Hello Kitty murder case
Hello Kitty murder case | |
---|---|
Weapons | Metal pipes, kitchen utensils, hot wax, melted plastic, spices |
Victim | Fan Man-yee (樊敏儀), aged 23 |
Perpetrators |
|
Motive | Inconclusive |
Verdict | Guilty of manslaughter
|
Sentence | Life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 20 years Leung Shing-cho: Commuted to 18 years in prison |
Case Number: CACC 522/2000 |
The Hello Kitty murder case (Chinese: Hello Kitty藏屍案; Jyutping: Hello Kitty cong4si1ngon3; lit. 'Hello Kitty hidden body case') took place in Hong Kong in the spring of 1999, when a nightclub hostess was abducted in Lai Yiu Estate, tortured and raped in an apartment in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, after stealing a wallet owned by one of her frequent customers.
Fan Man-yee (樊敏儀; Fán Mǐnyí; faan4 man5 ji4, 23) was held captive by three men and one girl before dying between April 14 and April 16, 1999. Her body was decapitated and her skull placed inside of a Hello Kitty mermaid plush.[1]
Background
Born in 1976 in
Fan's husband was described as
Kidnapping
Chan Man-lok (陳文樂; Chén Wénlè; can4 man4 lok6, alias Ah Lok or Ah Hsi, born May 17, 1965), a 33-year-old
On March 17, 1999, Fan was
Prior to the kidnapping, both Leung Wai-lun and Leung Shing-cho worked at a
Ordeal
During her imprisonment, she was tortured and raped. According to one source, she was beaten with metal bars, sometimes while being strung up and used as a punching bag. On one occasion, Fan was kicked in the head around fifty times. Spices were rubbed into Fan's wounds, her legs and feet were burned with candle wax and hot plastic so that she was unable to walk, she was forced to consume human feces and urine, and she was forced to smile and say she enjoyed the beatings; if she refused, they subjected her to even harsher torture. This treatment eventually led to traumatic shock and ultimately death.[8][9]
Fan succumbed to her wounds between April 14 or April 15, 1999. Some sources claim that she died while her captors were out, while others say she died overnight.[
Fan's skull was identified on June 3, after a "photo overlapping method" at Lockhart Mortuary, and the skull was moved to Kowloon Public Mortuary after the trial.[14]
Trial
On December 7, 2000, after a trial which started on October 20,
Justice Peter Nguyen, who sentenced the trio to
Former TVB reporters Carmen Luk and Mimi Yeung attended the trial, with Luk describing the court scene as "crazy and scary".[17]
Chan lost his appeal on 13 August 2007, by the request of the court.
Aftermath
Fan's skull was the only exhibit in the case. After the trial, it was kept by the forensic pathologist in the Kowloon Public Mortuary until the appeal process of the prisoners was completed, and her birth family was notified in March 2004 that the skull would be returned and cremated on March 26.[citation needed]
The apartment building in which the crime took place was demolished in September 2012 and has been rebuilt as a hotel named Soravit in 2016.
A necklace that belonged to Fan was handed over to Fan's son after it was discovered in the refrigerator during the investigation. It is rumored that Fan's son and husband now reside in Singapore.[citation needed]
The publicity around the case resulted in the production and release of films that told the story. Both Human Pork Chop (烹屍之喪盡天良) and
Leung Shing-cho, who managed to reduce his sentence from life to eighteen years on appeal in March 2004,[20] was released in April 2014. Eight years later, Leung was arrested and sentenced to jail once again for twelve months in August 2022 for sexually assaulting a ten-year-old girl.[21]
See also
- Eight Immortals Restaurant murders
- List of kidnappings
- List of solved missing person cases
- Murder of Junko Furuta
- Murder of Abby Choi
Notes
- ^ The building involved is four stories high, with two units on each floor. The first to second floors are shops and the third to fourth floors are residential buildings. The right unit in the picture is Block A and the left unit is Penthouse B. The murder occurred on the third floor Block B. The building was demolished in 2012 and rebuilt into Soravit on Granville in 2016.
- ^ A fourth participant, 14-year old Ah Fong (阿芳, real name Lau Ming-fong) testified against the other three perpetrators in exchange for immunity.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Serena, Katie (30 April 2018). "The Story Of Hong Kong's Notorious "Hello Kitty Murder"". All That's Interesting. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ Eliza (29 September 2021). "Hello Kitty Murders".
- ^ crimetheoriespodcast_grsdx5 (26 July 2020). "Hello Kitty Murder – Crime Theories Podcast". Retrieved 18 August 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d Wan, Fletcher; Singh, Asha (29 May 1999). "Police raids Hello Kitty apartment". South China Morning Post. p. 4.
- ^ a b Maio, Wincy; Shao, Eric (13 December 2000). "Sentences confirmed by court". South China Morning Post. p. 3.
- ^ "Chan Man". Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
- ^ Lam, Tiffany (3 December 2011). "Haunted Hong Kong: Read if you dare | CNNGo.com". Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ "妙齡女郎慘遭殘酷碎尸 三名疑犯陸續落網". archive.ph. 6 December 2012. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Trio sentenced to life in jail for gruesome killing in H.K | Asian Economic News | Find Articles at BNET.com". 20 April 2008. Archived from the original on 20 April 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ Taylor, Alan; Eng, Peggy (16 June 1999). "Body parts from Hello Kitty murder recovered". South China Morning Post. p. 3.
- ^ Jackson, Ryan; Tsui, Lelia (16 February 2000). "Final suspect in gruesome murder found in China". South China Morning Post. p. 4.
- ^ Eng, Peggy (26 July 1999). "Interpol adds new suspects". South China Morning Post. p. 4.
- ^ a b de Luna, Regina; Holliday, Derek (21 October 2000). "Court filled with bad stench". South China Morning Post. p. 3.
- ^ a b Holliday, Derek (8 December 2000). "Chaos in the courtroom". South China Morning Post. p. 4.
- ^ a b "Life for 'Hello Kitty' Killers". ABC News. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ a b Kung, Robert (29 October 2000). "80s TVB reporters attend gruesome trial". South China Morning Post. p. 3.
- ^ "The Mind-Boggling Brutality Of The Hello Kitty Murder". Ranker. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
- ^ "Human Pork Chop (2001) and the Hello Kitty Murder". Cinematic Shocks. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Hello Kitty killer's sentence cut to 18 years". 10 March 2004.
- ^ "Ex-convict of Hello Kitty murder case jailed a year for indecent assault on girl". The Standard (Hong Kong).
External links
- Trio sentenced to life in jail for gruesome killing in H.K – Asian Economic News, 11 December 2000
- Human Pork Chop at IMDb
- There is a Secret in my Soup at IMDb