Lung Mei villagers recall chainsaw sounds at Abby Choi murder hearing

The hearing on Abby Choi's murder case continues at the High Court, with the prosecution summoning Lung Mei Tsuen villagers to provide their testimony.

The latter said they heard sounds of crashes and chainsaws in the unit below them on the day of Choi's death, and recalled the smell of green radish and carrot soup.

The three defendants, consisting of Choi's ex-husband Alex Kwong, his father Kwong Kau and brother Anthony Kwong, were charged with murder and preventing the lawful burial of a body.

This as real estate agent Wong Tak-sing continued to testify today, confirming transaction documents pertaining to the Kadoorie Hill residence contained Kwong Kau's signature.

The unit was sold for 60.6 million dollars.

The prosecution then called upon another witness, Lung Mei Tsuen resident Cho Chin-to, who lived in the unit one floor above the scene of the crime, to provide his testimony.

He said a new tenant moved into the unit below him in February 2023, adding the residence's windows were blocked with black material that prevented people from looking in.

The prosecution then asked what happened on the day of Choi's death on February 21, 2023.

Cho said he looked outside the window of his home and saw two private cars parked next to the residence, but he could not clearly see who got out of the vehicles.

He then heard sounds of heavy objects being lifted which lasted several minutes.

Moments later, he heard what sounded like construction noise coming from below, including banging and chainsaw sounds, that lasted for half an hour.

Cho noted he was calling his friend at the time, but the latter hung up after the sound got too loud.

He stressed he could not hear any cries for help.

Cho said he began to smell green radish and carrot soup at around 7pm.

The prosecution then asked him whether the smell made him think of food.

Cho said yes, adding he ordered delivery soon afterwards.

He noted the smell persisted until 8:30pm when he headed downstairs to grab his delivery.

Cho was subsequently questioned by Kwong Kau's representative Oliver Davies, who said Cho's previous witness statement indicated he could not describe the smell downstairs.

Davies suspected Cho described the smell as green radish and carrot soup after reading relevant reports about the case, to which Cho disagreed.

When asked by Alex Kwong's representative Andrew Raffell whether Lung Mei Tsuen is a heavily populated residential area, Cho said yes.

Raffell then asked Cho whether he had ever seen Alex Kwong, with the latter saying no.

The prosecution subsequently summoned a watch shop staff who noted Alex Kwong earlier bought a luxury watch and kept it in the store.

Kwong later called the store in hopes of collecting the watch on the day of Choi's death.