Head of Hong Kong model found in soup pot

HONG KONG – Police have found what they believe to be the head of a slain Hong Kong model and influencer as her ex-husband and former in-laws appeared in court yesterday on a joint murder charge after police discovered parts of her body in a house rented by the suspects.

According to online news portal HK01, the head of Abby Choi was found in one of two soup pots that were also seized in the house on Feb. 24.

The limbs of 28-year-old Choi were recovered from a refrigerator inside a house in Hong Kong’s rural Tai Po district, where she was said to have been butchered. A meat slicer, an electric saw, a hammer, face shields and black raincoats were also recovered at the scene.

When the police discovered the soup pots, they were reportedly almost filled to the brim and there was minced meat in them. At the time, authorities could only confirm if there were human tissues in the pots. The pots were then sent for testing.

On Feb. 26, forensics found a head, along with some ribs, in one of the pots. The skull was somewhat intact with a hole on the right rear where the fatal blow struck her. Probers believed that there was at least one attempt to crush it. Her hair was no longer attached to the skull after cooking.

Forensics also discovered a small amount of minced meat, along with carrots and green radish. The victim’s arms and torso are reported to still be missing.

Ex-husband Alex Kwong, his father Kwong Kau and his brother Anthony Kwong were charged with murdering Choi. His mother, Jenny Li, faces one count of perverting the course of justice. The four were placed in custody without bail.

Choi was a model and influencer who shared a glamorous life of photo shoots and fashion shows with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram. Her last post was Feb. 19, featuring a photoshoot she had done with L’Officiel Monaco, a fashion publication.

She went missing Feb. 21, according to a report filed later with the Hong Kong police.

On Friday, police found her dismembered body in a refrigerator in a house rented by Kwong Kau in Lung Mei Tsuen, a suburban part of Hong Kong about a 30-minute drive from the border with mainland China.

Butchered over money

Choi had financial disputes involving tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars with her ex-husband and his family, police said earlier, adding that “some people” were unhappy with how Choi handled her financial assets.

Choi’s friend Bernard Cheng said she had four children – two sons ages 10 and 3, and two daughters ages 8 and 6. Kwong, 28, fathered the elder two, and her current husband, Chris Tam, was the father of the younger children.

Tam said he was very thankful to have had Choi in his life and praised her for being supportive, friend Pao Jo-yee relayed in a Facebook post.

“When Abby was alive, she was a very kind person and always wanted to help people,” he was quoted as saying in the post. “I feel anyone who had a chance to be her family or her friend are blessed.”

Pao, who is married to Cheng, told The Associated Press that she has known Choi for over seven years.

“She was the type of person that wouldn’t have enemies,” she said.

Cheng said Choi had very good relationships with her family, and would travel with the families of her current and former husbands together. Choi’s current father-in-law is one of the founders of a famous Hong Kong chain of Yunnan rice noodle shops, local newspaper The Standard reported.

The gruesome killing of Choi has gripped many in Hong Kong and across the border in mainland China, as the self-governed southern Chinese city is widely considered safe with a very low level of violent crime.

Her case is one of the most shocking killings Hong Kong has seen since 2013, when a man killed his parents and their heads were later found in refrigerators.

In another famous 1999 case, a woman was kidnapped and tortured by three members from an organized crime group before her death. Her skull was later found stuffed in a Hello Kitty doll.

The hearing of the murder case was adjourned to May. – AFP