The details of a vicious attack on Auckland couple Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok and his wife Mei Han Chong in their Ellerslie home have been revealed in court today.
Shu Man Poon, who earlier pleaded guilty to the murders of the couple in 2023, said an air pistol and tomahawk were used during the attack, and that the victims’ heads were stomped on.
His former co-defendant Lok Fung Lorrence Li is on trial in the High Court at Auckland, accused of murdering Kwok and Chong in their Ellerslie home.
He had also pleaded not guilty to conspiring to murder his former landlord with Poon.
Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok and Mei Han Chong with their son. (File photo)
Supplied / NZ police
Poon earlier pleaded guilty to his role in the Kwok killings as well as the murder plot, and on Wednesday gave evidence against the man he said had pressured him to kill.
He was asked by prosecutor Matthew Nathan why he would be involved in the murder of the Kwoks, two people he had never met before.
After a long pause, Poon spoke.
“Before all this happened, I was being threatened by Mr Li my co-offender that he will promise to destroy my family,” he said.
“Also, I had a debt with him of $7000.”
The Kwok killings
Warning this section contains descriptions of graphic violence.
Poon recalled Li earlier showing him an email containing the Kwok’s address.
Jurors had earlier heard Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok and Li had been in a traffic accident that was taken to the Disputes Tribunal.
Kwok had asked the tribunal to keep his address confidential, a request that was denied due to a lack of safety concerns.
Poon had recalled Li saying he had been in a traffic accident with Kwok.
Li claimed Kwok was driving drunk, but was worried Kwok would turn around and say it was Li instead.
While outside his former landlord’s rental, Li angrily changed the target of their plot, Poon said.
“On that morning, I remember in a tone of anger, Mr Li’s said ‘let’s move all the plan for Mr Kwok then’,” he said.
“That was the reason why the whole thing from that morning (…) went into murdering Mr Kwok and Mrs Kwok.”
Poon said at that moment, he was afraid.
More CCTV footage was played of Li and Poon travelling to the Kwok’s home in the early hours of the morning.
On the way, Poon had said he once again tried to convince Li not to go through with the plan.
“There will be no turning back,” he told Li.
But Li was sure, Poon said.
When they got to the property, Poon went to knock on the door.
He had hoped if he knocked lightly, no one would answer, but Li urged him to knock again harder.
Li readied the air-pistol they had bought to the home and the door opened.
Poon said he was pushed through the door, and found himself bear-hugged by Kwok.
“I can hear so many sounds ‘pop pop pop pop pop pop pop’, quite close or next to my ear.
Poon said Li had shot Kowk in the head.
Li was holding Poon so tight he could move, and flailed his arm in an effort to make him let go, Poon said.
“He just keep shooting at him,” he said.
Kwok called out three times for his wife, Poon said.
He knelt on a chair before collapsing on the ground.
Kwok’s wife Mei Han Chong came downstairs, and Li opened fire at her, Poon said.
Poon said Chong was shot multiple times by Li.
Li ran at Chong, slapping her in the face continuously.
She fell to the ground, and Li began stomping on her, Poon said.
Nathan asked Poon about the force Li used.
“Just like kicking an enemy, just like they have been hated for so, so long,” Poon said.
Li turned his attention back to Kwok, stomping him also in the head, Poon said.
Poon was asked what happened next, taking a long pause.
He shuddered, eyes clenched shut as he composed himself.
Poon said he had told Li there was a tomahawk he had sharpened in their backpack.
Li took it out, and brought it down on Kwok.
He shouted at Poon to “do something”.
“I picked up the tomahawk without my will, at that time I have completely lost control of my body,” Poon said.
Crown prosecutors then brought the tomahawk before the court, held in a clear box.
They placed it in the witness box before Li, who winced.
“Is that the tomahawk that was used to strike Mr Kwok on the 5th of November?” Matthew Nathan asked.
The murder plot shifts
Earlier that afternoon, Poon was asked about a visit he and Li made to the landlord’s property, when they had hoped to enact their plot.
CCTV footage was played of Poon picking up Li and driving to his former landlord’s house.
“Mr Li climbed over the fence, first he spray paints the back camera and the sensor, and then he walked into the side way further…” Poon said.
Poon entered the property as well and went around the back, before catching sight of another camera.
“That was the time I pulled him to walk out, to abort the mission, just quit, get out,” Poon said.
The pair left, and came back the next day.
They were going to try again, caught on CCTV walking around in front of the property, but saw the cameras once again.
“I just said ‘hey man, if she really done so much bad to some other tenants, maybe she will have her own karma or judgement’,” Poon said.
Getting back in the car, the duo drove to Celtic Crescent where the Kwoks lived.
Poon said they did not leave the car but recalled Li saying he needed to be familiar with the route.
The following day, Li had planned with Poon to kidnap his landlord from the former rental, but she never appeared.
It was after that, the murder plan shifted.
The pair meet
Poon told the court he met Li through the Amazing Grace Christian Church in May 2023.
He had been was asked by a pastor to look after his new church mate.
Lok Fung Lorrence Li is on trial.
Nick Monro
“I was trying to fulfil my promise to look after him,” Poon said.
“I thought that we are Christians, so that looking after each other will be a blessed thing.”
Poon said he took on the role of older brother to Li.
The pair would frequently spend time together, multiple days a week, and would talk.
Poon told the court Li would talk about people he believed had treated him poorly.
“He mentioned some of the people that he met, and then he said that they haven’t treated him nicely,” he said.
“One of them is his landlord…”
The scene of the deaths on Celtic Crescent in Ellerslie. (File photo)
RNZ / Nick Monro
Li’s hatred toward his landlord was fierce, Poon recalled.
“In my memory he said that, ‘if there’s no law I would probably punish him, punish them, like even murder them’.”
Poon spoke about being used as a decoy, so Li could place a GPS tracker in his landlord’s car.
“He actually wanted to rob her family, and after robbing her, murder her,” Poon said.
Li had told Poon he believed the landlord was rich, Poon said.
The two had gone to Li’s old rental, with Li telling his landlord he wanted to look for something he had left behind.
The plan was to later go to the landlord’s property and ‘make them suffer’ in order to get the codes to their credit cards.
“Then (Li) will go to one of the ATM machines to collect the money,” Poon said.
“He said if the code is not correct, he will tell me to make them suffer more to disclose the card number or the code.”
Poon said he had originally thought Li was joking, chalking it up to an expression of his anger toward his landlord.
But soon, the two were buying night vision goggles, military boots, a baton, and a tomahawk.
Li had also told Poon he had stolen license plates.
Concerns raised over alleged murder plot
Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok and Mei Han Chong with family.
Supplied / NZ police
Poon expressed his concerns to Li, telling him what they were doing was illegal.
“This is not right,” he recalled telling Li.
Li told him no one would find out.
Jurors had earlier heard Poon confided the plan to his church leaders, who encouraged him to go to the police.
The report Poon made to authorities was later filed away and wouldn’t be revisited until after the Kwoks were dead.
Poon said he had wanted to be honest with his church, and ask for help in clearing his debt to Li.
At the police station, Poon said he told the authorities everything.
“I explained that this friend Mr Li was trying to push me to do some illegal action, because of this debt, he tried to force me to do some criminal acts with him.”
Poon told police about the plan to rob and murder, he said.
Shortly after, Poon said he had a serious headache as taken to a 24-hour urgent care clinic where he would stay overnight.
Poon read out a suicide note he wrote in September 2023 to the court.
In it, Poon said he had enough evidence to prove he was mentally ‘unstable’ at the time he was associated with Li.
He had only agreed to help in order to try divert Li’s ‘mistaken thoughts’, Poon said.
Poon had hoped someone would find his body with the note.
He told jurors he had tried to convince Li to abandon the plot.
“I actually tried to change or convince him to stop, that’s why I delayed so many times,” Poon said.
Conspiracy over Text
The court went through translated messages between Li and Poon, including Li’s frustration over an apparent change in Poon’s attitude toward the plot against Li’s landlord.
“You said we can’t go back on what we did. Now you tell me that the people from the church treat you well? are you OK?,” Li wrote.
“You need to know, this b…. deserved it.”
Li was trying to encourage him back into the plot, as he continued to send messages intended to provoke Poon, he said.
The court had earlier heard Poon messaged Li that the police may have learned of their plot.
He told the court he had fabricated this to further delay the plan.
Crown prosecutor Matthew Nathan pointed to messages where Poon said he would take the blame for everything.
“At that time I still think I’m the big brother, I’m the older brother of him, I’m just trying to protect him at the time,” Poon said.
“Because of this protection and promise, I’m trying to protect him from being arrested.”
He had told Li he was gangster, but apologised in court, saying that was not the case.
It was just another effort to get Li to fall in line, and call off the plan, Poon said.
Poon believed Li knew he was lying.