Two accused of murder in Hong Kong model Abby Choi’s death

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Two people were charged with murder, and another with “perverting the course of justice,” on Sunday in the gruesome death of a young woman this month in Hong Kong. All three were ex-boyfriends of the victim, police said.

The three suspects, who were arrested on Friday, were relatives of the victim’s ex-husband, whom the police identified by the last name Kwong: His father, 65, and his older brother, 31, were charged with murder. His mother, 63, was charged with perverting the course of justice. Their case will be heard in court on Monday morning.

Police said they arrested Kwong, 28, at a pier on Saturday, in what appeared to be a speedboat escape attempt. Kwong was held for questioning but not charged as of Sunday morning. He was carrying large sums of money and luxury watches, local media reported.

Abby Choi, a 28-year-old model, was reported missing last Wednesday. A police spokesman reached Sunday morning would not confirm her identity as the woman who was killed, but she has been widely recognized in the local media.

On Friday, police found body parts in an apartment near Tai Po, in the outer New Territories in Hong Kong. The authorities seized various tools for slicing and grinding meat, and an electric saw.

Speaking to journalists in front of the crime scene, police said the apartment had been recently rented and was unfurnished except for tarps on the walls and windows. They said they suspected a financial dispute between the victim and the suspects.

About 100 rescuers and divers, including from a special police unit called the Flying Tigers, are still searching for the rest of the remains.

Choi recently appeared on the front cover of L’Officiel Monaco and in Vogue China. Her Instagram page is filled with condolences from fans.

Although Hong Kong has a low crime rate, it has a history of gruesome murders, particularly female victims by male partners.

In 2020, Cheung Kie-chung, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, was found guilty of murdering his wife in 2018. Her body was found in a suitcase on the school campus. In 2016, British banker Rurik Jutting was found guilty of murdering two Indonesian women he lured to his luxury apartment in 2014. He admitted to torturing one of the women before stuffing her body into a suitcase.

Both men are serving life sentences, which are mandatory for murder convictions in Hong Kong.

Most of the perpetrators of violence against Hong Kong women are men, and most of them are known to their victims, according to a survey published by Lingnan University in 2022.

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