SINGAPORE - A businessman who murdered his wife's former lover was sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court on Friday (Aug 4).

Chia Kee Chen, 57, was found guilty in January of forcing the victim, material analyst Dexmon Chua Yizhi, 37, into the back of a van and assaulting him between Dec 28 and Dec 29, 2013. He had an accomplice, Indonesian Febri Irwansyah Djatmiko, who fled the country.

A second accomplice, Chua Leong Aik, drove the van. Chua is serving a five-year term.

On Friday, Justice Choo Han Teck said although Chia had the motive and intention to kill, it is possible Febri may have inflicted the fatal blow.

Chia's lawyer Anand Nalachandran told reporters that his client was relieved that he escaped the gallows.

Last month, prosecutors asked that Chia be given the death penalty for the "savage" and "cruel" killing. The victim was tied up and thrown into the back of the van, and was battered so viciously that almost every bone in his face was fractured.

Chia found out about his wife's extramarital affair in November 2012. The victim had made police reports about Chia making threatening phone calls to him and stalking him.

On the day of the murder, Chia attended a wedding lunch with his family and had a nap before picking up the borrowed van. He then calmly waited for Mr Chua to show up at a carpark in Choa Chu Kang, where the victim lived.

After dumping his body at a military live-firing area in Lim Chu Kang, Chia cleaned the van, and then went to Malaysia for a holiday with his family.

During the trial, Chia said he and his accomplices were trying to retrieve from the victim a thumb drive containing video footage of his wife having sex. He also tried to downplay his role in the murder and pinned the blame on a man named "Ali".

The defence lawyer asked that Chia be given life imprisonment, saying there were contradictions between the accounts of Febri and Chua Leong Aik.

Febri gave his version of events to the Indonesian police, and this was submitted during the trial.

Mr Nalachandran argued that the plan was to only abduct the victim, and there was no conclusive evidence that Chia had any plan to commit murder.