Fridae

The naked body of a 37-year-old personnel manager was found in a Wan Chai hotel after his lover allegedly strangled him with a towel before stabbing him 15 times because he refused to repay a HK$86,000 loan, reports Hong Kong's iMail.

Edmond Kwong Kwok-leung, 33, told the police that his lover, Elvis Leung Yi-chi had cheated him out of love and the loan which he had borrowed from banks but gave to his lover who was in financial trouble.

Kwong has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Leung. He told police he had met Leung at the hotel, they had sex and then had a heated argument about the loan. He then stabbed Leung repeatedly after strangling him because he was afraid he might wake up.

The hotel staff found Leung's body after Kwong had checked out, telling reception his friend wanted to sleep for a couple more hours. Police found a map to a holiday flat in the room, which led them to arrest Kwong.

Kwong's father told the jury that his son was being harassed by the debt collectors he had hired to recover the money from Leung. The debt collectors wanted an extra HK$10,000 on top of the HK$15,000 he had already paid as a handling fee. The defendant's father said that his son was anxious and scared by the prospect of not being able to repay the loan. He said that his son had called him to say that he had killed somebody and wanted to commit suicide. However, his son was arrested en route to their meeting.

The unemployed bank worker said he met Leung two years before the killing and had reluctantly lent him money after Leung threatened to end their relationship.

The court heard that a pathologist found 37 cut wounds on Leung's body, 13 stab wounds on his back and two stab wounds to a lung.

The trial continues.