The Secret Behind the Disappearance — Chapter 3

He had inherited his father’s short stature. He was shorter than the other children from an early age, and even as an adult stood only 164 centimeters tall.

For a man, it became a deep source of insecurity.

The feeling only worsened when Chu Kai-leung went abroad and found himself in an entirely unfamiliar environment. His insecurity about his height, combined with the language barrier, drove him further into himself. His foreign classmates often bullied him, too.

Over time, Chu Kai-leung’s outlook grew increasingly warped. He began to resent his own parents. He blamed their genes for making him short and unattractive. He also believed they had made a grave mistake by making him study piano.

In his mind, if they had put him in basketball as a child, he might have grown to 185 centimeters. Then he would not still be alone at thirty.

In 2003, Chu Kai-leung could no longer stay in Australia and returned to Hong Kong. With an overseas degree, finding work was not particularly difficult. He had worked at a bank and as a real-estate agent, but he never stayed in any job for long.

He considered those jobs beneath him, unworthy of his abilities. In the end, he chose to live at home and depend on his parents—a situation that dragged on for ten years.

In 2013, with too much time on his hands, Chu Kai-leung suddenly plunged into the stock market. He dreamed of shaking up the market and making a fortune. Inexperienced, he quickly lost everything.

Worse, he ran up substantial debts to relatives and friends. His parents had no choice but to sell a property to pay off their son’s debts. They divided what remained of the proceeds equally between their two sons, hoping they would use the money to start businesses or plan for the future.

But as soon as Chu Kai-leung received his share, he threw it back into the stock market. Predictably, he lost everything again.

Then he borrowed money at high interest and invested all of that, too.

In Chu Kai-leung’s mind, no matter how badly he failed, his parents would always step in and clean up the mess. This time, however, the couple refused to pay off his debts.

The pressure from the lenders kept mounting.

Desperate, Chu Kai-leung went to his friend Tse Chun-kei and said he had been pushed to the point of wanting to kill himself.

Tse Chun-kei offered a suggestion no one could have expected.

Instead of comforting him, he said, “Your parents are the ones who made you this way.”

“Why kill yourself?”

“They’re the ones who should die.”

To an ordinary person, that would have been an unthinkable suggestion.

Chu Kai-leung was different. He did not object. He kept nodding, as if he had finally found the answer he had been waiting for.

In his mind, parents who had money but would not give their son whatever he wanted did not deserve to live. If they died, he could inherit their property, and the high-interest debt would be taken care of.

The two men began planning carefully. For six months, they prepared for the crime step by step.

On the day of the murders, Chu Kai-leung and Tse Chun-kei went to a market to buy the tools they would need: three large barrels, a black garbage bag, kitchen knives, an axe, and more.

Then they went to the Hoi Hing Building in Tai Kok Tsui. Tse Chun-kei had a flat there, one that had been vacant for a long time.

Once everything was ready, Chu Kai-leung called his parents and told them he had just rented a flat in the building. His parents had no reason to be suspicious. They quickly packed a few things and took a taxi there.

Before leaving home, his mother even brought along a cleaning cloth. She thought she had nothing else to do and could help her son clean the place.

But as soon as she stepped inside, the youngest son she had loved so dearly swung a knife at her.

That was the scene from the beginning of this story.

The case should have reached a swift conclusion there. But Chu Kai-leung’s actions did not stop after his arrest.

He claimed that Tse Chun-kei had planned everything and had been the one who actually killed the couple. Chu Kai-leung said he had only stood by and helped dismember the bodies. Since he was merely an accomplice, he argued, he did not deserve a severe punishment.

His account could not fool anyone.

To reduce his responsibility, Chu Kai-leung even claimed in court that he suffered from a mental illness. He said he had committed the crime during an episode and that Tse Chun-kei had led him astray.

According to his argument, even if he had killed them, it should be treated as manslaughter, not intentional murder.

Chu Kai-leung recounted the story persuasively, but the police did not believe him. From beginning to end, his behavior was nothing like that of someone unable to control his actions because of mental illness.

After the serious crime, he had gone online to build a public image, play the victim, and seek sympathy. Then he had gone to the police himself to report his parents missing and deliberately mislead the investigation. His actions showed clear forethought and an ability to conceal what he had done.

Police therefore asked specialists to assess both men’s cognitive abilities. The findings surprised everyone.

The assessment was not prompted solely by Chu Kai-leung’s claims. Tse Chun-kei had seemed unusual from the start. He spoke more slowly than most people and was slow to react. His family said he had struggled with cognition since childhood. He responded more slowly than other children and often had trouble expressing himself coherently.

Awkward and slow-moving, he had almost no friends growing up. While studying in New Zealand, he was swindled out of all his money by a girlfriend.

He returned to Hong Kong in 2010, and his life continued to decline. He had attempted suicide with charcoal three times. Though he was rescued each time, the attempts left serious consequences: brain damage, impaired memory, and occasional aggressive behavior.

Perhaps because they had both studied abroad, Chu Kai-leung and Tse Chun-kei became friends after returning to Hong Kong. Tse’s family was even grateful to Chu Kai-leung for not looking down on their son.

The subsequent examination supported the family’s account.

An average IQ generally falls between 90 and 109. Tse Chun-kei scored only 84, below average. Chu Kai-leung, by contrast, scored 128. On the standard scale, 110 to 119 is above average, while 120 to 139 indicates high cognitive ability.

The doctors’ report concluded that Tse Chun-kei, with an IQ of 84 and a weak personality, was incapable of planning a complex crime on his own.

Chu Kai-leung had an IQ of 128. When he recounted the case, he remained emotionally composed, spoke coherently, and even appeared cheerful. The doctors noted that he displayed several narcissistic personality traits.

Chu Kai-ying, Chu Kai-leung’s older brother, also testified that his younger brother was not mentally ill.

Investigators also found evidence that Chu Kai-leung had threatened Tse Chun-kei.

By then, Chu Kai-leung had no way to keep denying the truth.

The case went to retrial. During the proceedings, details of the dismemberment haunted the jurors so deeply that several asked to withdraw. The jury shrank from nine members to five.

To prevent more withdrawals, the judge dismissed the original jury and empaneled a new one of nine.

On March 20, 2015, the final verdict was delivered. Tse Chun-kei, who had not directly participated in the killings, was sentenced to one year in prison. Chu Kai-leung was convicted of intentional murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

This extraordinary case was later adapted into a film titled *The Corridor of Justice*.

Looking back, the most heartbreaking part of the case remains the fate of Chu Wing-kei and his wife. They spent so much to raise their youngest son and send him overseas to study. They even sold a home to pay off his debts. In the end, all they received in return was resentment from the child they had loved with all their hearts.

Chu Kai-leung had been indulged by his parents since childhood. He should have grown into a happy, confident person.

Instead, he became extreme and selfish, blaming others whenever things went wrong and never once looking at himself.

It all led to a horrific tragedy.

Perhaps his parents would have forgiven him.

The law would not.

For the rest of his life, he would pay for what he had done behind prison walls.