HONG KONG, Feb 25 (The Straits Times/ANN): The gruesome murder of Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi was believed to have been plotted by her former father-in-law, and the rented house where her body parts were discovered was used as a butchery site, police said on Saturday.

Ms Choi’s former husband, who had been on the run, was arrested on Saturday, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

Police earlier arrested the parents and brother of Ms Choi’s former husband. The three will face murder charges, police said.

Media reports quoted an unnamed police source as saying that the former father-in-law, a former policeman, was unhappy with Ms Choi’s handling of a luxury property. The former father-in-law has not been named yet.

On Friday, the Hong Kong police had described the murder as “premeditated” and “well-planned”, after the 28-year-old victim’s body parts were discovered in a house in Lung Mei Tsuen village in Tai Po, a suburb in the city.

A unit on a ground floor of the three-storey house was set up as a butchery site, said police.

“We are still looking for the head,” Superintendent Alan Chung told reporters, after announcing that a woman’s limbs had been discovered inside a refrigerator.

The house was equipped with an electric saw and a meat grinder had been used to mince human flesh, said Supt Chung. Two pots of stew “believed to contain human tissue” were left at the scene, he added.

Ms Choi’s torso and hands are also still not found. Divers from the elite Special Duties Unit, known as Flying Tigers, will be deployed to carry out an underwater search for the missing body parts at a water catchment area in Tseung Kwan O cemetery on Saturday afternoon.

The village house had been recently rented and was unfurnished – suggesting it was set up to dispose of Ms Choi’s body, said Supt Chung.

It is believed that the former father-in-law, who rented the flat this month, is the mastermind behind the murder plot, according to the police source.

Ms Choi’s former husband – known as Alex Kwong, according to local media – was caught at the Tung Chung waterfront at about 1pm on Saturday, local media reported.

“It is possible he was waiting for a speedboat to flee the city illegally,” a source was quoted by South China Morning Post.

An initial police investigation found that Ms Choi had recently planned to sell a Kadoorie Hill property in Ho Man Tin that she had bought under her former father-in-law’s name. Ho Man Tin is an upmarket residential neighbourhood in central Kowloon.

Ms Choi is said to have promised to relocate her former husband and his family members elsewhere. However, the move sparked fierce opposition from the former father-in-law, who had several arguments with her, the source added.

The murder is believed to have been committed over the dispute concerning the Kadoorie Hill property, which cost tens of millions of dollars.

The probe also found that Ms Choi had not registered her marriage with her current husband, the son of a founder of TamJai Yunnan Mixian, a casual restaurant chain in Hong Kong with operations in mainland China. This implied that her assets would be inherited by her two children – a son and a daughter – with Kwong, media reports said.

Some villagers were reportedly disturbed by the gruesome murder having taken place in the vicinity of their homes.

“Some have suggested we organise a Taoist ceremony to calm the spirit of the deceased, but another representative said we should respect the family of the deceased and contact them first,” said a villager, adding that village representatives have not contacted Ms Choi’s family yet.

A source told SCMP the police suspected that before Ms Choi went missing, her former brother-in-law, who worked as her chauffeur, drove to her home in Kadoorie Hill to meet her.

The two were heading to pick up Ms Choi’s daughter. It is unclear when the pickup time was.

On Tuesday, Ms Choi was reported missing after she did not pick up her daughter. - The Straits Times/ANN