Later, Khoo took Cui's corpse to a forest in Lim Chu Kang, where he burned the body for three days before he was arrested on 20 July 2016.

He used to be the owner of a successful business, and in 2001, due to a debt of S$300,000, he strangled his wife, leading to a personal protection order filed against him, before their relationship recovered.

At another point, Khoo once again strangled his wife, as a result of her discovering his adultery, and she filed a personal protection order.

[8][9] The relationship would later on be riddled with quarrels over Khoo spending less time with Cui and a debt of $20,000 which he owed her for making an investment in gold.

Half of that amount was eventually paid back by Khoo, who asked a former lover to, on his behalf, remit the money in Cui's father's bank account.

[10] However, the couple's argument grew fiercer, and in the heat of the quarrel, Khoo lost control of his temper and strangled Cui Yajie to death.

After, he drove aimlessly around Singapore, then went back home at night with Cui's corpse, which was covered in laundry bags, still hidden in the car.

By the time the police got there, there were only a few clumps of hair, a bra hook and partially burnt pieces of Cui's dress left at the site.

[15][16][17][18] Leslie Khoo also faced charges of cheating and embezzling a total of S$88,600 from his company and his four other lovers prior to murdering Cui.

His lawyers waged the defence of diminished responsibility against the murder charge by citing his intermittent explosive disorder (IED), which arguably made him unable to control himself, leading to the impulsive strangling.

Justice Lim also noted that while Khoo had gone to great lengths to dispose the body to cover up his crime and never called for help when Cui went motionless, it was not a relevant factor to be considered during sentencing.

Due to the cremation of the body, it was also hard to ascertain the true extent of the injuries, to observe the degree of viciousness exhibited in the manner of the killing.

[27][28][29][30][31] In the aftermath of his trial, Khoo withdrew his appeal to the sentence; he, as described by his lawyer Mervyn Cheong, was remorseful for his actions.