The case was grisly, and made even more shocking by the fact that a teenage boy - only 15 - was manipulated by 35-year-old Singaporean graphic designer Anthony Ler Wee Teang into killing the latter's wife, insurance agent Annie Leong, for a sum of $100,000.

Second clemency plea

Ler was convicted of abetting in the murder of his wife and hanged in 2002.

The teen killer - who was named Z in court documents - was sentenced in 2011 to be detained at the President's pleasure.

According to Channel NewsAsia, he is now appealing to President Halimah Yacob to set him free.

This is the second clemency plea submitted to the President's office by Z, who is now 31 years-old. The first one was sent in 2013 to then-President Tony Tan.

The case

In 2001, Anthony Ler was estranged from his wife, Annie Leong, who had left him in 1999.

She wanted to divorce him, and faced with the threat of losing his house and custody of their daughter, Ler hatched a plan to get rid of her.

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Ler had befriended a group of young boys, aged between 16 and 22, whom he met at a McDonalds outlet at Block 444 Pasir Ris Drive 6.

He was introduced to them by Z, who had known Ler for about five years.

After interacting over the course of a couple of months, Ler first broached the subject of killing his wife with the youths. Ler approached the two youngest boys in the group - 15 year-old Z, and his 16 year-old childhood friend - to do the deed.

Ler invited the 16 year-old back to his house where the former showed him an array of knives which were "most suitable for killing", and even carried out a training exercise where he instructed the 16 year-old to slash a bolster wrapped in newspaper. 

The 16 year-old refused, and tried to warn Z about Ler, but could not contact him.

On May 16, two days after the murder, Z called his 16 year-old friend to inform him that he had done the deed.

According to reports, Leong had exited her HDB block's elevator on the fourth floor when she was ambushed from behind by Z. He slashed her neck and stabbed her chest with a steak knife. Leong died from her injuries hours later at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

The trial

Prior to his arrest, Ler had played the role of a grieving husband, maintaining that he was framed.

Even throughout the trial, Ler insisted that he didn't expect any of the youths to take him seriously, and that he was merely playing a game of bluff that ultimately spiralled out of control.

Judicial Commissioner Tay Yong Kwang did not believe Ler's story, likening the case to a 'death match on the chess board of reality' where the boys were used as his pawns.

Based on Z's written confession, Ler had planned everything - from the preparation to the cover up - to ensure that suspicion would not fall on him.

Of Z, Judicial Commissioner Tay said that he appeared to be a "rather simple-minded and mild-mannered boy" who was "ensnared" by Ler's deceit.

Z had known Ler since he was 10, and looked up to Ler as a mentor.

"I see no mean miniature monster in him. I detect no vengeful or vicious spirit in this 15-year-old boy before me. I see instead a morose and mortified teenager still trying to come to terms with the cataclysmic events of the last seven months"

- Judicial Commissioner Tay Yong Kwang.

Ler was hanged on December 13, 2002, while Z was detained indefinitely.

Presidential clemency

According to this SingaporeLegalAdvice.com, the President holds the power to grant clemency to offenders in the form of a pardon (excusing the offender from performing their sentence), a reprieve (postponing the sentence), or a respite (suspend the sentence for a period of time).

Upon receiving the clemency plea, the President will request for case reports from the judges who tried the case. The reports will be forwarded to the Cabinet with the Attorney-General's opinions. The Cabinet will then advise the President if the offender should be granted clemency.

Top images via NewspaperSG.