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The big question: why did he kill?

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The verdicts delivered yesterday condemned constable Tsui Po-ko as a killer. Criminologists said he was a serial murderer who killed to gain a sense of excitement and power. But did the two-month inquest answer the big question: why did he kill?

Tsui, was found to be responsible for killing Leung Shing-yan after snatching his police revolver in March 2001, then launching another shooting attack in which he killed constable Tsang Kwok-hang and wounded Sin Ka-keung in a Tsim Sha Tsui underpass last year.

He was also blamed for the Tsuen Wan Hang Seng Bank robbery in December 2001, mercilessly killing a security guard, Zafar Iqbal Khan.

Police investigations revealed that he knew none of the men. The five-member jury was unanimously convinced that Tsui carried out all the crimes.

During the hearing, several experts - including an FBI official, criminologist, psychiatrist and psychologist - attempted to analyse Tsui's character and psychological state in the hope of understanding his motive.

FBI official James McNamara said Tsui had displayed seven out of nine notable symptoms for so-called schizotypal personality disorder. The disorder causes a pervasive pattern of social and interpersonal deficits marked by acute discomfort with close relationships, perceptual or cognitive distortions and eccentric behaviour.

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