Hong Kong prosecutors say influencer and model Abby Choi was killed in a dispute over a luxury apartment before her remains were dismembered and discovered in a cooking pot.
“Money seems to be the root cause of this case,” prosecutor Charlotte Draycott told Hong Kong’s High Court on Sept. 30, according to CNN.
Choi’s former husband, Alex Kwong, his brother Anthony Kwong and their father, former police officer Kwong Kau, are accused of killing and mutilating the 28-year-old mother of four and preventing the lawful burial of her remains.
All three men have pleaded not guilty to murder, according to the Associated Press. Kau also pleaded not guilty to the second charge, while his sons pleaded guilty to it.
Choi disappeared on Feb. 21, 2023, several days after returning from Paris Fashion Week. She was last seen at a luxury residence in Ho Man Tin where Alex and his family lived, according to the South China Morning Post.
Three days later, investigators found her remains at a house in the rural Tai Po district. An electric saw and a meat slicer were also recovered, while authorities allegedly found her ribs, skull and hair in a kitchen pot and her legs in a refrigerator, according to People.
Police Superintendent Alan Chung alleged that Choi was likely knocked unconscious inside a car before being taken to the house.
“There’s a hole on the right-side rear on the skull,” Chung said in 2023, according to the Associated Press. “So the pathologist believes that that should be the fatal attack on the victim.”
The three men were arrested that month. Alex allegedly attempted to escape by speedboat, People reported.
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Draycott told the court that the planned sale of the luxury apartment provided the motive. She said Choi and her partner, Christopher Tam, were wealthy, while the Kwong family was not, the AP reported.
Choi bought the apartment for her in-laws in 2019 and placed it in Kau’s name to avoid higher taxes, according to the South China Morning Post. Her in-laws lived there and helped care for the two children she shared with Alex.
When Choi sought to sell the property in 2022, however, Kau became “extremely resentful and angry” and initially refused to allow the sale, according to the South China Morning Post.
“The prosecution says it was her decision to do so,” Draycott said, according to the South China Morning Post, “that set off the chain of events that led to her death.”
Kau ultimately signed the paperwork needed for the sale and moved into a rental property, the Los Angeles Times reported. Prosecutors allege that Kau would be able to move back into the apartment if Choi died.
“We say the three of them decided they would do it together,” Draycott said in court, according to the Times.
The trial is being heard by a nine-member jury and will resume on Oct. 2.
Draycott and attorneys representing Alex, Anthony and Kau did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Oxygen.