Director accused of killing nightclub hostess girlfriend who vanished four years ago

[Cyrax]

Married Hong Kong securities firm director accused of killing nightclub hostess girlfriend who vanished four years ago

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 30 July, 2015, 2:45pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 30 July, 2015, 4:05pm

Julie Chu
[email protected]

Amoy Gardens, where the nightclub hostess lived. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

A married securities company director was accused of killing a nightclub hostess who vanished from her flat four years ago, the High Court heard today.

Ivan Chan Man-sum, 42, denies one count of murder over the death of Chun Ka-yee, 33, in October 2011.

Prosecutor Arthur Luk SC said in his opening statement : “Chun’s body was never recovered. She just vanished from her flat.

“Despite the absence of the body, the prosecution says that there is overwhelming circumstantial evidence against the defendant – which can lead to only one inference – that the defendant had murdered his mistress Ms Chun and disposed of her body.”

Luk said Chan was a married man with two sons. He met Chun, who worked in a nightclub in Tsim Sha Tsiu, in 2007.

The pair soon became boyfriend and girlfriend. Chan named Chun as the beneficiary of his insurance policy and also paid the down payment for a flat at Amoy Gardens where she lived.

Their relationship turned sour when Chan’s wife discovered in July 2011 that Chan and Chun were having an extramarital relationship.

Chun’s family and friends lost contact with her in October 2011. A report was made to the police in January 2012.

The police retrieved CCTV footage from Amoy Gardens, finding that she last entered the building on October 5.

On the following day, Chan visited the building twice in the evening. On October 7, Chan was seen removing a large and bulky chequered bag on a trolley.

Between October 9 and 11, Chan asked decoration workers to clear the flat.

Chun’s flat was left vacant until it was repossessed after her bank account ran out of money in May 2013. She had been paying for the unit through automatic monthly mortgage payments.

Some of Chun’s friends called Chan after her disappearance to ask whether he had any news of her. Chan claimed he had broken up with her and last saw her on October 1.

The trial continues before Deputy Judge Michael Stuart-Moore.

 

[Sinkie]

Re: Director accused of killing nightclub hostess girlfriend who vanished four years

Live by the gun, die by the gun.

 

[Cyrax]

Re: Director accused of killing nightclub hostess girlfriend who vanished four years


Nightclub hostess left mysterious words for pal before she was killed, court hears

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 01 August, 2015, 2:47am
UPDATED : Saturday, 01 August, 2015, 10:15am

Julie Chu [email protected]

Sichuan resident Qin Qun, the brother of Chun Ka-yee (above), told the court that a day before her death, Chun made several cross-border telephone calls to her parents, nephews, sister-in-law and him. Photo: SCMP Pictures

A nightclub hostess who vanished from her flat in Kowloon Bay four years ago once told a close friend: if she wanted to disappear, no one could find her, the jury of a murder trial heard yesterday.

Those words were repeated to the brother of the hostess, Chun Ka-yee, during his visit to Hong Kong in early 2012 after losing contact with her.

The brother, Sichuan resident Qin Qun, was testifying at the High Court over the death of his sister Chun, 33, who was allegedly killed on October 6, 2011, in her home at Amoy Gardens. Her body was never recovered.

Defendant Ivan Chan Man-sum, 42, the director of a securities company, denies one count of murder.

Qin told the court that a day before her death, Chun made several cross-border telephone calls to her parents, nephews, sister-in-law and him.

He did not elaborate in court on what Chun told them over the phone that day, but said: "I felt something was unusual."

Since then, they had lost contact with Chun, prompting Qin to come to Hong Kong and look for her friends.

One friend, named Li Xiao-ping, told him Chun once said to her: "If I want to disappear, no one can find me." The brother made a report to Hong Kong police on January 16, 2012.

Chun, who had received education up to primary level in Sichuan, was a girl who did not smoke or drink when she left home for Shenzhen at age 17 to look for work, Qin said.

He was aware when Chun married a truck driver in 2001 - but had no idea her husband applied for her to relocate to Hong Kong or that they later divorced.

Nor did he know Chun worked as a nightclub hostess in Hong Kong.

He only knew Chun had a boyfriend when she last visited home in Sichuan, in July 2011, but she barely talked about it.

Chan's wife discovered her husband's affair with Chun that month, the court heard earlier.

Barrister Daniel Marash SC, for Chan, said Chun was a heavy smoker and an alcoholic. She also had tattoos on her body.

Marash noted that Chun came under a Fanling Court order in 2009 to be bound over for assaulting her boyfriend when she was very drunk.

He also said Chun was diagnosed with severe depression just two days before her death and had suicidal tendencies.

Qin said he had no knowledge of any of Marash's claims, except that he had once seen a tattoo on her body. The trial continues on Monday before Deputy Judge Mr Justice Michael Stuart-Moore.