Hello Kitty murder case
The Hello Kitty Murder in Hong Kong refers to the case of a night club hostess who was kidnapped and tortured in an apartment in Tsim Sha Tsui in 1999. She eventually died over a month later, either by drug overdose or at the hands of the abductors. She was decapitated and her head was crammed into a Hello Kitty doll, hence the name of the case.[1]
Case
A 23-year-old night club hostess by the name of Fan Man-yee (樊敏儀) was kidnapped by three men: 34-year-old Chan Man-lok (陳文樂), 27-year-old Leung Shing-cho (梁勝祖) and 21-year-old Leung Wai-lun (梁偉倫). They took her to an apartment at No. 31 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui,[2] where they imprisoned her. They beat and tortured her daily over a debt dispute of HK$20,000 (US$2,560).[1][3] The apartment building in which the crime took place was demolished in September 2012.
After a month of imprisonment and torture, she was killed, dismembered, and her skull was stuffed into a giant Hello Kitty mermaid doll. They discarded most of the other body parts. Only the woman's skull, one tooth, and some internal organs were recovered.[3]
The murder quickly became a sensational story in the media.
Court handling
The three men were convicted of manslaughter because the remains could not identify exactly how she died. They remain incarcerated.[when?]
Justice Peter Nguyen, who sentenced the trio to life in prison, said, "Never in Hong Kong in recent years has a court heard of such cruelty, depravity, callousness, brutality, violence and viciousness." The trio were convicted of manslaughter and unlawful imprisonment by a jury of the Court of First Instance after a six-week trial. They revealed it to be one of the most gruesome cases in the territory.[3]
Psychiatric reports described the three, members of a secret triad gang society, as “remorseless and pitiful.” The jury accepted that the men did not kill 23-year-old Fan Man-yee with intent, which would have meant a mandatory life sentence, but it was determined she died as a result of their abuse. There will be no review for parole for 20 years.[4]
In popular culture
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 There Is a Secret in My Soup were released in 2001.
References
- ^ a b People.com.cn. "People.com.cn." 妙齡女郎慘遭殘酷碎尸 三名疑犯陸續落網. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ Tiffany Lam, "Haunted Hong Kong: Read if you dare", CNN GO, 25 October, 2011
- ^ a b c Asian Economic News. "Asian Economic News, 11 December 2000 ." Trio sentenced to life in jail for gruesome killing in H.K. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=81992&page=1
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