Fragrance masked the true horror inside apartment at centre of HK double murder case

Even a veteran forensic scientist was surprised that a 500 sq/ft flat which had been used to store two corpses for two weeks smelled unusually fragrant.

"I expected it would have some rotten smell. But there was none when I first stepped inside," retired forensic officer Mak Chun-hung said after he completed his court testimony in the gruesome murder case.

Tse Chun-kei, 38, claimed during the trial that Henry Chau, 31, ordered him to buy a lot of air fresheners to spray his flat in Tai Kok Tsui which later turned into a slaughterhouse. Chau was yesterday found guilty of murdering his parents; Tse was cleared.

Mak said he had been advised that he was likely to see some chopped remains belonged to the missing couple, Chau Wing-ki, 65, and Siu Yuet-yee, 63, before he was called to the flat at Hoi Hing Building, Tai Kok Tsui, on March 15, 2013.

Despite being prepared for the worst, Mak admitted he was shocked to open a plastic box full of remains where one piece was obviously a human hand.

He said the floor of the flat had been cleaned, but an indication of what had unfolded was apparent when he saw some bloodstains on the living room wall.