Bones, skull in soup pot: The horrific murder of model Abby Choi rocks Hong Kong

The gruesome murder of Abby Cho Tin-fung, a 28-year-old model and socialite, has rocked Hong Kong, the safest cities in the world. She was reported missing last Wednesday. Two days later, parts of her dismembered body were found in a house in the city’s Tai Po district.

The model was reportedly attacked in a seven-seater vehicle which was found to have blood splatters inside, the police said on Sunday. Her body parts were recovered from a refrigerator and one of the two large soup pots in the three-storey house in the Tai Po district.

One of the pots was covered with thick fat, some radishes and carrots. The meat is believed to be human flesh, according to a report by South China Morning Post (SCMP).  The victim’s torso and hands are yet to be found.

Superintendent Alan Chung of Hong Kong’s Kowloon West regional crime unit said a hole measuring (2.6 inches) by 2.2 inches was found at the back of the skull.  Forensic experts believed it was the result of a fatal blow that killed her. According to investigators, DNA tests and dental records would be used to determine if they belonged to Choi.

While the motive is to be confirmed, local media reports say that Choi could have been murdered over a luxury property dispute. Her former husband Alex Kwong Kong-chi, his parents and brother have been arrested, police said, according to CNN.

Media reports suggest that even after the divorce Choi supported Kwong’s family. Her former in-laws lived in a luxury apartment that she owned and she helped her brother-in-law purchase a house.

Choi’s decision to sell a HK$70 million property which she brought in her former father-in-law’s name enraged him and he reportedly plotted the murder.

Choi was a well-known model and influencer with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram.  She had two children with Kwong before the couple divorced.

She also has two other children with her partner Tam Chuk Kwan, with whom she had a matrimonial ceremony in 2016 that was never officially registered, according to a report in Strait Times.

Choi was the eldest of three daughters, who grew up in Hong Kong. Her family was wealthy and had a construction business with dealings in China. The model too had a personal net worth of more than HK$100 million.