Detailed plan led to murder of Hong Kong model Abby Choi, court hears

Influencer Abby Choi appeared on the digital cover of L'Officiel Monaco fashion magazine just before her murder.  (Supplied: Instagram @xxabbyc)

The ex-husband and in-laws of Hong Kong influencer Abby Choi have appeared in court on trial for the 28-year-old's murder. 

Police discovered parts of the model's dismembered body at a suburban property in Hong Kong in February 2023. 

Prosecutors allege Ms Choi's ex-husband Alex Kwong, his father Kwong Kau, and brother Anthony Kwong bought equipment to dispose of her body. 

The ex-husband and in-laws of a Hong Kong influencer and model crafted an elaborate plan that ended with her murder in 2023, prosecutors told the court Friday in the high-profile case.

Police discovered parts of 28-year-old Abby Choi's dismembered body at a suburban Hong Kong property in February 2023, in a case that stunned the financial hub.

Ms Choi's ex-husband Alex Kwong, 31, his father Kwong Kau, 68, and brother Anthony Kwong, 35, have pleaded not guilty to murder charges and have been on trial since Wednesday. They face life in prison if convicted.

Prosecution lawyer Charlotte Draycott said that days before Ms Choi was reported missing, the defendants bought equipment later used to cut up and dispose of her body including a mincing machine.

The court was played CCTV footage that prosecutors said showed Ms Choi, 28, getting into one of two vans used by the Kwongs in the afternoon on February 21, 2023. 

Her last online activity was at 2:44pm.

Other footage showed the suspects parking the vans at a different location at around 3:20 pm the same day near the same property where police recovered her remains on February 24.

The three men were seen wearing face masks and were "not upset".

Police officers discovered missing parts of 28-year-old model Abby Choi's body in Hong Kong on February 28, 2023.

"It's what they expected," Ms Draycott told the court, saying that they had prepared a "cogitated plan" to kill Ms Choi.

On February 25, Alex Kwong -- who had two children with Ms Choi -- was arrested while planning to flee Hong Kong, a day after his father and brother were detained.

Prosecutors also displayed a hammer to the jury and cited a forensic report saying that the injuries on Ms Choi's skull, caused by a blunt instrument, matched the shape of the hammer.

Prosecutors told the jury earlier this week that Ms Choi and her ex-husband's family had financial disputes over a luxury property which she had paid HK$60 million ($10.98 million AUD).

The trial is expected to last at least until December.