HONG KONG/NEW YORK (tca/dpa): Four people were arrested for the murder and dismemberment of model and influencer Abby Choi after parts of her body were found in a Hong Kong rental unit, local police said late Saturday.
Choi's ex-husband, 28-year-old Alex Kwong, was arrested early Saturday afternoon at a ferry terminal on the northwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong.
He was carrying 500,000 Hong Kong dollars in cash (approximately US$63,700) and several luxury watches worth about HK$4 million (US$510,000), according to The South China Morning Post. Investigators believe he was trying to flee Hong Kong when arrested.
Kwong's parents and 31-year-old brother had already been charged with killing the 28-year-old model, who was reported missing on Tuesday.
Choi's ex-father-in-law is believed to be the mastermind of the plan to kill the victim over a property worth millions of dollars. The 65-year-old is a former police sergeant who left the force in 2005, the Chinese newspaper reported, citing an unnamed source.
Earlier this week, authorities contacted the family of Choi's ex-husband but found they gave false statements. That led police to the rented home in Lung Mei Village, where they found the victim's legs inside a refrigerator and human tissue in pots of soup.
"We are still looking for the head, the torso and hands, which we believed were disposed of," Superintendent Alan Chung, of the Kowloon West regional crime unit, told reporters Saturday.
"Tools that are used to dismember human bodies were found in the flat, including meat grinders, chainsaws, long raincoats, gloves, and masks," Chung said, noting that it appeared the home had been "arranged by cold-blooded killers meticulously."
The unit had recently been rented by Choi's former father-in-law. It was mostly unfurnished, suggesting that it might have been specifically set up as a place to dispose of the body, police said.
Choi was reportedly last seen by her former brother-in-law, who worked as her driver. According to Hong Kong-based news site HK01, Choi was after getting into his car on February 21. He allegedly then drove her to the location where she was murdered.
Authorities believe money played a role in the gruesome crime.
"We believe the victim and her ex-husband's family had many financial disputes involving huge sums," Chung said. "Someone was dissatisfied with how the victim handled her assets."
Kwong, who's reported to be unemployed, was accused of defrauding people of HK$5 million ($637,000) between 2014 and 2015, and allegedly sued over a debt of HK$15.7 million ($2.2 million).
According to The South China Morning Post, Kwong and Choi share two children. - tca/dpa
