A Malaysian ex-university professor in Hong Kong accused of murdering his wife and daughter has rejected prosecutors’ claims that an animal experiment he was carrying out with carbon monoxide was merely a ruse to obtain the deadly gas that killed them nine years ago via a yoga ball.
Anesthesiologist Khaw Kim Sun, 60, made the remarks at the High Court on Friday after dismissing his legal counsel and opting to defend himself in the remainder of his murder retrial.
“Dr Khaw thinks that the best interest lies in him representing himself,” Deputy Judge Brian Keith told the jury.
“He’s given a lot of thought to that, and I have therefore given permission to his legal team to withdraw from the case.”
The former Chinese University of Hong Kong associate professor allegedly placed an inflatable yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide inside the family’s yellow Mini Cooper to kill his wife Wong Siew Fing, 47, knowing she would use it to take two of their four children home from school.
He was said to have mistakenly killed his second daughter Lily Khaw Li Ling, 16, whom he did not realise was with her mother at the time.
