Jurors view photos of dismembered victims in parent-killing case

A defence lawyer in the murder trial involving a dismembered elderly couple requested that jurors view pictures of the couple's remains so they could feel the horror of the crime scene, a court heard yesterday.

Barrister Charlotte Draycott SC, representing defendant Tse Chun-kei, 36, described the images as "profoundly shocking".

The photos showed human hands and feet, forensic officer Mak Chun-hung testified in the Court of First Instance.

Tse has denied any participation in the killings of co-defendant Henry Chau's parents - Chau Wing-ki, 65, and Siu Yuet-yee, 62 - in Tse's flat in Tai Kok Tsui on March 1 last year.

Deputy Judge Mr Justice Michael Stuart-Moore said "it was a difficult situation", but allowed the pictures to be shown to the jury of three men and three women, who each took a brief glance. Their faces were impassive as they passed the pictures on.

At yesterday's hearing, Mak narrated his findings at the alleged crime scene on March 15 last year. He found three black rubbish bags in one of the rooms and then, in the next room, two refrigerators sealed with tape. The refrigerators contained a male head and a female head.

Also inside the refrigerators were lunch boxes and plastic bags containing body parts, including a bag with a penis.

Mak said he detected yellow oily substances inside two microwave ovens. Draycott asked if that indicated the ovens had been used to process human remains. Mak said: "It's possible."

A police officer who searched the flat found four rice cookers, two metal pots, nine packs of salt, 615 lunch boxes, eight bags of sand, seven empty bleach bottles, towels, goggles and gloves.

Medical pathologist Dr Foo Ka-chun said the couple both had stab wounds to the chest that might have been fatal. The man appeared to have suffered a fatal slash to the neck. Foo said the findings were not conclusive as the bodies were so damaged.

Foo said deep cuts were found on the man's left hand and fingers, indicating he was conscious and could have put up a struggle. He believed the couple died within minutes after the attack.

Police sergeant Chan Kam-hung said that when Chau was arrested on March 15 last year, he said under caution: "Yes, Tse Chun-kei and I killed the two of them." Chau, 30, and Tse deny two joint charges of murder.

The trial continues.