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Brian Wong

A Hong Kong court has ordered a murder suspect to face a retrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict on whether he committed the crime while suffering from a delusion that authorities were harassing him with electromagnetic waves.
The 23-day High Court trial of former software developer Matthew Choi ended with a hung jury on Wednesday.
Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping discharged the seven-member panel, saying the case was not so complex as to warrant the jurors, who had debated behind closed doors for more than a day, to press on until they reached a verdict.
Lawyers for the jobless man had argued that he was suffering from psychosis when he killed a taxi driver in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack on October 12, 2021.
The trial heard that Choi, now 36, stabbed 48-year-old Wai Kim-hung in the neck immediately after boarding his cab outside the WE hotel on Eastern Street in Sai Ying Pun at 4.52am.
The defendant, who did not know his victim, alighted from the car and fled less than a minute later.
Wai screamed for help before collapsing near the vehicle. He was rushed to Queen Mary Hospital but was certified dead at 6.17am.
After the offence, Choi returned to his residence – which was within walking distance from the hotel – got changed and headed for Lamma Island, a tranquil village home to a small community of locals and expats.
Police quickly identified Choi as the suspect after he left his bloodstained jacket and mobile phone on the taxi. He was arrested near Yung Shue Wan Ferry Pier at 8.36pm the next day.

Born in South Africa to a Hong Kong father and British mother, Choi had worked as a software developer for numerous companies in the African country before ceasing employment in 2015. He said he had done so because he felt targeted by government agents using Wi-fi and “voice-to-skull” technology.
The suspect told police that he escaped to Hong Kong in 2016 as he thought his family was trying to kill him by having him admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
He maintained that “secret police” had been harassing him with low-frequency electromagnetic waves, while insisting that surveillance camera footage that captured his whereabouts was a “digital fake” used to frame him.
“I don’t believe it’s true. I don’t believe I’m the suspect,” Choi said when asked to comment on the murder allegation.
Among the evidence seized from Choi was a meat cleaver engraved with the words “my ELF weapon”. ELF, according to Choi, stood for extremely low frequency.
He told officers he had kept the knife to protect himself against perceived attacks by the government because he felt unsafe during the 2019 anti-government protests.
“During the time there were big Hong Kong strikes and there were lots of police shooting citizens and shooting each other and lots of people fighting … I got this knife and I put it next to me in my bed, and it just made me feel safer,” he said.
A psychiatric assessment in 2019 showed that Choi was not mentally ill, although he was deemed to have a “radical” personality.


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Hong Kong courts

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The trial heard that the defendant stabbed the taxi driver in the neck immediately after boarding his cab outside the WE hotel on October 12, 2021. Photo: Handout

Matthew Choi had previously worked as a software developer in South Africa. Photo: ISD

The 23-day High Court trial of former software developer Matthew Choi ended with a hung jury on Wednesday. Photo: Nora Tam

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Police officers escort one of the suspects in the murder case. Photo: Sam Tsang

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Police officers investigate the killing of a Hong Kong taxi driver on Tuesday. Photo: Handout

Photo of the suspect. Citywide manhunt under way after Hong Kong taxi driver killed in early hours of Tuesday (12OCT) SCMP Pictures (HANDOUT from ISD)

News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Trial of former software developer Matthew Choi, accused of killing taxi driver in unprovoked attack, ends with hung jury


Trial of former software developer Matthew Choi, accused of killing taxi driver in unprovoked attack, ends with hung jury.


Crime in Hong Kong

South Africa

China

Esther Toh Lye-ping

Hong Kong murder suspect faces retrial after jury deadlocks on psychosis defence

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Trial of former software developer Matthew Choi, accused of killing taxi driver in unprovoked attack, ends with hung jury

Trial of former software developer Matthew Choi, accused of killing taxi driver in unprovoked attack, ends with hung jury