . This level of savagery, planned over days with recruited accomplices, contrasted sharply with non-premeditated assaults where sentences are often reduced, as the views orchestrated vendettas as eroding societal norms against vigilante justice more profoundly than spontaneous altercations. Personal motives, such as spousal , did not mitigate culpability; instead, the appellate judges noted that such calculated malice amplified the offense's retributive demand, aligning with precedents where masterminds of group receive capital sentences to affirm retribution for irremediable loss of life. Empirically, Singapore's stringent penalties, including the death penalty for aggravated , correlate with one of the world's lowest homicide rates—averaging under 0.3 per 100,000 population annually in recent decades—supporting deterrence as a core rationale, as evidenced by comparative studies showing lower violence levels in high-execution jurisdictions versus abolitionist counterparts with similar demographics. surveys reinforce this, with over 87% of residents in 2021 attributing reduced incidences to capital punishment's exemplary effect, enabling swift incapacitation of threats and signaling for premeditated killings that undermine safety. Thus, imposing death in Chia's case served both for the heinous orchestration and general deterrence against analogous acts of vengeful excess.

Defense Claims and Rebuttals

The defense for Chia Kee Chen argued during sentencing mitigation that he suffered from at the time of the offense, which substantially impaired his judgment and diminished his responsibility for the murder. A psychiatric report prepared post-conviction by Dr. John Bosco Lee, a , was submitted to the , opining that Chia's MDD symptoms—including persistent low mood, , and —were present during the relevant period and contributed to impulsive and irrational decision-making, thereby warranting leniency such as a life sentence over . The report emphasized that while Chia understood the nature of his acts, the disorder reduced his capacity to control his behavior, framing the assault as an outgrowth of rather than premeditated malice. Prosecutors rebutted these claims, asserting no credible causal nexus existed between any alleged MDD and the requisite intent for under , as Chia's actions demonstrated deliberate planning and rationality inconsistent with substantial impairment. Evidence highlighted included Chia's prior orchestration of the abduction—luring Dexmon Chua with promises of retrieving compromising videos, procuring tools like a and metal rod, and directing accomplices—followed by a sustained, brutal beating that fractured nearly every in the victim and caused fatal head trauma, all executed without hesitation or remorse during the act. The prosecution further noted the absence of contemporaneous medical evidence for MDD, with the post-trial report relying on self-reporting, which undermined its reliability against forensic and proof of volitional conduct. The Court of Appeal dismissed the defense's psychiatric mitigation, criticizing the report for lacking substantiation of a direct link to diminished intent and for contradicting the empirical record of premeditation and viciousness, which evidenced full culpability. Justices ruled that even assuming MDD's presence, it did not attenuate the outrage against societal norms posed by the offense's brutality—described as exhibiting "callous brutality" and a "blatant disregard for human life"—prioritizing deterrence, retribution for the victim's irreversible harm, and public protection over unproven psychological excuses that could not retroactively negate established . This judicial stance underscored that mitigation via claims requires robust, outcome-determinative evidence of impairment, not mere diagnosis, to override the penal code's emphasis on and community standards for .

Aftermath

Execution Status and Public Reaction

Chia Kee Chen has been since the Court of Appeal upheld his death sentence for the murder of Dexmon Chua Yizhi on June 27, 2018, overturning the High Court's term due to the premeditated and exceptionally brutal nature of the assault. As of October 2025, no execution has occurred, and official records from Singapore's judiciary and prison service indicate no reprieve, clemency petition, or commutation has been granted or publicly reported. Media outlets, including and TODAY, extensively covered the case's execution status, focusing on the savage details of the attack—such as the victim's binding, repeated beatings with a metal rod causing fatal head injuries, and bloodstains left on the assailants' van—to underscore the deliberate involved. These reports framed the death penalty as proportionate retribution, with prosecutors arguing during appeals that the offense warranted to affirm deterrence against personal killings outside legal channels. Public reaction, as captured in contemporaneous commentary on platforms like following the 2018 verdict, reflected a mix of views, including support for the harsher sentence as a signal against "crimes of passion" escalating to , though some criticized it as overly punitive for relational disputes. No organized campaigns or family-led pleas for mercy emerged in media accounts, aligning with Singapore's judicial where such cases rarely prompt widespread public intervention absent exceptional circumstances.

Broader Case Impact

The Court of Appeal's 2018 ruling in Public Prosecutor v Chia Kee Chen reinforced the application of the mandatory death penalty for murder convictions under section 302 of the Penal Code where intent to cause death was unequivocally established, even in the discretionary sentencing regime introduced by amendments in 2012 that allowed alternatives like life imprisonment for non-firearm murders. The decision overturned the High Court's life sentence, holding that the brutality of the attack—including repeated beatings with a metal rod and abandonment of the victim—demonstrated premeditated murderous intent beyond culpable homicide not amounting to murder, thereby clarifying thresholds for capital charges in jealousy-motivated assaults. This contributed to post-2012 jurisprudence distinguishing aggravated murder from lesser offenses, influencing subsequent appeals by emphasizing evidential standards for intent over mitigating personal motives. The case underscored a deterrence principle applicable irrespective of the perpetrator's , as Chia Kee Chen, a 58-year-old businessman, received no leniency despite his affluence and claims of defending against an alleged . By rejecting defenses rooted in emotional provocation or retribution, the ruling affirmed that Singapore's legal framework prioritizes state-administered and individual accountability over extrajudicial responses, countering narratives that diminish responsibility in relational disputes. This aligned with broader signals following high-profile cases like , where judicial discretion did not erode for premeditated killings, maintaining its role in upholding public order amid evolving sentencing options.

References

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