Abby Choi murder trial hears prosecutors allege plan

Prosecutors told a Hong Kong court that the ex-husband and former in-laws of influencer and model Abby Choi made an elaborate plan that ended in her killing in 2023.

Police found parts of Choi's dismembered body at a suburban Hong Kong property in February 2023. The case drew wide attention in the city.

Choi's former husband, Alex Kwong, 31, his father Kwong Kau, 68, and his brother Anthony Kwong, 35, have pleaded not guilty to murder charges. They have been on trial since Wednesday and face life in prison if convicted.

Prosecution lawyer Charlotte Draycott told the court Friday that, days before Choi was reported missing, the defendants bought equipment later used to cut up and dispose of her body, including a mincing machine.

The court was shown CCTV footage that prosecutors said showed Choi getting into one of two vans used by the Kwong family on the afternoon of February 21, 2023. Prosecutors said other footage showed Alex Kwong parking one of the vans near the property where Choi's remains were later found.

Draycott told the court the three men were seen wearing face masks and said they had prepared a plan to kill Choi.

Prosecutors also showed the jury a hammer and cited a forensic report saying injuries to Choi's skull, caused by a blunt instrument, matched the hammer's shape.

Alex Kwong was arrested on February 25, 2023, while planning to leave Hong Kong, prosecutors said. His father and brother had been detained a day earlier.

Prosecutors earlier told the jury that Choi and her former husband's family had financial disputes over a luxury property for which she had paid HK$60 million, or $7.65 million. The trial is expected to last at least until December.