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Hong Kong University professor Cheung Kie-chung was jailed for life on Thursday after being convicted of the murder of his wife two years ago.
Cheung, 56, was convicted last week in a majority verdict, despite his attempts to reduce the charge to provocative homicide or diminished responsibility, based on his depression.
The former associate professor of mechanical engineering had testified that he killed his wife, Tina Chan Wai-man, 53, by strangling her with two electrical cables during an argument in the early morning of August 17, 2018, at his residence in room 1601 of Wei. Mon Hall, where he served as warden.
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He also admitted to covering up his death and hiding the body in a homemade wooden box that was transferred to his campus office in the Haking Wong building for 11 days, and pleaded guilty to the charge of preventing the legal burial of Chan’s body. , with a penalty of seven years. in prison.
But he denied intending to kill his wife, while his lawyers described him as a sad figure who suddenly broke down and temporarily lost control after chronic psychological abuse allegedly inflicted by his wife.
Prosecutors have admitted that Cheung suffered from a mental abnormality when he killed her, but maintained that she was murdered in cold blood for financial reasons.
Cheung was known as a staunch advocate of academic freedom, but he was also a soft-spoken man, popular, and respected by staff and students alike.
While serving as a member of the university’s governing council, Cheung criticized his decision not to appoint liberal law scholar Johannes Chan Man-mun to the post of pro-vice chancellor in 2015. It was also understood that he defended the then union president of students Billy Fung Jing-en, when the latter was accused of leaking details of the confidential meeting that returned the controversial decision.
Hundreds of letters reached the court last week, offering glowing references to the professor’s generosity, dedication, and passion for his work, classroom, and students, as well as his selflessness and willingness to go the extra mile to see the needs of others. were approached.
Judge Anthea Pang Po-kam said the case was a tragedy, but pointed out that murder was the most serious crime in the city’s statutes, for which there was only one sentence, the mandatory life in prison.
“We are talking about intentionally taking the precious life of another person,” the judge said. “No matter how gentle or caring he was before the murder, at that moment he killed in cold blood his wife who he had been married to for 30-odd years.”
From a popular kid and a math genius to a wife killer
The judge also sentenced Cheung to 28 months for his second charge, to be served at the same time as his life sentence, as he said his conduct had brought false hope to those who desperately wanted to locate Chan and caused great distress when the man was discovered. Body.
Cheung, who returned to court with his head shaved, appeared calm and said goodbye to his friends and followers in the public gallery before being taken to Stanley Prison, a maximum security facility.
In mitigation, defense attorney Graham Harris SC called the case tragic and said it was one of the saddest cases he had encountered in more than 40 years as an attorney.
He noted that his client was not cruel, vicious, or violent, but a kind, generous, and honest man of integrity who was the victim of mentally ill and chronic psychological abuse at the time, and did not plan the murder.
“These issues were never presented as excuses,” Harris said. “But they could explain behavior that was completely out of line.”
Harris said Cheung’s conduct after the murder was driven by panic and “this man’s inability to cope with the enormity of what he had done.”
“The cover-up, we respectfully say, was naive,” he said. “Because this matter was bound to be discovered sooner or later.”
No fewer than 352 letters and signatories were sent from Cheung’s brother, school friends, students, alumni, professional colleagues and “eminent persons in our community,” according to the lawyer.
Harris also invited the court to consider whether this was an appropriate case for the judge to report to the executive director, to address what he described as unusual features in this case for consideration by the Long-Term Prison Sentencing Review Board. .
The advisory body is tasked with reviewing sentences and making recommendations on possible remission and commutation, once convicted persons have served a certain period of life imprisonment.
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