'Death-wish' husband told me to use biggest hammer, says wife

A retired bus mechanic not only asked his wife to kill him but to use a larger hammer so fewer blows would be needed, a jury heard yesterday.

Li So-man, 41, denies murdering Yee Kwok-chui, 61, at their Shamshuipo home on August 31 last year.

But she gave police two versions of events that led to Yee's death, prosecutor Edward Laskey told the Court of First Instance.

Police were alerted by Yee's niece after she received a call from Li saying: 'Your uncle is not going to make it this time.' Li said she had no choice as her husband threatened to kill her and their two children and commit suicide the next day. She was so scared she did what he asked.

In a videotaped interview after her arrest on September 1, Li said Yee suggested she use the bigger of two hammers or 'it would take more blows and he would suffer longer'.

But in a second videotaped interview, she changed her story, saying Yee had become angry with their son, Yee Chi-ho, then 17, after he came home late for dinner on the night of his death.