Kitchenware bought before Abby Choi murder, court hears
A shop assistant testified that a man in his 60s bought a meat grinder and other kitchenware months before Abby Choi's murder. A former driver also said he quit after a leave dispute, and denied theft allegations.
A Yau Ma Tei kitchenware shop assistant testified in the High Court on Tuesday that a white-haired man in his 60s bought a meat grinder months before socialite Abby Choi was murdered. The testimony came on the 19th day of the trial concerning the February 2023 murder and dismemberment of the 28-year-old socialite.
The shop assistant recounted that the man chose an Italian model priced about HK$2,000 to HK$3,000 more than the others, which she said was better quality and could grind meat more finely. Besides the grinder, he also bought a 14-by-14-inch soup pot and a 15-inch cutting board, with the bill totaling HK$9,153 and the shop charging HK$8,700 after discount. She added that the man also asked whether there was a bone grinder, but declined after learning it was out of stock and too expensive.
Alex Kwong Kong-chi, his brother Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, and their father, Kwong Kau, are jointly charged with the murder of Abby Choi. All three have pleaded not guilty to murder. Alex and Anthony Kwong have pleaded guilty to a charge of preventing the lawful burial of a body, while Kwong Kau has denied that charge.
Separately, the former private driver of Abby Choi told the court that he quit over an unpaid leave request from her former brother-in-law, months before Choi’s death. The driver, surnamed Chin, testified that he was hired in April 2021 as a private driver for the family's Kadoorie Hill residence at a monthly salary of HK$20,000 after being interviewed by Choi’s former mother-in-law, Jenny Li Sui-heung.
Chin said he drove Choi, the Kwong family and her two children, and that Anthony Kwong took charge of drivers and transport arrangements after returning to Hong Kong around July or August 2021. Under cross-examination, he accepted the defense's account that Kwong returned to Hong Kong around October 2021, saying he could no longer recall the exact timing. He added that the dashcam in the seven-seater vehicle he drove had not been working until Anthony Kwong reconnected it shortly before he left. The camera, he noted, was password-protected, with only Anthony Kwong able to access it.
Turning to his resignation, Chin said Anthony Kwong told him in November 2022 that the family would be traveling for two months and asked him to take unpaid leave. He quit after Kwong turned down his offer to keep washing and maintaining the vehicle for half pay, telling the court his last day was November 20, 2022.
Chin also testified that Choi hid in his vehicle at a property on Begonia Road in February 2022 when two or three men were loitering outside – an incident he understood was linked to gambling debts after she and her husband Chris Tam Fong-chun returned from Macau. He said Choi called Anthony Kwong from the car asking for HK$600,000, after which he drove Kwong to a mall to collect an envelope containing a check for the same amount, which Choi took to her former father-in-law Kwong Kau the next day.
Chin agreed that Choi often carried large amounts of cash in her handbag, but appeared to have a cash crunch by 2022. He added that Choi would ask him to pay for purchases before repaying him. Responding to earlier testimony from Choi's mother, Cheung Yin-fa, that Jenny Li said he was fired for theft, Chin denied all allegations about his conduct as a driver, including theft, gambling or swearing in front of the children.
Chin further admitted to prior drug possession convictions in 1998 and 2024, and told the court he had completed the one-year probation order imposed in 2024. Under re-examination, he stressed that the only money he took came from the egg waffle shop and was spent at Choi's instruction, not for his own use.