A man who declared himself the “son of God” has been declared mentally fit to testify in a murder trial where he stands accused of murdering a 15-year-old girl in 2014.
After six hours of deliberation, a six-person jury ruled on a 5-1 majority vote that 37-year-old Lau Cheung-fai’s acute psychosis, which began at the end of last year, had not substantially affected his mind and he was therefore still fit to make a plea, Apple Daily reported.
Earlier this week, psychiatrist Chan Kwok-tung said Lau was not fit to testify in court after visiting him at Siu Lam Hospital.
Chan told the High Court that the defendant claimed, among other things, that he was the son of God who was chosen for the holy war, could time travel by reading the Bible, and could defeat devils by drinking urine and eating feces.
According to the SCMP, the defence said that given Lau’s mental state, it would be “wrong” for the trial to proceed.
The prosecution however argued that a separate psychiatrist, who had spent more time with Lau, said “based on all of the evidence, you may just find he is so capable.”
After the jury arrived at their verdict, the case was adjourned until February 20 and new jurors will be selected.
Lau, who was remanded back into custody, is on trial for murdering part-time model Kwok Wai-ming who he knew as “Siu B,” the name she used for a phone app through which they were communicating.
Kwok’s body was found on Dec. 9, 2014 at a garbage collection point, one day after she went to Lau’s apartment in Yau Ma Tei where he offered to pay her HK$500 (about US$64) for a private photo shoot.
Lau struck Kwok on the head with a ketchup bottle after she refused to change into clothes he had prepared for her.
He then tied her limbs, neck and head with ties and adhesive tape, assaulted her private parts using a bottle of Chinese wine, and forced the remaining alcohol down her throat.
Lau reportedly put Kwok’s body in a suitcase, took her to the Harbour Hotel in Mong Kok, and had sex with her body twice.
He then left the suitcase in the hotel room, went home, and returned the next day to dispose of the body.
A court hearing heard that Kwok had died of “mechanical asphyxia,” caused by a combination of plastic straps and adhesive tape around her neck and manual strangulation.
The prosecution rejected Lau’s offer to plead guilty to manslaughter. Lau denies the charge of murder.
