Judge slams ‘cold-blooded’ wardrobe murderer as he jails him for life for killing his ex-girlfriend

A Hong Kong man who murdered his ex-girlfriend in a jealous rage, stuffed her body in a wardrobe and stole from her to raise funds before he fled the city was on Friday jailed for life after a judge slammed him for putting the victim on trial.

Oscar Mok Chun-yin, 31, was a cold-blooded, remorseless and egotistic man who, “because of his jealousy and possessive character, took away the life of a young lady who had all the chances of living a fulfilling and promising life”, Mr Justice Joseph Yau Chi-lap concluded.

The former property agent was convicted over the murder of Dragonair flight attendant Arbe Chan Man-yi, 26, in December 2013 by a jury verdict of six to one on Tuesday. He had pleaded guilty to charges of theft and attempted theft before the start of the trial.

The High Court heard Mok never disputed that he killed Chan and hid her body in a wardrobe, but that he defended himself in a bid to reduce the offence of murder to a lesser one of manslaughter, which does not come with a mandatory life sentence.

It also emerged he had breached a HK$1,000 (US$128) bond imposed by Fanling Court to keep the peace after he had grabbed her neck, covered her mouth and threatened to buy a knife to hurt her family when they quarrelled over money in September 2013.

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Mok said he “bitterly regretted” his actions as he had no intention to kill Chan but was provoked when she insulted and taunted him with comparisons to her new boyfriend.

His defence counsel Leslie Parry said in mitigation: “Clearly he is sorry he has taken the life of his dear girlfriend. Absolutely. There is no doubt about that.”

Parry also said his client felt sorry for Chan’s family and friends, as well as his own parents, grandparents and the new family he had built in Shenzhen.

But the judge slammed Mok for “putting Arbe on trial” by making up all sorts of “outrageous allegations” against her that were “obviously” not accepted by the jury.

“The defendant obviously told all these blatant lies to try to save himself from the offence of murder, an offence which he no doubt committed,” Yau said.

“He has not shown the least respect for the deceased, whom he repeatedly said he loved very much.”

Yau noted Mok “obviously had not learned a lesson” since he was bound over by a lower court.

“The court finds it difficult to believe a person can be so cold-blooded and calm that after killing a person he could go about to steal from the victim, who he claimed to love very much,” the judge said.

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Yau further described Mok as “irresponsible and egotistic” as he drew attention to his new family in Shenzhen. “Despite being a fugitive, he fell in love with a woman shortly after fleeing to China [who then] gave birth to a son, paying no regard at all to the future of the child,” Yau said.

He also rejected the defence’s claim Mok was “sincerely remorseful”.

“The court must say that it fails to see any remorsefulness on the part of the defendant, not even a single hint of it,” Yau said.

“This is evident by what the defendant did in the trial.”