Abby Choi Hong Kong model head found in soup pot as style icon’s former husband and three other family members are charged with murder amid financial disputes.
The missing head of a widely followed Hong Kong fashion model was found in a soup pot over the weekend— with four people, including the woman’s ex husband, now charged in connection to the gruesome slaying in a case that has gripped China.
Hong Kong police said Abby Choi’s decapitated head had been boiled until only the skull remained, the Times of London reported.
The rising fashion star and social media influencer who boasted more than 100K followers on Instagram went missing Tuesday.
The model’s ex-husband Alex Kwong was charged with murder Sunday, along with Kwong’s brother and father, according to local broadcaster TVB.
Choi’s former mother-in-law, Jenny Li was charged with obstruction in the shocking case. All four were denied bail.
Macabre discovery came days after victim appeared on front cover of leading fashion journal
Police, meanwhile, continue to search nearby sewers for body parts belonging to the rising fashion star.
Prior to her disappearance on Monday, Choi had just made the February cover of L’Officiel Monaco fashion magazine. The style icon had previously been featured in international publications like Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar.
Abby has been featured in international publications like Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar.
Three days after Choi, went missing, police found two female legs in a refrigerator and two cooking pots containing human tissue.
Local reports told of the body parts being discovered in a house rented by the victim’s former father in law in the district of Lung Mei Tsuen, a suburban part of Hong Kong.
Authorities on Sunday then discovered a young woman’s skull, which was believed to be Ms Choi’s, in a stainless steel cooking pot that was seized from the property.
They also found a meat slicer and an electric saw at the scene.
‘premeditated’ and ‘well-planned’
An autopsy report found Choi suffered a large hole in her skull behind her right ear, which may have been caused by a hard object.
‘When we found the two pots of soup at the scene, one of the pots measuring 50cm [20 inches] deep and 40cm [16 inches] in diameter, was almost full and covered with thick fat, some green radishes and carrots and meat believed to be human flesh,’ Police Superintendent Alan Chung said.
Local authorities have not recovered Choi’s torso and arms and fear they may have been thrown away.
Police called the killing ‘premeditated’ and ‘well-planned’, saying the accused men carried out the murder because Choi was going to sell a luxury property in the Kadoorie Hill neighborhood in Ho Man Tin.
Choi had funded the property’s purchase but registered the land under the name of her former father-in-law to save stamp duty. Her ex-husband’s family had reportedly been renting at the residence.
The macabre murder is thought to have occurred following financial disputes involving tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars between Choi and her former husband and his family, according to police. HK$1m is the equivalent of about £106,000.
Too rich to kill
Abby came from a wealthy family who has business dealings in China. Her net worth was reportedly at HK$100 million, ($12.8m USD) local media reported.
Authorities believe Choi’s former brother-in-law offered to take her to pick up her daughter from school, but instead knocked her out in the vehicle and brought her to the Tai Po flat to be chopped apart.
‘The suspects covered the walls of the flat with a sail, and they put on face shields and raincoats so that they would not get bloodstained by dismembering the body,’ said Chung.
The gruesome killing has gripped Hong Kongers as the special administrative region of China is widely considered safe with a very low level of violent crime.
Monday’s hearing was adjourned until May 8.
