Benjamin Ashford|Woman arrested in killing, dismemberment of model Abby Choi in Hong Kong — the 7th person linked to the crime

A woman accused of assisting a suspect in the gruesome killing and dismemberment of model Abby Choi in Hong Kong has been arrested in mainland China, Hong Kong police said Tuesday. 

The arrest of the 29-year-old woman brought the total number of people allegedly involved in the case to seven. Police said they suspect she assisted another suspect and then fled to mainland China. She was handed over to Hong Kong authorities at Shenzhen Bay Port on Tuesday, they said.

The grisly killing of Choi, 28, has gripped many in Hong Kong and in mainland China because the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city has a very low level of violent crime.

Last week, her ex-husband, Alex Kwong, his father, Kwong Kau, and his brother, Anthony Kwong, were charged with murder after police found body remains in a house rented by Kwong Kau in a suburban area of Hong Kong near the border with mainland China. Alex Kwong's mother, Jenny Li, faces one count of perverting the course of justice. All four were detained without bail.

Police also arrested two others accused of assisting other suspects in the case.

Choi disappeared Feb. 21, according to a report filed later with police.

Eventually, police found her dismembered body in a refrigerator in a house rented by Kwong Kau in Lung Mei Tsuen, a suburban part of Hong Kong about a 30-minute drive from the border with mainland China.

Authorities discovered a young woman's skull believed to be Choi's in a cooking pot that was seized from the house. Officials believe that a hole on the right rear of the skull is where the fatal attack struck her.

The house was equipped with an electric saw and a meat grinder that had been used to mince human flesh,  police superintendent Alan Chung said.

"Two pots of stew believed to contain human tissue" were left at the scene, he added.

Choi had financial disputes involving tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars (millions of dollars) with her ex-husband and his family, police said earlier, adding that "some people" were unhappy with how Choi handled her finances.

While violent crime is rare in Hong Kong, the case recalls a handful of other shocking killings. In 2013, a man killed his parents, and their heads were later found in refrigerators. In 1999, a woman was kidnapped and tortured by three members of an organized crime group before her death. Her skull was later found stuffed in a Hello Kitty doll.

Choi, 28, was a model with more than 115,000 followers on Instagram. Her last post was Feb. 19, featuring a photoshoot she had done with fashion magazine L'Officiel Monaco.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Abby Choi (@xxabbyc)

"From Hong Kong to the cover of L'Officiel Monaco, my journey as a style icon continues," she wrote. "Grateful for this recognition and the continued support along the way."

Choi's friend Bernard Cheng said she had four children: two sons ages 10 and 3, and two daughters ages 8 and 6. Kwong, 28, fathered the elder two, and her current husband, Chris Tam, was the father of the younger children.

Tam said he was very thankful to have had Choi in his life and praised her for being supportive, friend Pao Jo-yee relayed in a Facebook post.

"When Abby was alive, she was a very kind person and always wanted to help people," he was quoted as saying in the post. "I feel anyone who had a chance to be her family or her friend are blessed."

AFP contributed to this report.

In:
• Hong Kong
• Murder