The Misery Machine - The Case of Abby Choi

Episode Date: January 11, 2024

This week, Drewby and Yergy head to Hong Kong to discuss the case of Abby Choi. Abby was a socialite, influencer, and a fashion icon, who had just made her way into the world of modeling. Abby was described as a kind hearted soul who would would do anything for anyone in need, which included her ex-husband's extended family. Sometimes, her goodwill was taken advantage of. However, when Abby decided to take a stand for herself, tragedy struck.   Support Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Join Our Facebook Group: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Abby_Choi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tam_Jai_Noodle https://www.instagram.com/xxabbyc/?hl=en https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/behind-the-birkin-bags-and-luxury-coats-hong-kong-socialite-abby-choi-was-mother-s-pride https://www.dimsumdaily.hk/ex-mother-in-law-denied-bail-in-abby-choi-murder-case-dna-evidence-disproved/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_Mei,_Tai_Po_District https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Territories https://www.dimsumdaily.hk/ex-mother-in-law-denied-bail-in-abby-choi-murder-case-dna-evidence-disproved/ https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3211805/former-husband-slain-hong-kong-model-abby-choi-appears-court-7-cases-alleged-theft-over-last-decade https://www.midland.com.hk/en/estate/Kowloon-Kadoorie-Hill-Kadooria-E000016220 https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/abby-choi-hong-kong-model-killed-alex-kwong-kong-chi-b2294710.html https://www.instagram.com/xxabbyc/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br4xXiGQopg&t=458s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV39oCW6sxc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep1-R-4htAc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5cEusP1BFw https://nypost.com/2023/03/07/legs-skull-found-in-fridge-and-soup-pot-belong-to-abby-choi/ https://www.instagram.com/punhauyinn/

Hong Kong is a city and a special administrative region in China. Located on the mainland southern coast with a Chamchun River serving as a natural border, the city is a veritable melting pot with 7.4 million residents of various cultures and nationalities. Hong Kong is known for being a center of business, culture, and trade. Due to its food culture, vibrant nightlife, beautiful temples, and spell-binding natural beauty, Hong Kong attracts more than 65 million tourists each year. Hong Kong has the world's largest number of skyscrapers, with many towering as high as 490 feet.

It was once home to the infamous Kowloon-walled city, which was demolished over the course of 13 months, starting in March of 1993. Hong Kong is also well-known for its extremely low crime rate. The city boasts a safety index of 78.5%. serious crimes are rare and people generally feel comfortable walking alone at night. However, when major crimes do occur, they can be downright shocking, such as the case of Fanman Yee, who was dismembered and stuffed inside a large Hello Kitty stuffed mermaid doll,

or like the case we're about to share with you today. Abby Choi Tin Feng was born on July 15, 1994 in Hong Kong. Some sources state that she was the youngest of three daughters, while other states that that she was the youngest of four. In fact, much of the information about her early life seems to vary depending on where you look. Abby was born into a seemingly normal family. When she was young, her mother, Chung Yin Fa, and her biological father divorced. She was later remarried to a man named Soy Cho San.

This was the beginning of when Abby's life started to become less ordinary. Her mother and stepfather went on to make a fortune operating construction and mining businesses in mainland China. This afforded Abby and her sisters a life of luxury where they wanted for nothing. When she was just 18 years old, Abby married a man by the name of Alex Kwong Kong Chi. A couple had two children during their three-year marriage, which ultimately ended in divorce. But despite this, Abby remained close with her ex-husband and his family, in particular with Alex's brother, Anthony Kwong Kong-Kit.

During her marriage to Alex, Anthony struggled with unemployment. so Abby hired him as her personal chauffeur. When Anthony wanted to open up a street food stall selling pancakes, Abby gave him the money to do so. On his Instagram page, Abby and Anthony frequently posed for pictures together. Anthony made it clear that he considered Abby a sister. Now, Abby wasn't just generous with Anthony, but she was generous towards the entire Kwong family as well. After her divorce from Alex, she purchased a 37 million Hong Kong dollar apartment for his entire family. U.S. dollars, this amounts to just over 4.7 million.

The apartment was located in Cadori Hill, which is an upper class residential area in Hong Kong's Calhoun City District and was part of a luxury complex called Cordoria. This place was gorgeous with plenty of amenities like a pool, bamboo garden, spa, and even a play space for Abby's children to enjoy. Now, even though Abby purchased the apartment, she placed the property in her ex-father-in-law, Kwongkow's name. It has never been stated as to why she did this.

As taxes on properties in Hong Kong are astronomical, a theory I've seen is that she did this to reduce her tax burden as this was not her first property, and she would be taxed on every subsequent property that she owned. But others have suggested something more nefarious. And based on the details later in this case, you can let me know what you think it probably was. Either way, Quang Kow was merely a trustee of the property, and if she needed to, Abby would have been able to dispute her ownership. After her divorce from Alex, Abby didn't give up on finding love and eventually moved on with a man named Chris Tam Fong Chung.

Much like Abby's own family, Chris's parents were pretty well off. His father, Tom Chuck Kwan, made his fortune as one of the founders of Tom Jai Noodle, a fast casual restaurant chain based in Hong Kong specializing in noodles. Abby and Chris had two children of their own, and although they were never legally married, they held a wedding ceremony in 2016. The couple lived in a multi-million dollar home with their two, sometimes four children. It took regular trips to Disneyland and spent time on their luxury yacht. At the time of our story, Abby was 28 years old and becoming successful in her own right. Her net worth was in the ballpark of 300 million Hong Kong dollars. She was living a life that most of us could only dream of,

and according to her social media, she embraced every moment of it. In 2012, at the age of 20, she started her career as a social media influencer on Instagram. She made her first post on July 11th. It was a picture of a Lady Dior crocodile bag, which retails her. for over 8,000 USD as of the date of this recording. Abby shared photographs of her travels to the world's most exotic locations, posing on a balcony against the Paris skyline, enjoying lavish designer brands,

and having lunch with friends in hip art deco restaurants. She had nearly 200,000 followers that interacted with her posts. Abby regularly attended Paris Fashion Week and was a model herself. She was praised as a fashion icon who could mix and match pieces in a way that made her a trendsetter. She had been featured in publications such as Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Bogue, and most recently, La Fisiel Monaco. Abby's newfound fame as a model and social media influencer opened the doors to luxury events and parties where she would frequently rub shoulders with famous celebrities. Abby didn't just have outer beauty, but inner beauty as well. She engaged in philanthropy by co-founding the Palmas Charitable Organization, which is a group dedicated to helping stray animals.

In fact, some reports have indicated that Abby saved a kitty that got hit by a car. On February 15, 2023, Abby made her final post to Instagram. Posing on the cover of Lafisiel Monaco, Abby posed in a pink gown by Sohir El Gabzi, and jewelry by Anna Hu. She proudly wrote the following caption. From Hong Kong to the cover of Lafisiel Monaco, my journey as a style icon continues. grateful for this recognition and the continued support along the way. Little did Abby know, her journey through the world of fashion and Hote Couture would soon be coming to an end. And Danger was waiting for her back in Hong Kong.

At this point in our story, the Kwong family had been living in Kedoria completely rent-free for six years. You know anything about Hong Kong, then you know that real estate and apartment rentals in general are extremely expensive. Abby was also starting to feel taken advantage of by her former in-laws, feeling it unfair to be on the hook to take care of them, understandably. It's been speculated that early on, Abby might have been bullied into purchasing the apartment for the Kwong family. Keep in mind, Alex and Abby married when she was only 18 years old and divorced three years later. Perhaps she was young and naive, or perhaps it was due to something more abusive from Alex's family. But unbeknownst to Abby, her forefeworthy, her four. former in-laws were running out of money very quickly.

But wait, let's make this part clear. The Kwong family hadn't been paying a rent or a mortgage for six whole years. You might ask yourself, where did the money go? Now, to answer that, we'll need to travel back in time to the year 2005. 65-year-old Kwong Kao was a disgraced former police sergeant for the Hong Kong police force. despite being respected and good at his job, that all changed when a woman accused him of assault. Now, this woman had actually come to the station to report a completely different assault, only to be re-victimized but the person who was supposed to help her.

When Kwongkow resigned rather than fight the accusations made against him, the Hong Kong police force turned a blind eye, essentially making the whole situation go away. He was never held accountable for his actions in any way, and it's unknown if he ever got a new job after that. Due to the fact that money was now an issue, my guess is no. But the former police sergeant wasn't the only member of the Kwong family that was engaging in sketchy behavior. In the years following their divorce, Alex, who is now 28 years old, found himself in the middle of an underground gold investment scam. After winning the trust of a number of wealthy businessmen, they each invested $5 million Hong Kong dollars, not knowing that they would never see that money again.

Rather than invest these funds, Alex simply took the money and ran. But this wasn't even his first foray into a life of crime. Alex had been ripping people off for a while. According to the South China Morning Post, he'd stolen a fortune in jewelry and precious medals, including 39 necklaces, 32 bracelets, 13 golden bars, 102 gold casting grains, six pendants, and 10 tails of gold. The incidents occurred at locations such as Monkak, Yao Me Tai, and the Harbor Plaza Metropolis Hotel in Hung Hum. 31-year-old Anthony was given every opportunity in the world by his former sister-in-law was

now drowning in debt. It was so bad that he was sued by a local bank. He was so bad that he was sued by a local bank in 2019. Rather than live a modest and respectable life with his earnings, which were very generous, Anthony blew his money on a lavish lifestyle on designer goods and even a Rolls Royce. Even Abby's goodwill wasn't enough to stop the bleeding that Anthony's reckless spending had caused. To top it all off, Alex and Anthony's mother, 63-year-old Jenny Lee Sui Hume, had filed for bankruptcy just three years prior. So as Abby's wealth grew and she began to become known on a global scale, the Kwong family began to resent her. As the saying goes, we hate it when our friends become successful. Well, apparently to the Kwong's, it's even more egregious when it's your former in-law. Either way,

Abby was fed up with being everyone's meal ticket and wanted the Kedoria apartment back. And this went over horribly with the Kwong family. They felt absolutely entitled to Abby's money, and practically expected her to take care of them for the rest of their lives. Their entitlement took a very, very dark turn. In fact, Abby's former father-in-law, Kwongkow, threatened to kill her. Despite all of this, it was reported that Abby still felt for them. Even as she was seeking legal counsel against her former in-laws, she began looking for a new home for them.

She was even willing to pay for it. It is hard to imagine anyone that I know with this capacity for generosity, even in the face of receiving death threats. Sadly, Abby's heart of gold would soon be her undoing. Before she could proceed with the eviction of the Kwong family, on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, Abby seemingly vanished out of thin air. She was supposed to pick her daughter up from school, but she never made it there. All efforts to contact Abby proved to be unsuccessful. As a social media influencer who would have been glued to her phone at all times,

it would have been highly unusual for Abby to miss a call or not answer a text message. All activity across her social media accounts came to a grinding halt. What was even more alarming was the fact that Abby did not pick her daughter up from school. Those that knew Abby, that nothing would have stood in the way of her picking up her daughter, she was never late in doing so. Approximately two hours after she failed to pick her daughter up from school, Abby was officially reported missing, an investigation into her disappearance was launched.

Over 150 officers with the Hong Kong police force were tasked with finding the mother of four. It was not long before officers had their first clue. The following information is based on surveillance camera footage from her Kedori Hill apartment building. At 2.15, around the time she would have left to pick her daughter, her up from Harrow International School. Abby can be seen dressed in white, toting a purple handbag exiting the complex. Next, she was seen entering a white vehicle that was already known to those who knew her. It was the car that Anthony used to chauffeur her around the city. This was part of their normal routine. But sadly, questioning her former brother-in-law and the rest of the

Kuang family didn't turn up any leads. They claimed they hadn't seen Abby since the day prior. But as we will quickly learn, this was a complete an utter lie. None of their stories matched up. Acting on a hunch, the police decided to investigate the GPS records for the white car in question. What they found next was shocking. The car had been driven approximately 30 miles north to Long May, a rural village in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong. This would have taken 35 to 40 minutes and Anthony didn't have any business there. Rightfully concerned, officers descended upon the village conducting door-to-door searches, reviewing surveillance footage,

and looking for any clue as to where the 28-year-old socialite could be. 72 hours after Abby was reported missing, they had a lead. They began canvassing the ground floor of a three-story apartment building. However, even the most seasoned of officers weren't prepared for what they were going to discover next. The inside of the unit was devoid of any furniture, and the windows, floors, and walls were covered in plastic tarps. There were some items left behind in the kitchen. It contained a stove, a small refrigerator, a meat cleaver, an electric saw, and other

implements that could be used for meat cutting and tenderizing, or in this case, dismembering a human body. There were even face shields in raincoats. Now, if you've ever seen an episode of Dexter, you might know where this is going. Inside of the refrigerator, police officers discovered two disembodied human legs. In the freezer, they found human feet. Atop the stove, two soup pots were boiling away. Inside of these pots, police found green radishes, carrots, and meat believed to be human flesh,

swimming in a liquid topped with a thick layer of fat. In addition, they found a human skull in several bones that appeared to be human ribs. It is unclear if they were planning on eating this soup or planning on disposing of it in some way. But it's very troubling to read that Abby's remains were prepared in such a way. DNA tests in a review of dental records later confirmed that they had found Abby Choi, but not all of her. After days of investigation, sources said police have finally found the head of model Abby Choi, whose corpse was dismembered with some parts of her body still missing. According to understanding, forensic examples taken from one of the soup pots

from the village house in Lomai Chun contained remains of her skull in tissue form. The soup pot was first discovered in the same village house where some other body parts were also found earlier. The house has remained sealed off as of today. Officers from the drainage services departs, arrived at the scene this afternoon to inspect the house and the surrounding areas. They checked if the sewage system was blocked by any body parts and took samples to check for human tissue, according to sources. Earlier, police continued their search effort at Chengkino Chinese permanent cemetery for the second consecutive day.

The site is believed to be one of the disposal sites for the 28-year-olds of the 28-year-olds of the other body parts after her former husband Alex Kwong, who is the key suspect in the case, was previously seen there. Officers deployed drones and abselled down the hillside to inspect suspicious spots, including rubbish bags. Divers had calmed through three pools inside the cemetery yesterday, but have not discovered anything so far. As it turns out, after an in-depth analysis a video taken from surveillance cameras and dash cameras, several members of the Kwong family were caught on film acting suspiciously in the rural village. They had no business being there.

Allegedly they felt that area of town was beneath them. So what exactly were they up to? Well, unbeknownst to Abby, her ex-father-in-law had planned to make good on his threat to kill her and had rented out the first floor apartment in Lung Mai for 10,000 Hong Kong dollars just weeks before. Knowing that Anthony would be picking up Abby anyway, they used this part of her routine to abduct her in plain sight. On the way to the village, they were met by Alex at Lion Rock Tunnel, which is a twin-board toll tunnel that connects Kowloon Peninsula to the new territories.

From there, the three-headed north where they met up with Kwonkow at this apartment, the apartment that was rented for the sole purpose of killing, dismembering, and disposing of Abby. there was an additional piece of information that was shared with us now please keep in mind we're not familiar with how the estate or legal system works in hong kong so please take this with a grain of salt it was mentioned that since abby was not married to her partner chris if she were to pass away her estate would be inherited by her surviving children since her children are minors their inheritance would be controlled by their legal guardians in this case since abby had two children with alex alex's family would essentially be getting half of Abby's money. The levels of greed and resentment from those who wish to see Abby murdered is vile beyond the sense of the word. On February 25, 2023, Anthony, Kwongkow and Jenny were arrested. Alex, however, was nowhere to be found. As he was now

Hong Kong's most wanted, the police offered a 200 million Hong Kong dollar reward for his capture. Obviously, this was big news in the city. Remember when we told you that Hong Kong is safe when violent crime happens as extreme, while Abby's death and the ensuing manhunt for her ex-husband was the talk of the town. Everybody was out looking for him. Even the special duties unit, which is an elite tactical unit of the Hong Kong police force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, were called in. Normally, they're only called in for things such as hostage rescues and counter-terrorism. But thankfully, he was apprehended the following day at the Tung Chung Development Pier while attempting to flee the country aboard a yacht. Some reports say it was a speedboat. At the time of his arrest,

he was carrying 500,000 Hong Kong dollars and 4 million Hong Kong dollars worth of luxury watches and jewelry. This converts to roughly 576,000 USD. In my opinion, it would be a safe assumption that none of these items actually belonged to Alex, given his history. In addition, 41-year-old Henry Lam Shun, a yacht company employee and Alex's friend, as well as 29-year-old Irene Panhaw Yin, an unemployed food blogger, were arrested in connection with Alex's failed escape attempt. Allegedly, Alex had bribed Henry with $300,000 Hong Kong dollars to let him escape the country as a stowaway. The pair were charged with conspiring to obstruct the arrest in prosecution of Alex Kwong and were later released on a $50,000 Hong Kong. or bail. Alex Anthony and their father, Kwonkow, were formerly charged with homicide in relation to

Abby's death in subsequent dismemberment. If convicted, they face life in prison because Hong Kong doesn't have the death penalty. Their mother, Jenny, was charged with perverting the course of justice for destroying evidence. Now, to top this all off, Kwon Kau apparently had a mistress because, of course he did. This guy sucks. Eng-Chi Wang, a masseuse known in the media. by the pseudonym Young Young, was later arrested on suspicion of aiding Alex and his escape attempt and hiding him out in her condo.

Now, as this case is still developing, we'll keep an eye out for updates regarding the trial as they become available. As mentioned prior, only a portion of Abby's remains had been recovered from the Lung May apartments. Police searched high and low for the rest of her body, scouring landfills with drones, cadaver dogs, divers, and a team of officers. As at the date of this recording in November of 2023, the rest of Abby's remains have never been recovered, and it's likely that they never will be. She was laid to rest without her torso, her arms, or her hands.

Due to privacy laws in China and the fact that the Kwong family isn't about to spill the beans on how she died, we may never know Abby's actual cause of death. However, it's been suggested that she might have died from blunt force. trauma to the back of the head as her skull had been fractured. In the wake of Abby's tragic and senseless death, her partner and father of her two youngest children, Chris Tam, vowed to adopt and care for her two older children fathered by Alex. Abby's mother, Chung Yin Fa, filed an injunction against Kwong Kao to halt the sale of the Kedori Hill luxury apartment. Outside of the apartment where Abby was discovered, residents held a Taoist ceremony where they burned incense and held rituals to

pacify Abbe's soul and bring comfort to her loved ones. and the people can be honest. Now, some people really somely there's a little question. I'm this social fulnerchew and this Hongesthury, they're

also a lot of to help us. The Instagram account where Abby first started her journey as an influencer now serves as a memorial where thousands of strangers affected by her story

have gone to pay their respects. On June 18th, 2023, hundreds of mourners attended Abby's funeral service. In a departure from traditional Chinese funerals where black and white are normally used for mourning, Memorial Hall for the Service, was extensively decorated in pink, said to be Abby's favorite color. I think that we can all agree that this case is beyond tragic.

A beautiful young woman who gave so generously to those who didn't even deserve her kindness, lost her life in most heinous of fashions. Abby had her whole life ahead of her, life that she worked so hard building for, not only for herself but others as well. It was a life that most of us, myself included, will never achieve, much less comprehend. But it was destroyed, all in the name of greed, jealousy, despite. Her four children don't have their mother, and they'll have to grow up knowing what their father, uncle, and grandparents did to her. They did not just destroy Abby's life.

They destroyed the lives of all of those who loved her.