The 58-year-old man, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his wife's former lover, will face the death penalty now after the prosecution appealed in court. The convict was given the extended sentence during Wednesday hearing.
The ultimate decision was taken in a three-judge Court of Appeal, headed by Chief Justice Menon and Judges of Appeal Judith Prakash and Tay Yong Kwang.
The Court of Appeal said that the murderer Chia Kee Chen showed the merciless behaviour for the life of the deceased, Dexmon Chua. In addition, Chief Justice Menon said that Chen wanted to torture his victim and make him suffer before dying.
On December 28, 2013, the accused spotted Chua near Choa Chu Kang flat and put him inside a van, were Chen and his accomplice Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko, 36, electrocuted the victim and made him unconscious before assaulting him. Later, Chua was beaten to death and was dumped at Lim Chu Kang Road on December 29, 2013.
There was another accomplice involved in the case, 68-year-old Chua Leong Aik, who was driving the car. Reports stated that he is serving a jail term for the abduction and causing grievous hurt.
While in August 2017, Chen was sentenced to life imprisonment after the court found him guilty of murdering Chua, now Febri remains at large in Indonesia.
As reported, the crime took place one year later Chen came to know about the relationship between his wife and the victim. The woman and the deceased were colleagues but by the time the convict found out, the affair had ended.
On Wednesday, June 27, during sentencing Menon said that Chen's actions caused him the death sentence for three reasons. While explaining, he said that Chen was the mastermind of the murder case and also assaulted the deceased. He added that the accused executed a high degree planning and premeditation."
He said that when the Indonesian accomplice Febri was assaulting Chua and caused injuries, the accused did not stop him. Menon addressed the incident was extremely brutal and vicious after analysing the evidence and post-mortem reports that included extensive fractures in Chua's skull, blood stains in the Choa Chu Kang car park and the involved van.
While the prosecution appealed that life imprisonment will be not justified for the crime Chen committed, the court did not consider the psychiatric report, which stated that the accused was suffering from the major depressive disorder at the time of the murder.
