Killing of Fan Man-yee (Hello Kitty murder case)

Background

Fan Man-yee was born in 1976 in Shenzhen and raised in an all-girls' orphanage in Ma Tau Wai, Hong Kong, after being abandoned by her family. Forced to leave the orphanage at 15 due to an age restriction, she became homeless, developed a drug addiction, and was forced into street prostitution. At 21 she began working at a brothel called Romance Villa in Sham Shui Po. In 1996 she married a client, Ng Chi-yuen, and gave birth to their son in November 1998. Neighbours described her husband as abusive. After becoming pregnant and giving birth, Fan attempted to rebuild her life, quitting drugs and prostitution, taking a job as a hostess at the Empress Karaoke Club, and leaving her husband shortly before her death.

Kidnapping and captivity

Chan Man-lok, a 33-year-old Wo Shing Wo triad member and one of Fan's regular clients, accused her of stealing his wallet in early 1999 and demanded repayment plus a fee. On 17 March 1999, Fan was abducted from her flat in Lai Yiu Estate by Chan, his 14-year-old grooming victim Lau Ming-fong, 21-year-old Leung Wai-lun, and Lau's boyfriend Leung Shing-cho. She was held for about a month in an apartment at No. 31 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, rented by Chan. During her captivity she was beaten with metal bars, kicked in the head repeatedly, had spices rubbed into her wounds, and suffered burns to her legs and feet from candle wax and hot plastic, leaving her unable to walk. She was forced to say she enjoyed the abuse. Fan died of traumatic shock between 14 and 15 April 1999. Her captors then dismembered and boiled her remains, sewing her skull inside a Hello Kitty mermaid plush toy filled with dead insects and discarding the rest of her body at multiple dump sites.

Discovery and investigation

Lau Ming-fong, experiencing nightmares and a nervous breakdown at a girls' reform school, was brought to police with the help of a social worker, leading officers to the scene on 24 May 1999. Only Fan's skull, a tooth, and some internal organs were recovered at the apartment; other remains were found at dump sites in Sham Shui Po, Wan Chai, and Tai Kok Tsui. Chan's residence was raided on 28 May; his wife was initially suspected but released after no evidence was found. Leung Wai-lun fled to mainland China after media coverage but was arrested on 14 February 2000 and returned to Hong Kong for trial. The skull was formally identified on 3 June 1999 using a photo-overlapping method.

Trial and sentencing

Trial began 20 October 2000. On 7 December 2000, a jury convicted Chan Man-lok, Leung Wai-lun, and Leung Shing-cho of manslaughter by a 6:3 vote, finding the remains insufficient to prove intentional murder but determining Fan died as a result of the men's abuse. Lau Ming-fong testified under a grant of immunity. Justice Peter Nguyen sentenced the three men to life imprisonment with no parole review for twenty years, describing the crime's cruelty as unprecedented in recent Hong Kong history.

Aftermath

Fan's skull, the case's sole physical exhibit, was cremated in March 2004 after being returned to her birth family. Leung Shing-cho's sentence was reduced to eighteen years on appeal in March 2004; he was released in April 2014 and was later convicted again in August 2022 for sexually assaulting a ten-year-old girl. Chan Man-lok and Leung Wai-lun remain in Stanley Prison. The case inspired two 2001 films.