Hong Kong man, 75, arrested after landlord bludgeoned to death with hammer
Police believe suspect and victim had quarrelled over visitors to flat
Police have detained a 75-year-old man in connection with the murder of his landlord, who was found bludgeoned to death in a Yuen Long village house.
The suspect was arrested on Sunday evening near the three-storey building in Tin Sam Tsuen, where the decomposing body of the 80-year-old victim was found with multiple head injuries inside a locked room on the ground floor.
A police source said the deceased man’s face was so badly smashed that investigators could not confirm his identity immediately.
The landlord owned the ground-floor flat, which had been partitioned into three rooms. He had lived in one of the rooms and rented the others to two tenants, including the suspect.
Investigators believe the suspect had been on bad terms with the landlord due to an issue over the latter’s visitors.
Acting senior superintendent Li Kwai-wah of the New Territories North regional headquarters said the pair had had a dispute followed by a physical clash inside the flat at about 1pm on April 16, when the suspect attacked the victim with a hammer.
The suspect, who was seen near the crime scene and had been assisting with the police investigation before his eventual arrest, earlier told the press that he was just a friend, not a tenant, and knew nothing about the case.
“His information did not match what he provided at the beginning. Our further investigation showed that he was involved in the case,” Li said.
The landlord was an indigenous villager from nearby Ha Tsuen, and he sometimes stayed overnight in the room.
The handcuffed and masked suspect was escorted back to the crime scene on Sunday night as part of the investigation. Li said police would launch for search for the hammer on Monday.
The New Territories North regional crime unit is investigating.
