Wang was found guilty of murder and initially sentenced to death in September 2011, but was re-sentenced to life imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane in November 2013.
[1] In the early hours of 11 April 2009, Wang left his home with a haversack containing a knife, a pair of cotton gloves and a small bottle of water.
A struggle ensued; due to Wang's inconsistent testimonies and Yuen's highly decomposed body being unable to provide much forensic evidence, the sequence of events from this point on is unclear and was heavily debated in court.
During interrogations, he was initially uncooperative and completely denied his involvement in Yuen's disappearance, while making up stories and led the police on several wild goose chases.
At this point, the body was heavily decomposed and the forensic pathologist, Dr Gilbert Lau, was unable to certify the cause of death.
On 20 September 2011, Wang Wenfeng stood trial in the High Court for the murder of Yuen Swee Hong, with judge Lee Seiu Kin presiding over the case.
The prosecution consisted of Eugene Lee, Lin Yinbing and Ilona Tan, while Wang was represented by defence lawyers Cheong Aik Chye and Chong Thiam Choy.
In Wang's statements to the police and his evidence in court, he did not give a consistent version of the sequence of events in the taxi after the robbery.
Forensic pathologist Dr Lau had sent the deceased’s bone marrow, skeletal muscle and scalp hair for toxicological analysis, which yielded negative results.
He questioned why Dr Tay did not conduct a Kastle-Meyer test on the stain on the rubber mat on the floor of the taxi to determine whether it was in fact caused by blood.
Dr Tay rebutted this argument, stating that the stains on the rubber mat would have looked distinctly different if it had been soaked in a diluted mixture instead of pure blood.
In the re-trial, the prosecution consisted of Bala Reddy, Ilona Tan and Kelly Ho, while Wang was represented by Wendell Wong and Alfian Adam Teo.
Particular attention was paid to how Wang robbed Yuen after he killed him, took steps to conceal the murder, attempted to extort money from Yuen's family, prepared to flee from Singapore and, even after arrest, led the police on a wild goose chase and gave several false statements.
[4] Wang's defence lawyer Wendell Wong meanwhile, argued for a life term with not more than 10 strokes of the cane.
[1] In 2012, Singaporean crime show Crimewatch re-enacted the murder of Yuen Swee Hong in the seventh episode that year.