Fugitive wanted for 1989 Lung Ha Wan murder extradited to HK from Thailand after 37 years

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A 62-year-old man wanted for a notorious 1989 murder in Sai Kung’s Lung Ha Wan has been arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, after 37 years on the run and was extradited back to Hong Kong on Thursday.

Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming met the media at Hong Kong International Airport upon the suspect’s return. He thanked the Royal Thai Police for their assistance in two cases: the recent arrest of a robbery suspect from a 2025 Tsim Sha Tsui incident, who was intercepted in Bangkok and deported, and the long-standing 1989 Lung Ha Wan murder case.

The suspect, Mui Yiu-keung, had no identification documents and was not legally residing in Thailand. He was deported and is now under investigation in Hong Kong.

Bangkok Post and other Thai media reported on February 4 that Mui was arrested in a residential property in Nong Chok district on Monday.

Bangkok Crime Suppression Division Police Colonel Netiwit Thanasitnitikul said the arrest followed a request from Hong Kong authorities. Mui was the last of four suspects still at large in the 1989 murder.

Earlier arrested suspects told police that Mui struck the victim with a shovel and helped bury the body in Hong Kong.

Authorities believe Mui fled to Thailand in 1994. At arrest, he had no ID but admitted his identity and said he arrived in Thailand in 1994, opened a small factory in Changwat Samut Prakan, married a Thai woman, and had three children. Thai police believe he ran a restaurant instead.

Mui declined to comment on the murder allegation and faces illegal entry charges while extradition proceedings are arranged.

The murder occurred on August 31, 1989, in Lung Ha Wan, Sai Kung. Freshly released from prison, Mui believed his 26-year-old friend surnamed Lui had wrongly caused his earlier imprisonment. He recruited a classmate surnamed Yeung and two others for revenge.

They lured Lui, a restaurant waiter, to Lung Ha Wan, where he was beaten with a shovel for 20 minutes, bound with nylon rope, had his head covered with a plastic bag, and was buried in a hole dug on the beach.

Yeung, then a restaurant captain, fled to Thailand and later mainland China, was arrested after 10 years, returned to Hong Kong, was convicted of murder in 2001, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The other two accomplices were arrested soon after the crime. One, surnamed Choi, was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for eight years, later released. The other, surnamed Suen, was acquitted. Mui remained a fugitive until this week’s arrest.