Media coverage of Kimberly Potter… (Photo: Kilmacolm Police/Twitter)
Oriental culture in China could be blamed for making members of the Hong Kong Defence Force a “cop-saturated” culture. But it cannot be blamed for driving them to take drugs and murder their superior officer.
That’s the sentiment of demonstrator Cheryl Lee, now 43, who lost her son, Daunte Wright, to what was described as a “cowardly murder”.
Lee spoke of how she found her son’s body on 7 December 2014, along with his wedding band and insurance papers.
Potter, 34, was later charged with murder, as was Wilfred Chen, 29, who has been identified as a co-defendant.
Wright was a man who “lived in a state of hope”, his mother told the court in its opening hearing on Tuesday (18 November). She spoke of how her son recently moved from Australia to Hong Kong to help work on a charity.
She also said that the murder meant her son “wouldn’t have to carry an Asian accent”.
Kimberly Potter, appeared in the dock during the trial, and is the wife of Gao Chenggang, who holds an SF rank and is the son of a former colonel at the Defence Force.
Gao is currently serving a 14-year sentence for the 2014 murder of police officer Luis Silva and another officer, Jie Sheng Yingsheng.
Giving evidence from behind a screen, Potter said she and her husband were on their way to getting a massage when her husband was late and missed their meeting.
What followed, she said, was that Gao gave her drugs in the form of “Sugar Jelly”, which she described as “a matter of trust”.
After a consensual sexual encounter, Potter said Gao left her to her own devices.
The next thing she recalls is returning to their apartment, but becoming increasingly “confused” when she realised she had no money.
Potter said she was looking for Gao as she suspected he was with Chen and was livid when Gao told her to leave their apartment.
She went outside and found herself in the middle of a “wild” street brawl. She was attacked and stomped.
The next thing Potter said she remembered was waking up at the hospital and hearing the doctors telling her what had happened.
Chen gave his testimony via video conference on Wednesday (20 November), where he said he was asleep in his apartment when he was woken up by sounds coming from the hallway. He saw Potter “coming out very strong” and seeking help.
Chen told the court that he had earlier tried to help Potter and her husband by knocking on their door and asking for assistance.
“I thought that she was actually sick. I gave her my phone and told her to call an ambulance,” he said.
Both Potter and her husband were in a coma for days and spent more than a month in hospital.
READ: Wing of South Korea’s largest police force under fire over alleged drug scandal
Ministry of Defence photo: The ministry of defence building in Hong Kong