Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi's remains found in pots and fridge, murder trial hears

Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi's remains were stored in two soup pots and a refrigerator after her body was dismembered with an electric saw in a village flat in 2023, the city's High Court has heard.

Her former father-in-law, Kwong Kau, changed his plea on Oct. 30 and admitted preventing the lawful burial of her body, a charge he had initially denied. The jury then found him guilty of that charge on the judge's direction, while he and his two sons continue to deny murder, HK01 reported.

Kwong, a 68-year-old retired police officer, is on trial alongside his sons, Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, 35, and Choi's ex-husband, Alex Kwong Kong-chi, 31. Both sons pleaded guilty to preventing her burial before the trial began in late September.

Choi, who was 28, disappeared on Feb. 21, 2023. Some of her remains were found on Feb. 24 in a 600-square-foot rented flat in Lung Mei village in Tai Po.

Detective Constable Chan Wai-hung told the court that police broke into the flat after investigators identified a white Toyota Alphard parked outside as the vehicle used to transport Choi on the day she vanished, the South China Morning Post reported.

Chan described an "overwhelming" smell of air freshener, similar to that of public toilets, when he entered. The flat's windows were completely covered with black tape.

In a bedroom lined with blue plastic sheets, police found a plastic box holding a wooden chopping board and what appeared to be human flesh and internal organs, the court heard. Chan said he later found Choi's legs in two garbage bags inside a refrigerator in the living room.

Police also seized two soup pots, one of which was found to contain Choi's head when it was examined at a public mortuary.

Under cross-examination, Chan denied tampering with evidence and said the four colleagues who accompanied him had not touched anything during the search.

Senior government chemist Tam Cheok-ning, a tool mark analysis specialist, said a cut mark on Choi's remains was consistent with the blade of one of two electric saws seized from the flat.

Prosecutors say Choi boarded the Alphard, driven by Anthony Kwong, on Feb. 21 believing he would take her to Pak Shek Kok to collect her 8-year-old daughter from school. Alex Kwong allegedly sat beside her in the back seat and struck her on the head with a hammer during the journey.

Police seized a 1-pound ball-peen hammer from the village flat three days later, and a hardware shop employee in Kowloon City confirmed it was the one he sold to Anthony Kwong on Feb. 15. Forensic testing found no detectable traces of Choi's DNA on the hammer, The Standard reported.

Abby Choi in Hong Kong on Feb. 11, 2023, 10 days before she disappeared. Photo by AP

Prosecutors allege the murder stemmed from a family feud over the proposed sale of a HK$72 million (US$9.2 million) flat at the upmarket Kadooria estate in Ho Man Tin.

Kwong Kau, Choi's father-in-law and the flat's registered owner, allegedly resented her efforts to sell it and enlisted his two sons to help kill her and dispose of her body.

The court heard that he signed a power of attorney on Nov. 7, 2022, authorizing Choi to negotiate the sale after her mother threatened to take him to court. Two property agents Choi contacted in November 2022 and February 2023 testified that she was eager to sell, and that no prospective buyers had inquired about the flat before her death.

A written statement from Alex Kwong's friend and former business partner, Herman Ng, described Kwong's apparently affluent life in mainland China, where he was living while evading criminal proceedings in Hong Kong over a HK$6.3 million theft case.

When the trial resumed on Nov. 2, the court was shown CCTV footage of Kwong Kau inspecting and buying a second-hand refrigerator at an electrical appliance shop on Feb. 17, 2023, four days before Choi disappeared, HK01 reported.