Abby Choi's ex-husband & family brought meat mincer & electric saw before murder, appeared to discuss plans at Starbucks: Prosecutor

The ongoing court trial for Abby Choi saw prosecutors trying to establish intent in the gruesome murder of the Hong Kong socialite.

According to CNN, the lead prosecutor, Charlotte Draycott, said the three people on trial, Choi's ex-husband, Alex Kwong, his father, Kwong Kau, and brother, Anthony Kwong, had bought items like a meat mincer and an electric saw days before the murder.

They have all pleaded not guilty to murder.

Hong Kong media noted that the brother and father looked notably thinner during the trial than in their photos before it.

Footage of the two brothers at a Starbucks before the murder, with Anthony making a "series of gestures" was also brought up by the prosecutor, who suggested this may have been about the attack.

The prosecutor said Choi's murder took place in a car that Alex borrowed.

According to the series of events she put forth, Anthony picked Choi up in the car. Alex got on the vehicle at another location.

The prosecutor said Anthony struck Choi repeatedly in the head inside the car, with a hammer that he bought.

According to the prosecutor, the vehicle was driven to a house in a rural part of Hong Kong; the house was allegedly rented by Kwong Kau.

Later that day, a neighbour heard the sound of an electric saw being used.

That was why the prosecutor claimed it was a "cogitated plan" as each person "played their part", CNN reported Draycott saying.

The timing of the murder was also raised by prosecutors. According to HK01, Choi was on the phone with her mother-in-law while she was in the car.

They were talking about clothes she had bought recently. The last voice message was sent at 2.44am. This is around the time the prosecutors believe Choi was attacked.

The trial is expected to last about eight weeks according to CNN.

First day

The first day of trial saw the prosecutors characterising the murder as the result of a financial dispute.

They argued that Choi's former father-in-law enlisted his two sons, including her ex-husband, to help him kill her after he became "extremely resentful and angry" over her insistence on selling a HK$72 million (S$11.7 million) flat where he had been living, The South China Morning Post reported.

Days after Choi was reported missing in February 2023, the police found some body parts believed to be hers in the refrigerator of a house that her ex-husband's family was renting.

Police later found her head in pots filled with soup and minced meat.

They have all pleaded not guilty to murder.