Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi’s remains found in soup pots and fridge, court told

Slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung’s remains were stored in two soup pots and a refrigerator after her body was dismembered with an electric saw in a rural village flat, a court has heard.

The High Court trial took a turn towards the end of its fifth week when Choi’s former father-in-law, Kwong Kau, changed his plea to guilty on a charge of illegally disposing of her body. His admission came after the court heard how some of the 28-year-old’s remains were found in Lung Mei village in Tai Po on February 24, 2023.

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

Light-hearted exchanges between the judge and lawyers occasionally eased the sombre atmosphere in court, but Deputy Judge Brian Keith reminded the nine-member jury to remain serious throughout the proceedings.

“A young woman died in what was said to be tragic circumstances, and that should not be forgotten,” Keith said.

Detective Constable Chan Wai-hung said police broke into the 600 sq ft rented flat after investigators identified a white Toyota Alphard parked outside as the vehicle used to transport Choi on February 21.

Chan described an “overwhelming” smell of air freshener, similar to that of public toilets, as he entered the flat. Its windows were completely covered with black tape.

In a bedroom covered with blue plastic sheets, police found a plastic box containing 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 rubbish bags inside a refrigerator in the living room.

Police also seized two soup pots. One was found to contain Choi’s head when 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.

Another officer, Sergeant Lam Chun, denied using excessive force when arresting Alex Kwong on February 25 or failing to label DNA samples taken from him properly after his arrest.

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

Prosecutors said Choi went missing on February 21 after boarding the Toyota Alphard driven by Anthony Kwong, believing he would take her to Pak Shek Kok to collect her eight-year-old daughter from school.

Alex Kwong allegedly sat beside Choi in the back seat and struck her on the head with a hammer during the journey. Police seized a one-pound ball-peen hammer from the village flat three days later.

A hardware shop employee in Kowloon City confirmed that the hammer seized from the flat was the one he sold to Anthony Kwong on February 15.

In a written statement, Alex Kwong’s friend and former business partner Herman Ng Deng-hao said the defendant had asked to borrow a car in January 2023. Kwong said his own car was booked in for maintenance and he needed a vehicle to drive his children to school.

Ng referred Kwong to his own elder brother, who lent the latter a seven-seater Toyota Alphard. Kwong allegedly used the vehicle to transport equipment for dismembering Choi’s body after she was killed. It was not the Alphard she had used.

The statement also shed light on Alex Kwong’s apparent affluent lifestyle while he was living in mainland China and evading criminal proceedings in Hong Kong over a HK$6.3 million theft case.

He said Kwong appeared wealthy during his time on the mainland, staying at the luxury Rosewood Guangzhou hotel and using a personal driver to travel around the province in either a Rolls-Royce saloon or a seven-seater Lexus.

But whenever they met for meals, Ng noted, Kwong appeared to use mobile payment apps authenticated under the abbreviated names “Fung” or “Tin-fung”.

Ng said Kwong was forced to return to Hong Kong on June 10, 2022, after telling Choi he had a girlfriend.

According to Ng, the influencer was upset that her ex-husband was “picking up girls” on the mainland while neglecting their two children in Hong Kong.

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 residential estate in Ho Man Tin.

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

The court heard that the elder Kwong signed a power of attorney on November 7, 2022, authorising Choi to negotiate the sale after her mother threatened to take him to court.

Two property agents who were contacted by Choi in November 2022 and February 2023, respectively, testified that she was eager to sell the flat. They said no prospective buyers had made inquiries about it before her death.