Suspect in grisly Hong Kong model murder was ex-policeman*

A primary suspect in the gruesome murder of Abby Choi, a Hong Kong model, previously worked as a police detective, RFA has learned.

The shocking death of the socialite, 28, whose body parts are believed to have been cooked into soup at a Hong Kong flat, has gripped headlines around the world.

Choi’s ex-father-in-law, Kwong Kau, 65, has been charged along with sons Alex Kwong, 28 and Anthony Kwong, for her murder and dismemberment after body parts, a meat grinder and two vats of soup containing human tissue at a property rented by the elder Kwong.

Now former police superintendent Lai Ka Chi has told Radio Free Asia that Kwong Kau had been a police detective stationed in Mong Kok, a busy Hong Kong shopping district. He resigned from the position in 2004 amid an allegation that he had sexually assaulted a woman linked to an investigation he was involved in.

Kwong was not charged in that 2004 incident.

Unnamed police sources have also confirmed to Hong Kong media that Kwong served in the police department.

Reported dispute over property

Media reports said the murder came amid a dispute between Choi and her ex-in-laws over the sale of a multimillion-dollar property in the upmarket neighborhood of Kadoorie Hill, in Ho Man Tin district.

Kwong’s son and Choi’s ex-husband Alex Kwong was also known to police prior to his murder arrest on Sunday, Lai said. The younger Kwong has been wanted by authorities since jumping bail for an arrest for robbery in 2015.

A 28-year-old suspect in the murder of model Abby Choi is taken to a hospital in a hood after being arrested by police in Hong Kong, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2023. Credit: TVB screenshot/Handout via Reuters
He was arrested on suspicion of stealing jewelry as well as gold bars and nuggets, Lai said, adding that he did not know how Kwong was able to evade arrest for eight years without being apprehended. 

The disclosures come as police are continuing the investigation into Choi’s murder.

Along with the three men, Choi"s former mother-in-law Jenny Li, 63, has also been charged with obstructing investigators and a 47-year-old woman -- reportedly Kwong Kau"s girlfriend -- was also arrested on suspicion of "assisting offenders" in the case, police said.

Neither Hong Kong authorities nor lawyers for the accused have returned requests for comment.

Police load the refrigerator that is suspected of having been used to store body parts of 28-year-old model Abby Choi onto a truck in Hong Kong, China, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, in this screen grab taken from a handout video. Credit: TVB/Handout via Reuters

Choi"s ex-husband Alex Kwong was arrested on Feb 25 at a pier in Tung Chung, about to board a speedboat in possession of around H.K.$500,000 in cash and several luxury watches worth around H.K.$4 million.

The Straits Times, citing police, reported that another suspect was arrested in connection with Choi’s murder: a 41-year-old man surnamed Lam, who allegedly tried to help Alex Kwong escape for a fee of H.K.$100,000.

Police excavate a landfill during a search for the missing parts of model Abby Choi"s body in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. Credit: Reuters
Police have been searching landfills near the site where Choi"s missing body parts were found, the English-language South China Morning Post reported.

Kwong Kau rented the ground-floor flat where the human remains were found in early February. Choi was reported missing on Feb 21.

Her skull was discovered with a hole where pathologists believe she was fatally struck, Police Superintendent Alan Chung told reporters earlier this week.

Densely populated Hong Kong has seen a number of murders by dismemberment, with several grisly cases making headlines since the 1980s.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Boer Deng.

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