In 1999 a 23 year old night club hostess by the name of Fan Man-yee was kidnapped by 3 men: 34 year old Chan Man-lok, 27 year old Leung Shing-cho, 21 year old Leung Wai-lun and Chan Man-lok's 13 year old girlfriend after allegedly stealing a wallet from one of them. They took her to an apartment at No.31 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, where they imprisoned her. They beat and tortured her daily over a debt dispute of HK$20,000.
After a month of imprisonment and torture, Fan was killed (or died as a result of injuries) and dismembered. Her captors placed her skull inside of a Hello Kitty mermaid doll and discarded the rest of her remains. Only Fan's skull, one tooth, and some internal organs were recovered.
Fan's remains were found only after Chan's girlfriend led police to the scene.
The 3 men were convicted of manslaughter as the jury rules the remains were not sufficient to show whether Fan was murdered or died in another way, such as a drug overdose. The underage girlfriend of one of the men testified at the trial in exchange for immunity.
The trio were convicted of manslaughter by a jury after a six week trial. Justice Peter Nguyen, who sentenced the trio to life in prison, stated, "Never in Hong Kong in recent years has a court heard of such cruelty, depravity, callousness, brutality, violence and viciousness."
Psychiatric reports described the 3, members of a secret triad society, as "remorseless". The jury could not rule that the men intended to kill 23 year old Fan Man-yee, which would have meant a mandatory life sentence, but it was determined she died as a result of their abuse. There will be no review for parole for 20 years, i.e. until 2019.
The apartment building in which the crime took place was demolished in September 2012 and has been rebuilt as a hotel in 2016.