Hong Kong courts were told by prosecutors today that a Malaysian anesthetist used a yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide to kill both his wife and daughter.
Khaw Kim-sun, 53 and having an affair with a student at Chinese University where he was an associate professor, was seeking to divorce his wife; however, she would not cooperate with any formal proceedings.
Both she, and their 16-year-old daughter, were found locked inside a Mini Cooper three years ago, with subsequent post-mortem reports revealing that they had died after inhaling carbon monoxide. Investigators found a deflated yoga ball in the back of the yellow car.
Accused of deliberately placing the poisoned ball in the car, South China Morning Post writes that prosecutors are alleging that while the suspect may have plotted to kill his wife, they conceded that he may not have counted on his daughter being in the vehicle as well: Apple Daily reports that on the day of their bodies were found, the doctor had urged his daughter to stay home and finish her schoolwork.
Jogging past the vehicle, a runner initially thought the pair were napping, and later raised the alarm after both bodies appeared motionless after she returned 45 minutes later.
Prosecutor Andrew Bruce SC told a nine-person jury that Khaw’s background as an anesthetist provided him with the knowledge of knowing the gas’s toxicity. Bruce also highlighted that the suspect was able to have access to the controlled gas via a flimsy research project that he had embarked on, assisted by the same student he was having an affair with.
Colleagues have reported that they had earlier spotted the suspect filling two yoga balls with the noxious gas. When asked as to what end was the gas to be used, he told them that he planned on using it to gas rabbits. When later asked by authorities, he told them it was to exterminate rats in his home.
Khaw has plead not guilty to two murder counts.
