bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Niall Fraser

FIVE years ago, American businessman Bill Boyd returned to his Happy Valley flat and found his wife, Ann, sitting on the sofa drenched in blood, a video-taped soap opera playing on the television.

 The 41-year-old teacher at the Hong Kong International School was dressed only in her underwear. She had been stabbed and slashed more than 20 times.

 An autopsy revealed she struggled to fight off her killer.

 The battle to find that killer petered out, but Boyd's elderly parents, Willard and Ovena Taylor, want the investigation into her murder reopened.

 Nothing was stolen from the murder scene and there was no sign of forced entry into the seventh-floor flat in Block B at Rose Court, Wong Nei Chung Road.

 Detectives believe whoever killed Boyd either knew her, had a key, or forced her back to the flat against her will.

 The killer was calculating in carrying out the crime and almost certainly suffered injuries in the struggle.

 Bloodstains were found in the main bedroom and bathroom, where the murder weapon, a dagger, was found, and where the killer - or killers - washed and changed their clothes on December 7, 1992.

 In 1994, frustrated detectives put their investigation on the back burner, awaiting new evidence. They say none strong enough has surfaced.

 But Mr Taylor , 81, and his wife , 71, believe there are too many unanswered questions and have employed former United States Secret Service investigator Fredrick Wolff to push their case.

 Retired Georgia farmers, the couple last saw their daughter alive the August before she was killed. 'She seemed a little depressed but we put it down to her being far away from home. We heard of her murder when Bill called to tell us. We just want to know who killed our daughter,' Mrs Taylor said.

 Police know the murder weapon was bought by one or more Asian men - possibly Thais or Filipinos - in Causeway Bay the day before the killing. There the trail dries up.

 Mr Boyd, 51, says the pain of his loss remains. A year-and-a-half after his wife's murder, he married Rebecca Lai and the couple run a clothing business in the SAR.

 He said: 'Nothing can bring Ann back and that is the only thing that would matter. Ann was a wonderful person, she blessed a lot of people with her life and I am one of them.

 'I have asked myself a 1,000 questions. Why? And, less importantly, how? I have come up with no answers, only theories. If I could think of something concrete I would go straight to the police.'  The detective who investigated the case, Mike Horner, now an Assistant Commissioner of Police, said: 'It was always a disappointment to me that we never finally resolved it but I guess these things do happen.' 



Parents want murder case reopened