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SCMP Reporter

A MOTOR mechanic was found guilty yesterday of murdering his wife, who died in a fire as she helped him repair his car.

  Chan Sai-kit showed no emotion as Mr Justice Wong passed the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, ending a High Court trial that had lasted almost five weeks.

  But Chan's lawyer, Gary Plowman QC, said they would appeal and seek an early hearing date.

  Chan, 44, had pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, Gloria Mak Wai-ngor, 40, who burned to death on October 23, 1989, in Tuen Mun.

  Chan maintained that the explosion and ensuing intense fire had started accidentally, but the prosecution alleged he intended to kill his wife in circumstances which looked like an accident.

  The jury heard that Chan had taken out a large insurance policy on Mak seven months before the fire.

 The couple had been married for 10 years and had been living in Canada, but returned to Hong Kong seven months before the fire.

  Chan claimed that on the night of the fire he asked Mak to help him by switching on the ignition as he checked various hoses on the car, which was in a chicken shed.

  He was at a workbench three metres away when the car burst into flames.

  Mak's charred body was found behind the car in the shed.

  At the time, a forensic scientist said Chan's statement of what happened was entirely consistent with the evidence at the scene. Chan, who had been on police bail, was released and allowed to return to Canada.

  He returned in July last year for the inquest, but was arrested at the airport. He has been in custody since.

  Defence expert pathologist Dr Martin Sage gave evidence that the most likely scenario was that Mak was sitting in the front seat, but after the fire she held her breath and dashed out. She was able to run to where her body was found before being burned.

  The jury also heard that the police officer in charge of the case did not think there was enough evidence to prosecute Chan for murder, which was why he released him from bail in 1989.

  When police received taped phone calls in which Mak had accused her husband of wanting to murder her, he did not change his opinion.

  Earlier, in his summing up to the jury, Mr Justice Wong said Chan had not given evidence, but they did have several statements from him.

  He said Chan had given a detailed account of what happened on the night of the death just one day later. He asked the jury to consider whether it may have been prepared beforehand.

  He said Chan had rescued valuables before connecting up a hose in the kitchen. The judge asked if it was ordinary for a man whose wife was being burned to death to place valuables above the safety of his wife.

  Evidence was given that the repairs were dangerous and would have been obviously so to a trained motor mechanic like Chan.

   He reminded them that the expert who examined the scene, when asked three years later, said there was no evidence to suggest it was started deliberately, but it could have been set up by someone so as to appear to be an accident.

  Based on this and the taped conversations, Chan was charged with murder.



Man guilty over death of wife in fire