On 30 May 2006, 46-year-old lorry driver Wan Cheon Kem (温长俭 Wēn Chángjiăn), who was delivering 2,700 mobile phones (worth S$1.3 million), was attacked by three armed robbers who robbed him of the phones and assaulted him by bludgeoning him on the head at least 15 times with a baseball bat, leading to his death during his hospitalization six days later.

On 30 May 2006, 46-year-old Wan Cheon Kem, a lorry driver, received an assignment of delivering 2,700 mobile phones (worth S$1.3 million) on behalf of his company.

[1][2] The forensic pathologist, Dr Teo Eng Swee, found that the skull fractures were caused by blunt force trauma, and at least 15 blows had been inflicted.

[6] Police investigations said that the primary mastermind was 38-year-old Arsan Krishnasamy Govindarajoo, who collaborated with one of Wan's colleagues to plan the robbery.

[7] On 6 June 2006, 23-year-old Daniel Vijay Katherasan and 23-year-old Christopher Samson Anpalagan, who were both involved in the fatal assault and robbery of Wan, became the first two suspects to be charged with murder.

[8][9] The third robber, 48-year-old Nakamuthu Balakrishnan, had his original charge of armed robbery with hurt amended to murder on 9 June 2006.

[10][11] Daniel and Christopher were both revealed to be wanted by the authorities for desertion of their National Service (NS) duties prior to murdering Wan.

[12][13][14] Ragu pleaded guilty to his role of abetting the armed robbery and assault, and on 24 April 2007, he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane by District Judge See Kee Oon, who took into consideration the robbery outcome that led to Wan's death, the position of trust on Ragu's part, and the high value of the cargo stolen during the heist.

[20][21] During sentencing, Justice Lee Seiu Kin of the High Court stated that for having solicited the trio to commit armed robbery and ordered them to resort to violence and knock Wan unconscious, Arsan should bear some responsibility for having indirectly caused Wan to die from the cruel attack.

[22] On 22 October 2007, the robbery trio - Christopher Samson Anpalagan, Daniel Vijay Katherasan and Nakamuthu Balakrishnan - stood trial at the High Court for one count of murdering 46-year-old Wan Cheon Kem.

[3] Christopher, who became the next to put up his defence, testified that he was recruited at the last minute by Balakrishnan and Daniel, as their replacement driver of the get-away lorry after one of the accomplices, who was supposed to join in the plan, was absent.

Justice Tay further found that Balakrishnan did so in furtherance of the trio's common intention to commit armed robbery, even though Christopher and Daniel did not take part in the fatal assault, since there was pre-knowledge shared by the trio that violence was necessary during the commission of the robbery to achieve their goal, which rendered Daniel and Christopher liable for a conviction of murder by common intention as well.

[34][16] As a result, the Court of Appeal set aside the death sentences and murder convictions of both Christopher Samson Anpalagan and Daniel Vijay Katherasan, and instead convicted them of lesser charges of armed robbery with hurt, enabling both Daniel and Christopher to ultimately escape the gallows for murdering Wan.

[35][36][37] The verdict of the appellate court was also significant as it led to a revision of the legal doctrine of common intention required to convict an accomplice for murder or other offences committed by the main perpetrator(s) of whichever case.

[38] After their conviction for armed robbery with hurt, Daniel and Christopher had their cases remitted back to the High Court for re-sentencing before the original trial judge Tay Yong Kwang.

[41][42] Justice Tay stated he was sympathetic for the financial struggles the duo faced which spurred them into joining the robbery heist, but he did not neglect the aggravating factors of the case, stating that per the prosecution's arguments, the nature of the crime was violent and the sentence should serve as a deterrent and also a reminder to potential like-minded offenders on the legal consequences they would face for resorting to crime as the easy solution to resolve their monetary hardships.

[47] The capital punishment review lasted for one year until July 2012, when the Singapore government passed the changes to the laws, allowing judges in Singapore to have the discretion to impose life imprisonment with caning for murder offences lacking the intent to cause death and drug trafficking offences committed by small-level traffickers who either acted as couriers or suffered from diminished responsibility.