Hong Kong campsite operator who murdered ‘alien’ girlfriend jailed for life

A Hong Kong campsite operator has been convicted of murdering his live-in girlfriend and sentenced to life imprisonment after telling police he believed she was an alien, with the judge describing the killing as a “vicious, brutal and savage attack and murder”. A High Court jury of four men and three women on Wednesday unanimously found Tang Lung-fai, 56, guilty of causing the death of Fok Sin-yee, 38, who was also known as Maggie, on or about April 14, 2022. Madam Justice Susana D’Almada Remedios said the jury’s verdict was a rejection of Tang’s defence that he did not intend to kill Fok. “It is frankly inconceivable given the severity of injuries that you did not intend to kill or cause her serious harm,” the judge said. Police interview records presented in court showed Tang claimed he had argued with Fok because he believed she was an alien, and he told her to crawl inside a hole in the porch outside the house to “reincarnate as soon as possible”. Tang admitted causing Fok’s death but denied intending to kill her or cause grievous bodily harm during the quarrel. Remedios said Tang’s actions could only be described as a “vicious, brutal and savage attack and murder”, noting that defensive injuries on Fok’s arms indicated she had tried to fend him off. “You were merciless. You continued extreme violence, you overpowered her causing these injuries, resulting in her death,” the judge said. The court heard that at least 66 external injuries were found on Fok’s body, with many overlapping to the point that the pathologist could not identify them separately. These injuries, mostly bruises and abrasions, included a laceration to her ear, 19 fractures across 14 of Fok’s ribs and fractures to her shoulder blades. “The pain, at least from the external injuries, would have been immense before she quickly died when her ribs were broken and affected her lungs and breathing,” Remedios said. Tang told police he quarrelled with Fok on the evening of April 13, 2022, because he thought she was an alien, saying she had first raised the topic, noting they had no baby despite four to five years together. The prosecution had revealed earlier in the trial that the couple met in a bar around 2012 and began living together at a single-storey house in Mui Tsz Lam three years later. Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Raymond Cheng Hoi-chung had told the court that the argument in the evening had escalated into a fight the next morning, during which Tang severely injured Fok. Tang made three emergency calls between 6.13am and 6.30am on April 14, saying he had killed his girlfriend and urging police to come to the scene. Fok’s naked body, covered by a damp red jacket, was found face down near the house’s main entrance. Tests showed her blood contained dangerous drugs including ketamine and cocaine, while Tang’s urine tested negative for cocaine and cannabis. Tang told police that he scuffled with Fok, gripping and choking her neck while grabbing her hands. He claimed Fok eventually crawled into the hole of her own accord and died after inhaling an unidentified gas. He also alleged that after Fok was injured, her blood flowed upwards against gravity, as if “the person had no blood”. Prosecutors cited expert evidence that Tang was unlikely to have been significantly affected by drugs at the time of the killing. The court also dealt with a separate drug possession charge arising from Tang’s arrest on April 14, 2022. He had earlier pleaded guilty to the offence. Police had found cannabis, cocaine and ketamine at his Mui Tsz Lam home. Prosecutors told the court that Tang had four previous convictions, including two related to drug possession. The first drug-related conviction was in 2004, when Tang was fined. Upon his second conviction in 2015, he was sentenced to 12 months of probation. The judge said Tang’s case was akin to drug trafficking, even though he was only charged with possession, as the defendant admitted he had bought cocaine to share with Fok on the night of the incident. The judge sentenced Tang to 12 months for the drug offence, reduced by one-third for his guilty plea, to run concurrently with the mandatory life sentence for murder. Life imprisonment is mandatory for those convicted of murder in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong campsite operator who murdered ‘alien’ girlfriend jailed for life

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Judge says Tang Lung-fai, 56, was merciless as he killed live-in girlfriend Fok Sin-yee, 38, in ‘vicious, brutal and savage attack’

Judge says Tang Lung-fai, 56, was merciless as he killed live-in girlfriend Fok Sin-yee, 38, in ‘vicious, brutal and savage attack’