Hong Kong yoga ball murder case: Defendant 'wanted to get a divorce but then rejected his wife's request'

A former university professor in Hong Kong asked his wife for a divorce but subsequently rejected her request before allegedly murdering her with a gas-filled yoga ball nine years ago, a court heard on Friday.

The Supreme Court's retrial heard testimony about the unhappy marriage between Malaysian Khaw Kim Sun and his wife Wong Siew Fing, who had sought medical help for depression due to their “very bad relationship”.

Khaw, 60, is back in court for allegedly using an inflatable yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide to kill Wong, 47, and her daughter Lily Khaw Li Ling, 16, in the family's yellow Mini Cooper on May 22 to kill in 2015.

Dr. Catherine Wong Ka-yan, who met the mother 18 times between November 2013 and April 2015, said the patient showed symptoms such as depression, insomnia and loss of appetite, indicating moderate depression.

“She told me about the situation at her home and that she had a very bad relationship with her husband,” the doctor said.

Wong recalled the patient saying that her husband first started discussing divorce in 2013, and when she felt she had had enough of him a few months later, he withdrew the suggestion and insisted the mother “wouldn’t be able to cope without him”.

“I was surprised because it wasn’t consistent [with his previous attitude] … I was shocked,” the witness said.