The socialite, her ‘jobless’ ex and his accused ‘mastermind’ father: Inside the murder that shocked Hong Kong
A murdered, mutilated model. A major international financial hub where violent crime is rare. An accused “mastermind” former family member.
It’s the case that shocked Hong Kong and has drawn comparisons to Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-winning class-divide thriller Parasite. Now, three years after socialite and influencer Abby Choi Tin-fung’s decapitated and dismembered body was found, those who are accused of her killing are facing justice after an unexpected delay.
Choi’s ex-husband, Alex Kwong Kong-chi, 31, his brother Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, 35, and their father, Kwong Kau, 68, are standing trial on a joint count of murder. If they are found guilty, they face life imprisonment. All three have pleaded not guilty to this charge.
The trio was also charged with preventing the lawful burial of a body. Alex and Anthony have pleaded guilty to this, though Kau has pleaded not guilty.
Dozens of people waited outside the courtroom ahead of the trial’s first hearing on September 21, with the Associated Press reporting a live broadcast was arranged for them to watch what was happening inside.
But just one week in, High Court Deputy Judge Brian Keith discharged the nine-person jury after a juror asked to be excused, fearing stress from the trial would exacerbate a health condition.
A new jury was empanelled, and Choi’s mother, Cheung Yin-fa, took the stand this week, calling, according to the South China Morning Post, her daughter’s ex-father-in-law a “cunning old fox” in emotional testimony that alleged Choi’s ex-husband and his family financially relied on her.
“Money seems to be the root cause of this case,” prosecutor Charlotte Draycott said in her opening statement, according to CNN.
So why are the Kwongs accused of killing her if they relied on her? Here’s what to know.
Who was Abby Choi?
Born in Hainan in 1994 but based in Hong Kong from the age of five, Choi was a socialite, influencer and fashion model, with a wealthy family thanks to her mother and stepfather Tsoi Cho-san’s construction business.
A mainstay at Paris Fashion Week, Choi appeared in magazines including Vogue China and grew a sizeable social media following thanks to her “style icon” status. Her Instagram account has more than 142,000 followers.
Choi married Alex in 2014. The former couple had a son and daughter before separating sometime before 2016. At the time of her death, aged 28, Choi was in a relationship with long-term partner Chris Tam Fong-chun, with whom she also had a daughter and son.
What happened to her?
On February 21, 2023, Choi failed to pick up her daughter from school and was reported missing. She was last seen at Ho Man Tin, an upper-class estate in Kadoorie Hill where, in 2019, Choi had purchased a four-bedroom luxury apartment for about $HK70 million ($13 million).
The court was played CCTV footage that prosecutors said showed Choi getting into one of two vans used by the Kwongs that afternoon. Her last online activity was at 2.44pm. At about 3.20pm, other footage allegedly showed the suspects parking the vans near a property where police recovered Choi’s partial remains three days later.
On February 24, 2023, parts of Choi’s dismembered body were found inside a ground-floor flat in Lung Mei Tsuen, a historic rural village in the Tai Po district, about 30 kilometres north-east of Kadoorie Hill.
The court heard her skull was found in a pot of carrot soup.
Anthony and Kau were arrested the same day Choi’s partial remains were discovered. Alex was arrested on February 25, while attempting to leave Hong Kong, the prosecutor alleged. Jenny Li Sui-heung – Choi’s former mother-in-law – was sentenced in 2025 to 18 months in prison for perverting the course of justice by concealing her son’s whereabouts, according to Hong Kong’s The Standard.
‘Jobless’ Alex Kwong Kong-chi and his accused ‘mastermind’ father
Often described as “jobless” by local media including the South China Morning Post, Alex met Choi in school.
The wealth disparity between Alex and the Kwong family, Choi and her family, and Tam and his family is central to the prosecution’s case.
A key element is the luxury Kadoorie Hill apartment, which was bought by Choi but registered under Kau’s name. Relations between Choi and Kau soured in 2022, the prosecution alleges, when Choi attempted to sell the apartment.
Choi apparently promised to find the Kwongs a new home. According to Draycott, Kau – a retired police sergeant – was dissatisfied with this. The prosecution alleges Kau attempted to assault Choi on one occasion, and disowned her.
Angry and increasingly worried that her ex-husband and former in-laws would turn her children against her, the prosecution alleges, Choi described Kau as a “crook” in audio messages sent to her mother and played in court.
The prosecution alleges Kau masterminded Choi’s murder, as, if Choi died, the apartment “would be in [Kau’s] name, and he could move back there”.
“He made a plan with his two sons Alex, her ex-husband, and Anthony, and we say three of them decided they would do it together,” Draycott argued to jurors in court. “Each of them played a part by bringing her death and burying her body.”
Defence lawyers have pushed back on the narrative that the apartment solely belonged to Choi, with Kau’s counsel, Oliver Davies, claiming Kau contributed $HK30 million ($5 million) towards it.
Choi’s mother rejects this. Cheung told the court it was registered in Kau’s name to save Choi a hefty stamp duty fee, with the agreement that it was Choi’s and would be handed over to her when she requested it. On Thursday, her fourth day of testimony, Cheung said Kau received a monthly allowance of $HK20,000 from Choi.
When the defence suggested Kau could afford a seven-seater car and a Rolls-Royce due to business activities in mainland China, an emotional Cheung responded: “This is definitely impossible … He couldn’t even afford his meals; how could he spend $HK6 million to $HK7 million on a Rolls-Royce?”
“He had no money when he was about to die,” continued Cheung, according to the South China Morning Post, referring to a period when Kau was seriously ill and Choi contributed to his medical expenses. “Had my daughter not used her credit card to give him $HK200,000, he’d have been [expletive] dead in half an hour.”
Choi’s $55 million estate
Within weeks of Choi’s death, Cheung, according to the Straits Times, filed a court injunction seeking to declare Kau as only a trustee of the Kadoorie Hill apartment, which would mean he had no right to sell it.
Further complicating matters is Choi’s relationship with Tam, who also comes from a wealthy family. His father founded the popular restaurant chain Tam Jai Noodle. The brand – which now has at least 220 stores worldwide, including three in Australia – was sold for about $US243 million ($350 million) in 2018.
Cheung testified that the money Choi used to purchase the Kadoorie Hill apartment was supplied by the Tam family.
Traditional spousal inheritance paths are not automatically applied to Tam, who was not legally married to Choi at the time of her death.
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