2nd November 2026 – (Hong Kong) The High Court today opened the murder trial of Lo Chun-ming over the 2022 death of yoga instructor Aqua Chow Wai-yin, with prosecutors saying she vanished after viewing a luxury handbag photo and was later found in a bloodied bathtub at The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong.
Ms Chow, born in 1999 and 23 at the time, was known to friends as Aqua. She was found in a Tsim Sha Tsui hotel room with about 30 stab wounds. Mr Lo, also known as Alex and aged 28 when charged, faces one count of murder alleging that between 29th and 30th June 2022 he killed her in a room at the hotel. He denies the charge. The case is listed as HCCC 148/2024.
In opening submissions the prosecution said the pair had been a couple but had already split by the time of the alleged offence, and that Ms Chow had a new boyfriend. Friends told investigators that Mr Lo appeared well-off, often wearing branded watches and driving a Porsche. Around March 2022, when Ms Chow underwent a termination of pregnancy, her friend Elaine said she saw Mr Lo claim he had no cash and ask Ms Chow to advance about HK$40,000, promising to repay it.
Their relationship, the court heard, began in February 2021. By April that year they were living together in a Hung Hom flat; Ms Chow moved out about six months later. The bond was unstable and they parted in February 2022, after which she lived at Oi Hoi Chung in Sham Shui Po. Four months later she began seeing a man surnamed Wong. Before the alleged killing she had planned to fly to the United States for a yoga course.
On 28th June 2022, the eve of her intended departure, Elaine helped her pack. Elaine left around 11pm; Ms Chow said she would meet her new boyfriend and then dropped out of contact. Mr Wong told police they had meant to dine on the 29th before he took her to the airport, but he lost touch near 5pm. He still went to the airport hoping to find her. She never boarded as planned that night.
The same day she also met a friend surnamed Lau. Lau noticed Telegram chats with someone named “Alex Lo”, who sent a photo of a brown Delvaux handbag that appeared to have been taken inside a shop. Ms Chow said “Alex Lo” would give her a bag and that she meant to ask for a scarf as well; Lau also saw Hermes scarf images from him. By about 7pm that evening Lau could no longer reach her.
Ms Chow’s mother reported her missing before 1pm on 30th June. Police searched Mr Lo’s home; he said he did not know where she was. That evening he went to Wong Tai Sin Police Station with a lawyer, who handed over a card holder marked “The Ritz-Carlton” and two key cards. Officers who entered the room found blood on the carpet outside the bathroom, on pillows and bedding, and inside two wardrobes. The bathroom door was shut. After calling out and putting on gloves and shoe covers, a officer searched inside and found Ms Chow lying in a blood-filled bath. The prosecution says those final handbag messages and the hotel keys form the bridge between a planned US trip and the discovery that ended it.
