In a refrigerator, two amputated legs were found. In a cooking pot, a skull with a hole in the back, several ribs, hair, and human flesh remains mixed with carrots and radishes. In another pot, fragments of bones and more human tissues were found. The remains had been boiling for hours. Next to that macabre scene, there was an electric saw, a meat grinder, butcher knives, a hammer, and several black raincoats. The walls were protected with tarps. It was a small apartment in Hong Kong turned, according to the police description, into a human butcher shop.
There in 2023 ended up the remains of Abby Choi, a popular influencer of 28 years, mother of four children, and a regular on international catwalks. Three years later, the trial for her murder has become a legal soap opera that keeps the former British colony on edge: a millionaire fortune, a feuding family, debts, sexual secrets, and three men on trial for one of the most heinous crimes remembered in the city.
The victim mingled with designers in Paris, attended couture fashion shows, and appeared in publications like Vogue, Elle, and Harper's Bazaar. Days before disappearing, she had graced a digital cover of L'Officiel Monaco. Her life unfolded between international trips and high society parties in Hong Kong. But behind that glamorous facade lay a complex family story that would end in tragedy.
Abby had married very young to Alex Kwong, with whom she had two children. After separating, she began a relationship with Chris Tam, heir to a wealthy family linked to the restaurant business. They had two more children and celebrated a wedding ceremony, although they never legally registered their union. The model, far from breaking ties with her past, continued financially supporting her ex-husband and her former in-laws. A generosity that, as the Prosecution now argues, ended up becoming a deadly trap.
At the center of the dispute was a luxurious apartment in an exclusive area of Hong Kong, valued at 72 million Hong Kong dollars, about eight million euros. Abby had financed its acquisition, but the property was in the name of her ex-father-in-law, Kwong Kau, a retired police sergeant. When the influencer decided to sell it, a family war erupted. According to the accusation, the former officer conspired with his two sons to murder her and avoid losing the property.
The Prosecution argues that the crime was planned for weeks. The ex-father-in-law and Anthony Kwong, Alex's older brother and also Abby's driver, visited several establishments buying an electric saw, a meat grinder, a second-hand refrigerator, kitchen containers, and products to disguise odors. They also rented a small apartment near the border with mainland China. That house would end up becoming the scene of a dismemberment operation.
On February 21, 2023, Abby got into the vehicle driven by her ex-brother-in-law, believing she was picking up her daughter from school. Her ex-husband was also in the vehicle. The reconstruction presented to the jury maintains that the woman was hit on the head with a hammer. Three days later, the police found part of her dismembered remains. Alex was arrested on February 25 while trying to flee on a ferry.
The latest sessions of the trial have added new chapters to this criminal melodrama. Chris Tam, the victim's partner, has recounted how the ex-father-in-law insulted Abby during a family argument, calling her a "baby-making machine," and even attempted to assault her. During his interrogation, it also emerged that there was a gambling debt of five million Hong Kong dollars (just over 550,000 euros) that Tam had incurred at a casino in Macau. His father ended up taking over the debt after receiving threats, while Abby's ex-father-in-law, leveraging his former police contacts, intervened to help resolve the conflict.
But the most extravagant episode came when the defense hinted that Chris Tam had a sexual relationship with Alex Kwong, Abby's ex-husband. The trial has revealed another peculiarity of this family entanglement: both men had been schoolmates and close friends. In fact, it was Alex himself who introduced Abby to the man who would become her new partner.
The victim's mother, Cheung Yin-fa, has also not escaped judicial scrutiny, with her financial problems taking another unexpected turn in the process. During the testimonies, a dispute over an alleged debt of 1.6 million Hong Kong dollars (about 180,000 euros) with a woman she had met playing mahjong, the traditional Chinese tile game, came to light. Cheung claimed that the account had been settled for seven years, but she also admitted to having lost "several tens of millions" in casino games in Jordan.
While testimonies continue to uncover the intricacies of two wealthy families in Hong Kong, the nine jury members must resolve a much graver question: who planned and executed the murder of Abby Choi. The three accused face life imprisonment.