Money changer's killer splashed head to toe in blood

The killer of an elderly money changer in Tai Po is suspected to have been splashed with blood from head to toe as the victim’s artery was slashed in the attack, the Post was told.

With the culprit still on the run, police have turned to 13 bloody footprints, each about 28cm long, blurred images of the perpetrator and more than a hundred CCTV recordings to help in their search.

The killer had taken a wallet from Yiu Chik-chuen, 71, on Monday morning before fleeing from the Wan Tau Street store, a source with knowledge of the investigation said.

“But he failed to find the HK$560,000 concealed in a belt hidden in the victim’s waistband,” the source added.

The wallet contained Yiu’s identity card, bank cards and some cash.

Initial investigations showed Yiu was about 60cm from the masked robber when the latter slashed his throat with a box cutter, the source said.

“[The culprit’s] jacket, face mask and a pair of black gloves were probably splashed with blood in the attack. That was why he took them off and stuffed them into his backpack before he left the shop,” the source added.

“His trousers were splashed with blood. We believe no passers-by noticed this during his escape because they were dark coloured.”

Police are hunting for a Chinese man thought to be aged between 30 and 40. The suspect was of medium build, about 1.75 metres tall, and was wearing dark-framed glasses and a dark sweater.

The source said the footprints indicated the killer was wearing sports shoes.

The masked culprit followed the money changer into the shop at about 9.30am on Monday. Police said the killer left the store about 15 minutes later.

Yiu was left bleeding inside the shop for about two hours before a customer found him behind the counter in a pool of blood. He was taken to hospital and declared dead at around 12.10pm.

A post-mortem examination carried out on Wednesday found that Yiu had died from loss of blood.

Another source told the Post: “We believe the culprit acted alone. He panicked when the robbery went wrong.”

Yiu ran the shop with his wife for many years. They moved the business to Wan Tau Street in Tai Po about six months ago.

Source: SCMP