Ex-professor Khaw Kim Sun pictured at his home before his conviction. - Photo: Handout / SCMP
HONG KONG: Malaysian anaesthesiologist Khaw Kim Sun has been found guilty by a Hong Kong court of murdering his wife and daughter using an inflatable yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide, but in the eyes of his former colleagues, he was a passionate researcher and a “guardian angel” who saved many lives.
Khaw described himself as a perfectionist and strict father as the court was presented with different facets of his personality during a 41-day retrial for murder that began in November last year.
His murder convictions were quashed in 2023 after the Court of Final Appeal ruled the trial judge had misdirected the jury and ordered a retrial that led to the guilty verdict on Tuesday.
Always dressed in a suit, the 60-year-old decided after nine days of the retrial that it would be in his better interest to defend himself and fired his lawyer.
In his testimony, Khaw admitted he started having an affair in 2006 with his research assistant, Shara Lee Wee-yee, who was a PhD student at Chinese University at the time.
He said he was attracted to Lee and sought comfort in her after his relationship with his wife had turned sour.
Khaw married Wong Siew Fing in 1992, with whom he had three daughters and a son. His second daughter, Lily Khaw Li Ling, was 16 and his wife 47 when they were found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning inside Khaw’s Mini Cooper on May 22, 2015. A deflated yoga ball containing the lethal gas was found in the boot of the vehicle.
The prosecution called three witnesses who were close to Wong to testify that Khaw refused to divorce her because he did not want to split his wealth – to the tune of tens of millions of dollars – with her. Meanwhile, he maintained his affair with Lee throughout the years.
At the retrial, a seven-member jury unanimously found Khaw, a former Chinese University medical professor, guilty of causing the deaths of his wife and second child, after less than four hours of deliberation.
The academic appeared calm when the verdict was handed down and chose not to make a mitigation plea.
During the retrial, however, Khaw denied that he had put the yoga ball in the car, saying there was no direct evidence in the case that could prove the murder.
He also told the court that Wong had accepted his extra-marital affair and the two were not getting a divorce.
He wept and said he was shocked as he recalled the day when he heard about his wife and daughter being sent to hospital in an unconscious state after performing a surgery at work.
For the record, previously, eldest daughter May Ling had told the court during the earlier trial that Lee became the children's Chinese tutor in 2004 and would come to their home. But Khaw claimed that he only met Lee after his relationship with his wife deteriorated.
Lee was also Khaw's student at the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, where she was doing a doctorate and he was her mentor. The Post found that the pair worked together on at least 10 published academic articles.
Khaw claimed that they eventually got together in 2012. "I ... was quite lonely and I found that she was a good companion and we became closer and closer," he said in a police interview.
Lee, now an assistant professor of radiography at Polytechnic University, was never arrested, but she was a suspect during the police investigations because she showed up briefly while Khaw was conducting experiments with carbon monoxide.
Khaw defended his lover strenuously when police asked about her role in the murders. "I can vouch that she has got nothing to do with the investigation of this incident," he told them.
According to South China Morning Post, the jury’s unanimous conviction of Khaw comes following a retrial.
Khaw Kim-sun, accused of murdering his wife and daughter in 2015, being escorted by the police in Hong Kong last year. -- Credit: Apple Daily, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
(NOTE: Khaw was found guilty of causing the deaths of Wong Siew Fing, 47, and their second child Lily Khaw, 16, using a leaky yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide. He had initially been convicted on two counts of murder in 2018.
However in 2023, Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal overturned his conviction and ordered a retrial in the High Court, ruling that the trial judge had misdirected the jury in 2018.
The family’s maid said that Khaw and his wife generally ate meals separately, slept in different rooms and drove separate cars. A friend testified that Wong had known that her husband was having an affair with a student, Shara Lee, who had previously tutored the couple’s children in the family home.)
Dr Khaw, whose new trial began last November, decided to represent himself, having dismissed his lawyers not long after the retrial began.
During the retrial, the prosecution highlighted Khaw’s apparent premeditation, noting that he had conducted research related to carbon monoxide and had instructed his assistants to acquire the gas. Just days before the incident, he had filled two yoga balls with carbon monoxide, ostensibly for testing purposes, but ultimately took them home, claiming he intended to use the gas for pest control.
In his defence, Khaw maintained that he had not placed the toxic ball in the vehicle and argued that the prosecution’s case relied solely on circumstantial evidence, which he deemed insufficient for a conviction. He suggested that the deaths of his wife and daughter may have been accidental rather than intentional.
The judge asked him if he had anything to say, to which Khaw replied that he did not. The judge then sentenced Khaw to life imprisonment in accordance with the law.
The courtroom was tense as High Court Deputy Judge Brian Keith reminded the jury of their duty to disregard the original trial’s content and approach the case with fresh eyes.
The evidence brought forth, along with Khaw’s complicated personal situation— including an extramarital affair and a troubled marriage—added further complexity to the proceedings.
Earlier reports revealed in the days prior to the deaths, Khaw had ordered his assistants to acquire the gas.
He then filled two yoga balls with it, apparently for lab test purposes, but later took them home.
Dr Khaw claimed during the initial trial that he had planned to use the gas for pest control.
He also asserted that he did not place the yoga ball in the vehicle, suggesting that the death of his wife and daughter was accidental and not intentional.
During the earlier trial, it was also reported that the issue of Dr Khaw and Wong’s troubled marriage as well as an extramarital affair he allegedly had with a student were raised.
Khaw had served as an associate professor at Chinese University of Hong (CUHK)’s department of anaesthesia and intensive care in addition to an earlier stint as a senior medical officer at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin. He also had been a very respected medical officer and many had paid tribute to him for his excellent work.
He has three other children, two daughters and a son.
It is learnt that their eldest daughter, 22, was studying medicine in Malaysia, while their third daughter, 15, and son, 14, were both studying in Hong Kong schools during the time of the murders. - Agencies
