Alex Kwong, his father Kwong Kau and his brother Anthony Kwong stood trial Monday for the 2023 murder of Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi.
The three men appeared calm behind masks as proceedings opened in a courtroom packed with observers, while dozens more gathered outside to watch a live broadcast of a case that has gripped the Asian financial hub. Kwong Kau wore a white T-shirt; his sons were in suits. All three face life imprisonment if convicted of murder, plus additional charges of preventing the lawful burial of a body.
Choi, 28, had built a following sharing her glamorous life of photo shoots and fashion shows on Instagram. Days before her death, she posted about attending a Dior show at Paris Fashion Week. She had two children with Alex Kwong, whom she later divorced, and remarried to have two younger children with her second husband.
Police said in 2023 that they found parts of Choi’s dismembered body inside a unit at a village house in Tai Po, a suburban district in Hong Kong. The discovery shocked a city where violent crime is extremely rare. Officers later conducted a search of a landfill for additional evidence.
The prosecution is expected to open its case at a later date. The jury trial is anticipated to last 45 days.
Choi’s former mother-in-law, identified in earlier coverage as the mother of Alex Kwong, was previously convicted of obstructing the investigation into the killing. She was found guilty of interfering with the probe, though she was not charged with murder alongside the three male defendants.
The killing of Choi transfixed Hong Kong society and drew intense media attention across Asia, with the contrast between her polished public persona and the gruesome nature of her death fueling widespread fascination. The case has become one of the territory’s most notorious criminal trials in recent years.