Hello Kitty murder

The Hello Kitty Murder was a 1999 case in which a nightclub hostess was abducted and tortured in an apartment in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, after stealing a wallet. On 17 March, Fan Man-yee (樊敏儀) was kidnapped and tortured by three men before dying a month later. She was then decapitated and her skull was placed inside of a Hello Kitty doll.

No. 31 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, where the murder took place.

Murder

A 23-year-old night club hostess by the name of Fan Man-yee (樊敏儀) was kidnapped by three men: 34-year-old Chan Man-lok (陳文樂), 27-year-old Leung Shing-cho (梁勝祖), 21-year-old Leung Wai-lun (梁偉倫), and Chan Man-lok's 13-year-old girlfriend after allegedly stealing a wallet from one of them. They took her to an apartment at No. 31 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui,[1] where they imprisoned her. They beat and tortured her daily over a debt dispute of HK$20,000 (US$2,560).[2][3]

After a month of imprisonment and torture, Fan was killed (or died as a result of injuries) and dismembered. Her captors placed her skull inside of a Hello Kitty mermaid doll and discarded the rest of her remains. Only her skull, one tooth, and some internal organs were recovered.[3]

Fan's remains were found only after Chan's girlfriend led police to the scene.[4][5]

Trial

After a six-week trial, the three men were convicted of manslaughter, as the jury ruled the remains were not sufficient to show whether Fan was murdered or died in another way, such as a drug overdose.[4] The jury could not rule that the men intended to kill 23-year-old Fan Man-yee, which would have meant a mandatory life sentence, but it was determined she died as a result of their abuse.[6] The underage girlfriend of one of the men testified at the trial in exchange for immunity.[4]

Justice Peter Nguyen, who sentenced the trio to life in prison, stated, "Never in Hong Kong in recent years has a court heard of such cruelty, depravity, callousness, brutality, violence and viciousness."[4] Psychiatric reports described the three, members of a secret triad society, as "remorseless". There would be no review for parole for 20 years, i.e. until 2019.[6]

Aftermath

The apartment building in which the crime took place was demolished in September 2012 and has been rebuilt as a hotel in 2016.

The publicity around the case resulted in the production and release of films that told the story. Both Human Pork Chop (烹屍之喪盡天良) and There is a Secret in my Soup were released in 2001.

Bones's season four episode titled "The Girl in the Mask" is based on this case.

See also

Eight Immortals Restaurant murders

References
  1. Lam, Tiffany (25 October 2011). "Haunted Hong Kong: Read if you dare". CNN GO. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  2. "妙齡女郎慘遭殘酷碎尸 三名疑犯陸續落網". 11 October 2000. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  3. "Trio sentenced to life in jail for gruesome killing in H.K." 11 December 2000. Archived from the original on 20 April 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  4. Chandler, Clay (9 December 2000). "'Hello Kitty' Murder Case Horrifies Hong Kong". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  5. Yano, Christina (2013). Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty's Trek across the Pacific. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-8223-5363-8.
  6. "Life for 'Hello Kitty' Killers". ABC News. Retrieved 1 October 2016.

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