Tool purchases and $67m flat sale scrutinized as Abby Choi murder trial enters 24th day 

The high-profile trial surrounding the February 2023 murder and dismemberment of 28-year-old socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung entered its 24th day, with jurors hearing testimonies detailing suspicious tool purchases by her former brother-in-law and the victim's determined efforts to sell a luxury property registered under her former father-in-law.

Choi's former husband Alex Kwong Kong-chi, former brother-in-law Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, and former father-in-law Kwong Kau stand accused of murder and preventing the lawful burial of a body. 

Both Anthony Kwong and Alex Kwong have admitted to the burial charge while maintaining their innocence on the murder count, whereas Kwong Kau has pleaded not guilty to both charges. 

The trial is presided over by Deputy High Court Judge Brian Keith, with the prosecution led by external Senior Counsel Charlotte Draycott and the defendants represented by barristers Trevor Beel, Oliver Davies, and Andrew Raffell.

Former brother-in-law acquired hammer and adhesive tapes days before killing

A Kowloon City hardware store clerk surnamed Chow testified that Anthony Kwong visited the shop on the morning of February 15, 2023, six days before the alleged murder occurred. 

According to agreed facts read to the court, Anthony Kwong purchased a one-pound ball-peen hammer, two rolls of black duct tape, and a roll of double-sided adhesive tape, items that investigators subsequently retrieved from the ground-floor crime scene at Lung Mei in Tai Po.

CCTV footage presented in court showed Anthony Kwong wearing a white face mask, pacing around the shop and repeatedly scratching his head while interacting with Chow. 

While Chow stated that he could no longer recall the verbal exchange, the video showed Anthony Kwong gesturing with circular and hammering motions. 

Chow explained that customers typically choose from various types of hammers, and he interpreted the gestures as a request for a ball-peen hammer, which he retrieved and handed over along with the rolls of adhesive tape.

Jurors and counsel donned protective gloves to inspect the physical hammer and evaluate its weight. Under cross-examination by the defense, Chow acknowledged that such tools are generally utilized for driving nails, though he conceded that applying substantial force could bend metal objects. 

He added that he had no idea what the customer intended to do with the tools at the time of the transaction.

Estate agent recalls victim driving multi-million dollar apartment sale

The court also heard testimony from a real estate agent surnamed Tong regarding Choi’s attempts to sell an upscale residence on Kadoorie Hill for HK$67 million.

Tong testified that he met Choi and her mother, Cheung Yin-fa, through an introduction in mid-February 2023, shortly before Choi vanished. 

Although internal agency records indicated that the legal owner of the property was Kwong Kau, Choi assured the agent that she held sole decision-making authority over the sale and was actively overseeing the transaction.

Tong recalled that during an inspection of the premises, Choi turned down his offer to take photographs, explaining that she already had professional images ready and sent them to his phone almost immediately after the viewing ended. 

Tong described Choi as exceptionally proactive in marketing the property. 

When the agent brought up the fact that Kwong Kau was the registered proprietor, Choi insisted that she was calling the shots and claimed that the elder Kwong would simply be brought in to sign the requisite paperwork once a buyer agreed on the price.

Under questioning by defense counsel, Tong noted that the local property market was experiencing a downturn at the time due to the pandemic, meaning transaction volumes across the territory were exceptionally thin with few homeowners choosing to offload units at depressed valuations.

Surveillance capabilities at Lung Mei address

Testimony also touched upon the physical layout of the village house where the killing took place. A second-floor resident of the Lung Mei property surnamed Leung gave evidence that two surveillance cameras had been set up on his balcony several years earlier to monitor an adjacent sports pitch and open clearing. 

Leung confirmed that both cameras were functioning normally and recording continuously around the clock during the period in question, with accurate system timestamps, though the equipment was unable to capture audio whenever the balcony windows were shut.

The prosecution alleges that the three men murdered Choi inside the ground-floor village flat on February 21, 2023, and subsequently conspired to prevent her lawful burial over the ensuing two days. The hearing continues.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓