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Forensic testing found no trace of Abby Choi Tin-fung's DNA on a round-headed hammer recovered from the village house where the 28-year-old socialite was allegedly slain and dismembered, a Hong Kong court heard on Thursday.
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The revelation emerged from a newly submitted set of agreed facts on the 26th day of the high-profile trial involving her former husband, Alex Kwong Kong-chi, her former father-in-law, Kwong Kau, and her former brother-in-law, Anthony Kwong Kong-kit.
All three men stand accused of murder and preventing the lawful burial of her body.
Forensic testing reveals no trace of socialite on hammer
According to the agreed facts submitted to the court, bodily fluid and DNA samples, along with fingerprint and palm print impressions from the three defendants, the victim, and members of her family, were collected by authorities without unlawful tampering and forwarded to the Government Laboratory for analysis and cross-matching, with the sole exception of Alex Kwong's oral swab.
Subsequent forensic examinations of the round-headed hammer seized from the crime scene revealed no detectable traces of Choi's DNA.
Testifying for the prosecution, Dr. Wun Hau-ling, a chemist from the DNA Database and Paternity Testing Section of the Government Laboratory, stated that she had compiled four separate forensic reports for the investigation. These included DNA profiling tests conducted on oral swabs taken from the three defendants.
Dr. Wun explained that her test results were subsequently handed over to Senior Chemist Dr. Wai Wing-kong to facilitate comparative analysis against physical evidence recovered from the Tai Po residence.
Evidence handling and chain of custody outlined
Addressing the chain of custody, Dr. Wun told the court that she received intact, sealed oral swab samples from a detective police constable on March 1, 2023.
She confirmed that the packages had been properly preserved and showed no signs of tampering. After verifying that the barcode information on the packaging corresponded accurately with official records, she assigned and affixed laboratory identification labels to the specimens.
The trial was adjourned until Wednesday for continued proceedings.
Background of charges and trial composition
The trio face charges stemming from the February 2023 killing of Choi, whose remains were discovered inside a ground-floor village house at Lung Mei on Ting Kok Road in Tai Po.
Prosecutors allege that the three men murdered Choi at the property on February 21, 2023, and prevented the lawful burial of her body between February 21 and February 23 of that year.
All three defendants have pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. Anthony Kwong and Alex Kwong have admitted to the charge of preventing a lawful burial, whereas Kwong Kau maintains his innocence on both counts.
The proceedings are being conducted in English before Deputy High Court Judge Brian Keith. The prosecution team is led by instructed Senior Counsel Charlotte Draycott, alongside Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Gary Leung Yuk-hang, Senior Public Prosecutors Human Lam Hiu-man and Gabriel Ng Hay-lok, and Public Prosecutor Herman Wan Pui-hin. Defense representation includes barrister Trevor Beel for Anthony Kwong, barrister Oliver Davies for Kwong Kau, and barrister Andrew Raffell for Alex Kwong.
