SINGAPORE — When he discovered numerous romantic text messages between his wife and her colleague, Chia Kee Chen, 55, threatened to divorce her and beat the man up if she continued with the relationship.

A few months later, he saw another WhatsApp message from the same man — material analyst Dexmon Chua Yizhi, 37 — Chia allegedly started stalking his wife’s lover, and made and sent threatening calls and messages to him.

Later, he roped in two accomplices to abduct Dexmon Chua, who was electrocuted and hit with a hammer-like object that led to his death in December 2013.

The High Court heard details of the vicious attack today (Jan 8) when Chua Leong Aik, 66 — Chia’s friend of more than 20 years — was sentenced to five years’ jail for his involvement in the incident.

The former cleaning supervisor with Choa Chu Kang Town Council today pleaded guilty to one charge of abduction and another of voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous means.

Chia himself has been charged with murder, and his case is pending.

Claiming that Dexmon Chua had “raped his wife”, Chia asked his longtime friend and another man, Indonesian Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko, 33, to kill his wife’s lover.

Febri, who is still at large, helped Chia run a fish farm that he owned in Indonesia.

Chia had also told his friend that the victim was big-sized, and that he needed his help to “teach him a lesson”. Chua Leong Aik understood that to mean that he was to help beat up Dexmon Chua severely.

On the night of Dec 28, 2013, the trio drove to a multi-storey carpark near the victim’s flat in Choa Chu Kang to lie in wait for him.

When he appeared, they attacked him and pushed him into the back of the van where he was electrocuted with electrodes, and tied up.

Chia and Febri continued hitting the victim while Chua Leong Aik drove towards Lim Chu Kang, as instructed by Chia. Chua Leong Aik said he could hear beating sounds and smelled blood, and after a while, he told Chia he “could not take it anymore”. He got out of the van around the Lim Chu Kang area and took a bus back.

The other two men then drove to a Singapore Armed Forces military training area and disposed of the victim’s body.

On New Year’s Eve three days later, police arrested Chia, who led them to the decomposed body on New Year’s Day. During mitigation, defence lawyer James Ow Yong said that Chua Leong Aik, who has two children aged seven and two in Indonesia after he remarried, was mostly a law-abiding citizen. Asking for a four-year jail term, he also noted that Chua Leong Aik had nothing to gain and was trying to help a friend, and his role was minimal in the entire incident.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Wen Hsien, who pressed for a five-year sentence, disagreed, saying that Chua Leong Aik knew it was going to be a vicious attack on a stranger, given the weapons that were used.

In sentencing, Justice Kan Ting Chiu noted that while Chua Leong Aik was not an instigator, he also did nothing to stop the assault and showed no signs of remorse.

For causing grievous hurt, he could have been jailed for up to 15 years, fined or caned.

For abduction, he could have been jailed up to seven years or fined or caned, or received any combination of these punishments.