The former brother-in-law of slain socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung testified in court in tears that his younger brother, Alex Kwong Kong-chi, was the person responsible for the killing on Wednesday.
Anthony Kwong Kong-kit took the stand on the 35th day of the high-profile trial over the February 2023 murder and dismemberment of the 28-year-old model. Choi’s former husband Alex Kwong, her former father-in-law Kwong Kau, and Anthony Kwong have all pleaded not guilty to murder.
When asked whether he knew who killed Abby Choi, Anthony Kwong nodded repeatedly and hesitated without speaking. At this moment, Kwong Kau in the dock became flushed, with eyes welling with tears.
When Anthony Kwong's defense counsel, Trevor Beel, repeatedly asked who had killed Abby Choi, Anthony Kwong answered "younger brother," then wiped his tears with his hand and spoke in a choked voice. Kwong Kau also wiped his tears with a tissue, while Alex Kwong appeared calm.
Under the examination-in-chief by Beel, it was noted that Abby Choi died on February 21. When asked whether he had killed Abby Choi, Anthony Kwong replied, "No."
Beel then asked if Anthony Kwong knew that Choi "would be killed on that day," and Kwong replied, "I don't know." Anthony Kwong was then asked if he knew anyone intending to cause serious harm to Choi. He answered, "No."
Mentioning that Abby Choi was attacked while riding in the white seven-seater vehicle, Beel asked if Anthony Kwong was aware of this, and Anthony Kwong replied, "I don't know."
Anthony Kwong testified that on February 21, 2023, at Choi’s request, he drove a white seven-seater vehicle to pick her up from Kowloon Tong and take her to Ho Man Tin to view a property with someone, after which he was supposed to take her to pick up her daughter from school.
Anthony Kwong testified that there was some time to kill, so he asked Alex Kwong to have a meal with him in Mong Kok, and later invited him along to pick up the daughter.
After picking up Choi, Anthony Kwong informed her that Alex Kwong would be joining them, and Alex Kwong got in the vehicle on Embankment Road, he said.
Anthony Kwong sat in the driver's seat, Choi sat directly behind him, and Alex Kwong sat beside her. During the ride, Choi and Alex Kwong were each using their mobile phones and also conversing in Hainanese, which he could not understand.
At first, Choi's tone was calm, but later she began to scold him with Cantonese profanity, while Alex Kwong remained silent "as usual", he said.
At approximately 2.45pm, when the car passed through the Lion Rock Tunnel, Choi's tone grew higher-pitched. When the vehicle reached the Sha Tin section of Tai Po Road, Anthony Kwong said he suddenly felt something bump against the back of his seat, and at the same time heard a sound like something sliding down to the floor.
He testified that he heard Alex Kwong crying, "Stop scolding anymore!"
Anthony Kwong said he was very scared and asked, "What happened", explaining that they were on a highway at the time, and when he looked back, his vision was blocked by the seat cushion, leading him to deduce that Choi was on the floor and Alex Kwong was on top of her.
He stated that he heard Choi speaking very softly, describing it as sounding like someone "choking her throat." He also said he "couldn't think of anything" and could only keep driving.
He also explained the purchase of a meat grinder and a soup pot by saying that some items were for a friend’s shop.
Anthony Kwong testified that he called his father as usual, after work on February 6. When he learned that Kwong Kau was at a newly rented village house in Lung Mei Tsuen, he went there to meet him for the first time.
According to the agreed facts, Anthony Kwong drove a seven-seat vehicle to IKEA at Megabox to buy items including plastic storage boxes with wheels, transparent plastic boxes, and ziplock bags. He said that during his first visit to Kwong Kau’s new home, his father “shared some ideas for the new home and asked me to help him buy some of the storage plastic boxes that I use in Tsuen Wan when I had time.”
In the evening, Anthony Kwong and Kwong Kau borrowed a seven-seat vehicle from a friend of Alex Kwong. Anthony Kwong said he parked his vehicle behind Kwong Kau’s. When he could not find his father, who was not in the vehicle, he called him. Kwong Kau said he was at a kitchenware store across the street.
Anthony Kwong said he saw a store employee pushing some items toward the vehicles, including a pot and a silver machine. He asked his father, “Why did you buy these things?” Kwong Kau replied that “part of it is for use at home, and part of it is for a friend’s shop.” While Kwong Kau went back to the store to pay, Anthony Kwong said he checked whether there was anything suitable for his own home.
He later went to the cashier and saw his father looking through a product catalog. Anthony Kwong asked, “Are you buying these things? How much do they cost?” Kwong Kau replied, “It costs tens of thousands of dollars.” Anthony Kwong said he responded, “So expensive.”
Anthony Kwong testified that the item Kwong Kau was looking at in the catalog was a waste disposer. He said he “never asked him” why he wanted to buy one, adding “He bought that silver thing, saying he bought it for a friend, and then looked at the catalog, so I naturally thought he is going to buy it for a friend.”
The silver machine Kwong Kau bought was an Italian meat grinder. Anthony Kwong testified that he did not see it inside the Lung Mei Tsuen unit at any time from February 8 through February 23.
According to the agreed facts, Anthony Kwong returned to Lung Mei Tsuen for a second time on February 9. He said Kwong Kau drove a car to pick him up in Tsuen Wan, and they went to the village house for dinner.
Anthony Kwong also confirmed that he and Alex Kwong went to Lung Mei Tsuen together at around 4pm on February 11. He said he had to take Choi’s son to tennis lessons in Sha Tin, which lasted about an hour and a half. Since the drive from Sha Tin to Tai Po took only about 10 minutes, “I suggested that my younger brother come along to visit Dad’s new home, because my younger brother had never been there,” he said. They arrived at the house, sat there for half an hour, and then went to Sha Tin to pick up the child.
At around 6 pm. on February 13, Anthony Kwong returned to Lung Mei Tsuen. “That day I got off work a bit early and looked for Dad for dinner as usual,” he said.
