As Z was a minor below the age of 18 at the time of committing the crime, he could not be sentenced to death and was hence detained indefinitely, serving nearly 17 years in prison before his release on 2 November 2018.

[6] After completing his mandatory two-year National Service and pursuing a subsequent five-year army career, Anthony Ler established several businesses but all ended in bankruptcy and failure.

Ler first met his wife Annie Leong Wai Mun[b] (Chinese: 梁慧敏; pinyin: Liáng Huìmǐn) in a church when he was 19 years old.

[5] The debt-ridden Ler knew that given his precarious financial situation he would be unlikely to gain custody of his daughter, believing he did not have the ability to raise her well due to the substantial debts incurred from his failed businesses; another factor was the pending sale of their flat.

[11] Anthony Ler began in February 2001 by befriending a group of five teenage boys who had gathered outside a McDonald's restaurant in Pasir Ris.

Vickneswaran, who is also known as Vick to his friends, told the court that, "I found it strange that he should mention the subject of killing his wife every time we met.

[19] Still not wanting to do the deed, after he went home with the sword, the boy then stayed out for a whole day after going on a fishing session and spent the night in his girlfriend's flat in Tampines.

[17] • "Z", the 15-year-old hired killer Taking with him some papers, Anthony Ler went to visit his wife late at night, at about 11:00 p.m. and asked to meet out in the playground with their daughter.

In front of neighbours and family members, Ler put up a shocked expression, repeatedly telling his wife to not sleep while calling her name.

During their interrogation of Ler, he was uncooperative, hostile and aggressive, denying any involvement in the murder of his wife, much to the police's surprise and suspicion, as normally when one's spouse was killed, the other should have been cooperative and ensure the killer be brought to justice.

Ler once told reporters that he himself was a bad husband, confessing that he was being unfaithful and debt-ridden; he even described himself as a "devil" while calling his wife an "angel".

The prosecution consisted of Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPPs) Low Cheong Yeow and Edwin San Ong Kyar, while for the two defendants, Anthony Ler was represented by veteran lawyer Subhas Anandan and his assistant Anand Nalachandran, while the youth was represented by lawyers Edwin Seah Li Ming and Peter Ong Lip Cheng.

They called witnesses including Gavin Ng, Seah Tze Howe, Kong Ka Cheong, Vickneswaran Krishnan and the other teenagers present when Ler met up with the five boys.

The lawyer went on to put it to Z that he was lying about Anthony Ler instigating him to commit the murder, calling him "no angel" and "a monster" well-deserving of a long stay behind bars.

[30][17] At the end of the trial on 5 December 2001, nearly seven months after the death of Annie Leong, and after receiving the closing submissions from the prosecution and defence the day before,[31] JC Tay Yong Kwang delivered his judgement.

After summarising the case, the judge rejected Anthony Ler's claims of innocence, and determined that he solicited the murder based on the review of evidence in court.

He stated that what Ler did was not a joke but "a serious death match on the chess board of reality where the young men were to be his pawns and he as 'king' would direct the demise of his 'queen'.

", and that he was not playing a game of bluff when broaching about the matter of wanting his wife dead, especially from his attempts on Gavin, Tze Howe and Z to get them involved.

[33] Z was found guilty of murder, but because he was below 18 years old at the time of the crime, he was spared the gallows and was instead sentenced to be detained indefinitely during the President's Pleasure.

Z's lawyer Edwin Seah said to reporters that Z wanted to continue studying for his GCE N-levels examinations, which he was supposed to take that same year he killed Annie Leong.

[36][1] The clemency plea to President S. R. Nathan, which Ler submitted in hope of having his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment was also dismissed.

[39] In addition, consultant psychiatrist Lim Yun Chin, who counselled Z after his crime, also stated that Z was remorseful for what he had done, and the boy acknowledged that this would be something he will have to struggle with for the rest of his life.

Lim had earlier appeared at the original trial to testify on behalf of Z, that the boy's IQ of 93 made him prone to adult manipulation and confirming to the court that Z did not have any abnormality of mind.

Four years later, in November 2017, through his original lawyer Peter Ong Lip Cheng, Z once again appealed for clemency, this time to President Halimah Yacob, garnering widespread media coverage and public attention in Singapore.

[41][42] Ong also spoke to reporters on 6 January 2018 about his client, who celebrated his 32nd birthday the week before (possibly 31 December), stating that there were testimonials backing his model behaviour and maturity in prison, and that Z was hopeful to be given a chance to return to society and reunite with his parents.

[43] On 2 November 2018, President Halimah Yacob decided to, on the advice of the Cabinet, grant Z clemency and remitted the remaining part of his sentence.

Z was also told to adhere to special conditions such as curfew hours and electronic monitoring, and he would continue to receive rehabilitative support to ensure his reintegration into society.

[45] After Z was released, Muhammad Nasir bin Abdul Aziz was the only prisoner left detained at the President's Pleasure, which was abolished after a review of the Criminal Procedure Code of Singapore in 2010.

Z's friends were also featured in the show with their true identities changed and both Ler's lawyer Subhas Anandan and Z's psychiatrist Lim Yun Chin appeared on screen to be interviewed in the episode.

[17] The incident of Annie Leong's murder was also recorded in Subhas Anandan's memoir The Best I Could,[26] which features the lawyer's early life, career and his notable cases.