‘I was a jealous boyfriend,’ wardrobe murder accused admits in Hong Kong trial

A Hong Kong man accused of murdering his flight attendant ex-girlfriend and stuffing her body in a wardrobe after she had found new love was a “jealous boyfriend”, a court heard on Wednesday. 

Oscar Mok Chun-yin’s admission in the High Court came on the ninth day of his trial for the murder of Arbe Chan Man-yi, 26, on December 4, 2013.

The court heard Mok, 31, who denied one count of murder, strangled Chan in a fit of rage after he found out the Dragonair flight attendant had met someone else, just moments after she promised to get back with him during a reconciliation talk at her home in Tsuen Wan.

The court had heard earlier that there were at least two occasions – including the one leading to Chan’s death – that Mok had looked at her mobile phone and found out that she had seen other men.

That led senior public prosecutor Jasmine Ching to accuse Mok during cross-examination of spying on Chan to prevent her from going out with and talking to other men.

“In fact, you’re a jealous boyfriend, aren’t you?” she asked.

Without replying directly, Mok initially said: “Even though I didn’t want [her] to [go out], I couldn’t control her.”

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But upon being pressed further, Mok conceded the point, and identified himself as a “jealous boyfriend”. 

He added: “I think there is jealousy in everyone.” 

Mok does not dispute that he killed Chan, arguing that he was guilty of manslaughter instead, because he killed her in an uncontrollable rage.

Prosecutors alleged that Mok intended to kill Chan when he turned up at her flat in Allway Gardens that day. They said he strangled her, possibly with a scarf, though the accused claimed he had used his bare hands. 

Mok, who first went into the witness box on Monday, also contested the accusations, saying that he went to the flat to collect his belongings and to reconcile with Chan.

But things turned sour, Mok said, after he found out Chan had met someone else, even though she promised to get back together with him. Mok retaliated after Chan attacked him and told him to drop dead, he said.

The court had heard during their relationship between 2012 and 2013, Mok once checked Chan’s mobile phone and found out that she had gone out with a pilot without telling him. 

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On the day Chan was killed, Mok also looked at her phone to find out about her new boyfriend.

He told the court earlier that he and Chan had exchanged the password of their phones so that they could they could share photographs.

But Ching suggested to Mok on Wednesday that he had gone beyond their agreement because he went into Chan’s messages instead. Mok disagreed, saying Chan would also view other content on his phone.

The prosecutor said that contrary to Mok’s claims that he and Chan had made arrangements on the day for him to collect his scarf and jumper, Mok deliberately waited outside her home for at least half an hour and dashed inside when she opened the door. Mok disagreed.

The case continues before Mr Justice Joseph Yau Chi-lap on Thursday.