China’s Complex Contradictions

China is a country full of contradictions. On one hand, it has a communist system of government, and on the other, it strongly invests in industries and businesses that exploit the most aggressive aspects of capitalism. The same parallel can be drawn with its residents. While its population suffers severe censorship regarding what they can access on the internet, China is one of the countries with the most digital influencers in the world, second only to our beloved Brazil. Today we going to talking about Abby Choi.

Abby Choi – A Model’s Ascendance

One of these influencers was the model Choi Tin Fung, who, like many Asians, adopted a Western name to stand out in high society: Abby Choi.

Born into a wealthy family in the construction industry, Abby was the heiress to a fortune of nearly 1 billion dollars. The 28-year-old, with over 166,000 followers on Instagram, was a constant presence at high-fashion shows in Europe and the United States, gracing the covers of the most prestigious magazines in this market, such as Vogue and Elle.

The Tragic End – Abby Choi’s Murder

However, her glamorous life met a tragic end in February of this year. Abby fell victim to one of the most heinous crimes committed in China. A crime that will go down in history, not only because it happened to a famous person in a country with one of the lowest murder rates in the world but also due to the gruesome details surrounding the influencer’s death.

The Investigation and Suspects

The entire case begins when, on February 21, Abby did not show up at her ex-husband’s house to pick up one of her children. Despite her youth, Abby was already a mother of four children, with the first two from her first husband, Alex Kwong, whom she married at the age of 18.

And it is precisely Alex who is the prime suspect in Abby’s murder, but he is not the only one involved in the case.

Four days later, the news that nobody wanted to hear and that left not only China but the entire world horrified emerged: Abby had been killed and dismembered. On this day, the police found pieces of the young woman’s body inside a refrigerator on the ground floor of a three-story house located in a village in the suburbs of Hong Kong. These body parts were identified as her legs.

If that were not bizarre enough, the authorities also found other parts of the influencer in various soup pots. In these containers were her skull and several ribs. In the house, a hammer, an electric saw, a meat grinder, face shields, black raincoats, and a purple bag that belonged to Abby were also found.

On the same day, Alex was arrested while trying to flee the city on a boat. Besides Alex, more people were accused of the crime: his brother Anthony Kwong, who was Abby’s personal driver, his father, the young woman’s former father-in-law Kwong Kau, and Kau’s wife, Jenny Li, who was charged with obstruction of justice for attempting to destroy other evidence of the crime and helping the men dispose of Abby’s body.

As the investigations progressed, more people appeared to be connected to Abby Choi’s murder. Among them is Ng Chi Wing, a woman who, according to the police, was Kwong Kau’s lover. The police claim that this woman is also responsible for aiding the Kwong brothers in evading the police.

Unanswered Questions and Society’s Response

Elaborate Planning and Chilling Details

The police also say that the crime had been planned for a long time. A strong indication of this is that the house where Abby’s remains were found, apart from the kitchen equipment, had no other furniture. They believe the intention was to eliminate the young woman’s body by gradually dissolving it in water, as if it were a big stew.

Legal Proceedings and Lingering Mysteries

The accused have appeared in court in a preliminary hearing where the right to bail was denied by the judge; however, the defense lawyers have already filed an appeal against this decision. The investigations suggest that the model may have been murdered by her ex-husband’s family due to various financial disputes. Because of her enormous wealth, Abby and Alex had several financial issues pending, including ownership of a luxury apartment valued at between 3 and 6 million dollars.

This high-end apartment is located in one of the most frequented areas by Hong Kong’s wealthiest residents. There are still unanswered questions that the police need to address, including: where did Abby actually die? Was it in the house where her remains were found, or somewhere else? If the latter, where is this place? In the car? Where are the other parts of the victim? Her hands and torso are still missing, and over a hundred police officers were mobilized to search for these parts in various Hong Kong landfills. Did the criminals consume them?

Additionally Abby Choi’s death shook all of Chinese society. Many artists, influencers, and authorities paid tribute to her in interviews or social media posts. Abby’s current husband, Cris Tam, with whom she had two children, remembered her as a caring wife and mother who looked after her family. Not to mention the thousands of fans Abby had on the internet, who flooded her social media with messages of condolences and calls for justice. Even after her divorce from Alex, Abby Choi still treated her former in-laws as part of her family and provided them with all the necessary support for a peaceful life. Her tragic death reminds us that even the most secure societies are not immune to ambition, envy, and hatred, and these feelings can lead anyone to commit the most brutal murder.