4 Arrested in Horrific Hong Kong Socialite Murder Case

L: On Feb. 24, 2023, investigators were at the crime scene collecting evidence. (Big Mak/The Epoch Times) R: Model Abby Choi poses for a photo in Hong Kong on Feb. 11, 2023. (Pao Jo-yee via AP)

The Hong Kong Police uncovered a horrific murder case at Lung Mei village, Tai Po, on Feb. 24. Famed socialite, 28-year-old Abby Choi Tin-fung, was allegedly murdered, mutilated, and cooked.

On the same day, The Regional Crime Squad of Kowloon West arrested the brother and parents of Choi’s ex-husband, Alex Kwong Kong-chi while sealing off a village house as a crime scene to collect evidence.

On Feb. 25, the police arrested a 28-year-old man surnamed Kwong on suspicion of murder at the Tung Chung Pier at about 1 p.m. He’s the ex-husband of Choi. The police believe he was about to escape by boat when he was arrested. Kwong and his parents and brother are suspected of killing the victim. They’re currently detained for further investigation, and it isn’t ruled out that they'll be prosecuted for related charges later.

While the police discovered Choi’s legs in a refrigerator inside the house, the deceased’s upper body, including the torso, arms, and head, are yet to be found.

At about 3 a.m. on Feb. 25, the police transported away the refrigerator containing the remains.

On Feb. 25, 2023, the police presented to the media some of the evidence they had seized in the murder case of the dismembered socialite Abby Choi, including a knife, a meat grinder, a face mask, two raincoats, and a hammer. (Big Mack/The Epoch Times)

West Kowloon Crime Investigation Unit Superintendent Chung Nga-lun briefed the media early on Feb. 25.

The police received a report in the early morning of Feb. 22 that a 28-year-old woman had lost contact with her family in the afternoon of Feb. 21.

After a preliminary investigation, police determined that the missing person case was suspicious. It was transferred to the West Kowloon Regional Serious Crimes Unit on Feb. 23 for follow-up.

The crime investigation team immediately conducted an in-depth investigation based on the victim’s background. The police have also met with Kwong’s parents and Choi’s private driver, who’s also the brother of Kwong. The police tried to locate the victim’s ex-husband Kwong but couldn’t find him.

It’s believed that the victim and her ex-husband’s family were in dispute over a large amount of money, up to tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars (several million U.S. dollars). The police suspected that the murderer was dissatisfied with how the victim was handling her property asset, leading to an argument before the murder took place.

Chung mentioned that during the investigation, the relatives of the victim’s ex-husband repeatedly provided inaccurate information to the police to confuse the direction of the investigation. Police later busted their plan and locked down a village house at Lung Mei village in Tai Po as a suspected crime scene.

The father of Kwong has rented the village house since the beginning of February. He’s a former police sergeant who was accused of raping a female victim during an investigation case in 2005.

The Regional Crime Squad of Kowloon West arrested the brother and parents of Choi’s ex-husband, aged 31 to 65, and obtained search warrants for the village house later in the afternoon of Feb. 24. Kwong was detained as a suspect in the murder of Choi the day after.

On Feb. 24, 2023, policemen were seen collecting evidence at the scene. (Big Mack/The Epoch Times)

After breaking the door and entering the unit, police found human limbs in the refrigerator; Victim Choi’s identity card and credit card were also at the crime scene. Upon the findings, police believed that the victim had already been killed.

The police only retrieved a pair of adult legs from the fridge. They’re still trying to recover the torso, arms, and skull of the victim.

Crime Scene

Whether the village house was the first crime scene and the victim’s time of death haven’t been determined.

Investigators also found that the murderer had carefully arranged the village house and that the property was rented purely for mutilating and cooking the deceased.

Choi’s last appearance was at 2:15 p.m. on Feb. 21. Choi was supposed to pick up her daughter she shared with her ex-husband but vanished. At the time, Choi had her ID card, cash, and mobile phone.

Chung pointed out that the three arrested people had been detained and interrogated by the police all night. The three suspects are charged with suspected murder. Kwong was arrested on Feb. 25.

On Feb. 25, 2023, at the village house where Abby Choi's dismembered body was found, the doors and windows were covered with black cloth. The police believe that the killer(s) had planned the crime beforehand. (Big Mack/The Epoch Times)

Who’s Abby Choi?

Choi married early and had two children. She was divorced from her first marriage and remarried in 2016 to the son of the founder of Tamjai, an international noodle empire.

She was very active in the social elite and fashion circles. She was an aspiring international model with more than 80,000 followers on Instagram.

Choi frequented fashion show weeks and was featured as the cover girl of fashion magazines VOGUE (China) and L'Officiel Monaco.

Murders in Hong Kong Aren’t Common

Murder cases are rare in Hong Kong. In similar cases in the past 10 years, the last being in 2017, where a 37-year-old single drug-addicted mother murdered and dismembered her 12-year-old daughter in a shared apartment on Canton Road, Mongkok.

The mother threw the deceased’s limbs in the toilet. She left parts of the skull in a rice cooker. The pair of legs in the bathroom caused a blockage, and the blood oozed out of the apartment. The neighbors discovered the blood water and called the police.

The single mother pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to an indefinite hospital stay, ordered by the court in 2020.