Three suspects who were arrested over the death of hiker Bosco Kwok at Black Hill were jointly charged with one count of murder yesterday. They appeared at the Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts today without testifying.
The case has been adjourned until next Monday. All three men, aged 21 to 27, are remanded in custody.
Firefighters found Kwok dead, with a stab wounds to his throat and injuries to his face and head on Monday morning, almost 29 hours after he was reported missing. He is believed to have been lured up the hill by his friends to play war games — military simulations with replica weapons — late Saturday evening but was instead killed and pushed down the slope.
It is believed that the assailants attacked Kwok in relation to a financial dispute over the purchase of war game weapons.
Prosecutors said in court today that two of the suspects, Chow, 21, and Yim, 27, admitted to police that they had attacked Kwok, while the third suspect, a 21-year-old surnamed Wong, said he was only responsible for distracting a friend that Kwok had brought along to join the war game, according to Oriental Daily.
Kwok’s friend, Chiu, later told Bastille Post that he didn’t notice anything unusual when they were at Black Hill. At around 3:30am, Chiu said he saw Kwok leave alone, and was told by the one of the suspects that everyone had left. Chiu was then accompanied down the hill by the suspect.
Yesterday, police escorted Chow and Yim separately back to the scene for a reconstruction of the crime.
Yim’s friends told Apple Daily that the 27-year-old was a US combat knife collector and seller, and carried a combat knife with him everywhere. According to Oriental Daily, some hikers found blood spots near the crime scene on Sunday morning, prior to Kwok’s body being discovered, but said they were shocked to hear about the alleged murder.
Police are still searching for the weapon — believed to be a knife — used to kill Kwok.
Chow, Yim, and Wong met Kwok and Chiu at the Haven of Hope Hospital in Tseung Kwan O late on Saturday evening. They hiked to Black Hill, in Lam Tin, under the guise of playing war games. At noon on Sunday, Kwok’s mother reported him missing.
Earlier reports from multiple local media outlets stated that an injury resembling a gunshot wound had been found on Kwok’s body. The claims have since been retracted.
