Hong Kong model and influencer’s skull found ‘boiling in carrot soup’, court told

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The skull of a Hong Kong socialite allegedly murdered and dismembered by her former husband and his family was found cooked in a pot of carrot and vegetable soup, a court has heard.

Prosecutors in the high-profile trial over the alleged murder of Abby Choi, a model and online influencer, alleged this week that she was killed following a bitter dispute over the sale of a luxury apartment she owned.

Choi, 28, was reported missing on 21 February 2023. Three days later, parts of her dismembered body were discovered at a rented flat in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district that had allegedly been turned into a makeshift butchery site, in a case that sent shockwaves through the wealthy financial hub.

Police found a meat slicer, an electric saw and clothing at the property, which had been rented by her former father-in-law.

Her former father-in-law, Kwong Kau, her ex-husband, Alex Kwong, and his brother, Anthony Kwong, were later arrested and accused of killing Choi following a dispute over the sale of a luxury property.

All three pleaded not guilty to murder on Wednesday.

At the start of their trial at Hong Kong’s High Court, prosecutors alleged that Kwong Kau enlisted his two sons to help kill Choi after becoming “extremely resentful and angry” over her decision to sell the flat where he had been living.

Prosecutor Charlotte Draycott SC said the dispute began when Choi sought to sell the luxury flat at the Kadooria residential estate in Ho Man Tin in 2022. The property was valued at HK$72m (£6.9m).

The court heard that Choi had bought the flat in 2019 for HK$60m, about 17 per cent below its asking price, so that her two children with Alex Kwong could be cared for by their paternal grandparents close to Choi’s home in Kowloon Tong.

Choi registered the property in Kwong Kau’s name to avoid the significant stamp duty imposed on people who own more than one property, prosecutors said.

“The prosecution says it was her decision to do so that set off the chain of events that led to her death,” Ms Draycott said.

Private audio messages Choi sent to her mother were also played in court. In them, she described her estranged in-laws as “very unpleasant”, called Kwong Kau a “crook” and referred to his wife as a “ghost” while expressing regret over her generosity towards the family.

In one message, Choi said: “A huge amount of money was spent on that flat, and it was spent for them. To be honest, for the sake of my children, for the sake of my two children and my good heart, that’s why she can lead such a good life, right?”

She added: “I divorced his son so many years ago, and I am still helping her son and providing for his children. Yet this kind of person is ungrateful. If she is not a ghost, what is she?”

Choi later evicted Kwong Kau from the flat, accusing him of trying to drive a wedge between her and her two children. He was then forced to share a one-bedroom flat with his elder son at Sheung Man Court, the court heard.

Prosecutors alleged that the family feud reached a tipping point in 2023, when Kwong Kau devised a plan to kill Choi so that he could keep the Kadooria flat.

The lawyer said Choi’s parents were well-off, and the family of her new partner Chris Tam was extremely wealthy. The Kwong family were not wealthy, she said.

“I mentioned the money because it was, as we understand it, the root of what happened,” Ms Draycott said.

Ms Draycott told the court that each of the three defendants had a role in the alleged murder plot, including renting a flat and driving Choi to a secluded location.

“If you find out that were the case, it does not matter which one actually killed her because they were all operating together,” she told the nine-member jury.

The case made international headlines after details emerged about the discovery of Choi’s remains. Her skull was allegedly found in a large pot containing carrots and other vegetables, while her legs were discovered inside a refrigerator at the rented Tai Po property.

Choi, who came from a wealthy family, married Alex Kwong when she was 18 and the couple had two children. They later divorced, but Choi continued to financially support members of his family, according to prosecutors.

She had two children with her second partner and regularly shared her glamorous life of photo shoots and fashion shows on social media. Days before her death, she posted about attending a Christian Dior show at Paris Fashion Week.

Police previously said they believed some of Choi’s remains had been disposed of.

“We believe [her body parts] were disposed of,” Alan Chung, a police official, said at the time.

“The suspects covered the walls of the flat with a sail, and they put on face shields and raincoats so that they would not get bloodstained by dismembering the body,” he added.

The trial, which is expected to last for eight weeks, continues, with prosecutors due to carry on outlining their case on Friday.