The brutality of Abby Choi’s murder shocked the world and many people expressed their desire for the return of the death sentence in Hong Kong, which was abolished back in 1993.
With parts of her body yet to be located, police are racing against time to find the remaining body parts. It doesn’t happen regularly, but is Abby’s murder the first dismemberment case in Hong Kong?
Unfortunately, it’s not. Abby’s murder has prompted many people to compare her case with one of the most infamous cases in Macau where 10 victims were massacred and dismembered by 1 man. It took place in Macau back in August 1985 at a restaurant known as the Eight Immortals Restaurant. Since then, the case has been known the “The Eight Important Restaurants Murder”.
The murderer, Wong Zhi Hang, gambled with Zheng Lin in 1984, the owner of the restaurant, and the latter lost the bet. Unable to pay the debt, a verbal agreement was allegedly made and Zheng said that he would give up the mortgage of the restaurant to Wong if the debt was not repaid within a year, to which Wong agreed.
Wong Zhi Hang
Wong said that Zheng owed him a total of HKD180,000 (approximately RM102,000).
Things took a sinister turn when Zheng refused to turn over the ownership of the restaurant 1 year later, and it prompted Wong to go hostile. He killed Zheng’s entire family with a broken bottle at the restaurant, using sharp and uneven edges.
Some were killed by strangulation, and the youngest victim, who was only 7, was Zheng’s youngest son.
Wong then dismembered their bodies one by one over the course of 8 hours and dumped their bodies in the ocean and in dumpsters. Days later, Wong reopened the restaurant as if nothing happened but nobody suspected anything as most of the customers were aware of the relationship between Wong and Zheng.
Eight Immortals Restaurant
When the body parts of Zheng’s family then washed up on the shore, police initially thought they were body parts of immigrants who were eaten by sharks. One thing led to another, Wong was later apprehended by the police after they found Zheng’s documents in his bank holdings and student IDs which belonged to Zheng’s children. Wong was arrested on September 1986 when he was attempting to flee Macau via the waterways and was convicted for the murder of Zheng’s family.
Until this day, not all body parts have been recovered.
He confessed to his murder and in prison, Wong attempted suicide twice by cutting his wrist with a bottle lid. He left a suicide note, saying that he killed himself not for his sins but due to chronic asthma that he had been suffering for years.
The case has since gained a popular media culture, with a movie adaptation released in 1993, known as The Untold Story.
But is the movie accurate?
Since not all body parts were recovered, rumor has it that Wong had baked Zheng’s entire family into Char Siew Bao (pork buns).
The matter is never confirmed in real life but those who have watched The Untold Story will probably never forget that one of the main focuses of the movie is “the baking scene,” from the killing, dismemberment, baking, and all the way until the buns reached the table of the customers.
Other than that, the movie also highlights the dispute between Wong and Zheng as reported in real life, as well as his suicide in prison. It is also noteworthy that the movie reminds the audience that Wong is wanted in Hong Kong for a murder back in the 70s, and also for a money dispute.
We can say that if you don’t have a strong stomach, try to avoid The Untold Story movie.
38 years later, the story remains one of the eeriest cases in Hong Kong that many will never forget. Unfortunately, predators lurk everywhere, and in Malaysia, we’ve had a fair share of dismemberment cases too in the past, from Mona Fendey, the witch doctor’s case in 1993 to a dismembered pub singer in the same year.
What are the most prolific dismemberment cases we’ve had in the past? Stay tuned as we bring you more horrific Malaysian cases from the past.
Also read: Abby Choi’s In-Laws May Get Away With Only a Fine if Her Remaining Body Parts Aren’t Found
