A 57-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a Sham Shui Po female newspaper vendor in 1999, marking the seventh arrest in the case.
The suspect, surnamed Lin, was arrested in Shenzhen last Friday(May 15) and handed over to Hong Kong police the next morning via the Shenzhen Bay Control Point.
The incident occurred around 5am on September 22, 1999, when a female newspaper vendor working on Tai Po Road was stabbed to death by three men.
Investigations suggested the attack stemmed from a dispute over newspaper distribution.
Between 2005 and 2010, police arrested six men in connection with the case, where five of them were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, and the remaining one was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 12 years.
Lin, who has a prior criminal record, is believed to have been the recruiter, hiring the three knife-wielders and arranging their transport to the scene.
He is currently being detained and set to appear in Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts on Monday (May 18).
According to sources, Lin fled to the mainland after the attack, where he was imprisoned for other offenses before being handed over to Hong Kong authorities.
Despite the passage of 26 years, police reaffirmed their commitment to bringing justice. They expressed gratitude to mainland authorities for their assistance, calling the case a testament to cross-border efforts in tackling serious crime.
Authorities believed at least one more suspect, who is believed to be arranging the weapons and vehicles used in the attack, remains at large.
The investigation is ongoing.
