A man who allegedly murdered a 15 year-old girl in 2014 believes he is the “son of God” and that he can time travel, a psychiatrist told the High Court today.
Psychiatrist Chan Kwok-tung originally determined that the 37-year-old defendant Lau Cheung-fai was fit to testify in court after visiting him at Siu Lam Hospital in April and May of last year.
However, he told the court he changed his mind after visiting Lau on Wednesday, where he was reportedly having hallucinations, behaving erratically, and babbling incoherently, hk01 reports.
Chan said he still believes Lau would be fit to testify after treatment and medication. While he conceded the prosecution’s point that Lau might be acting, he argued that the symptoms for mental illnesses could manifest at any time.
According to Chan, Lau believed that there were 19 parallel universes and that he had killed himself in 18 of them. The defendant also claimed he was the son of God who was chosen for a holy war, that God would send him a sign via nine lights on the court room’s ceiling, and if all nine lights lit up, that means he will win the trial.
The defendant reportedly said he started hearing the voice of God in October, could time travel by reading the Bible, and could defeat devils by drinking urine and eating feces.
Lau 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.
On Dec. 8, 2014, Kwok 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, the SCMP reported.
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.
A court hearing last week 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 SCMP reported.
Local media reported that Lau 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.
Kwok’s body was found on Dec. 9, 2014, at a garbage collection point, and Lau was arrested later that day.
The prosecution rejected Lau’s offer to plead guilty to manslaughter. Lau denies the charge of murder.
