This post contains all the introductory details and news articles up to July 15th, 2005. More recent updates can be found at the Nancy Kissel case update post.

* Here is a summary of the case to date with links to Phil's extensive coverage (from November 2004)
* the pretrial hearings
* the first day of the trial
* ESWN has a compilation of coverage of the trial in both the English and Chinese press: Kissel case part 1; Kissel case part 2; Kissel case part 3; Kissel case part 4; Kissel case part 5.

Updated June 14th
* The Standard: Scotch twist in Kissel case
* ESWN coverage part 6.
* The SCMP's unlinkable report today covers much the same ground as The Standard. Some excerpts:

American banker Robert Kissel suspected his wife was poisoning his scotch about two months before she allegedly served him a sedative-laced milkshake and bludgeoned him to death, the Court of First Instance heard yesterday.
Frank Shea, owner of the Alpha Group, a New York private detective agency, said his client expressed concerns that his wife, Nancy Ann Kissel, 40, was trying to kill him shortly after he returned to Hong Kong from a New York trip for back surgery on August 23, 2003...

When the detective visited Hong Kong and met Kissel at the China Club on September 1, 2003, his client told him he "felt guilty about his suspicions". He said Kissel sometimes thought his marriage was getting better and then he would find evidence that his wife was still communicating with her alleged lover, Michael del Priore...At the request of Robert Kissel, Mr Shea sent private detective Rocco Gatta to spy on the defendant in Stratton, Vermont, in June and July 2003, where she was staying with her three children to escape the Sars outbreak. Kissel told him to watch out for Mr del Priore, who he described as a white Caucasian, who was very fit, in his late-20s to mid-30s. The deceased paid about US$24,000 for the 11-day service.

In cross-examination, Gary Plowman SC, for the defence, asked Mr Shea if he had ever mentioned to the deceased whether the blood or urine test would detect the presence of cocaine. But the detective said he had not used the words "cocaine" or "illegal drugs". "Did Robert Kissel ever tell you he used cocaine?" asked Mr Plowman. "Absolutely not," Mr Shea replied...

Robert Kissel's secretary at Merrill Lynch, Moris Chan, who testified yesterday, said she had helped arrange for the defendant to fly to San Francisco on November 16 to stay there for about a week. But Ms Chan said she had received an e-mail from Robert Kissel on October 31, 2003, saying: "Please do not pay until I agree." She said the defendant had gone to her husband's office to decorate his room with family pictures and pot plants in September while he was away.

The case continues today before Mr Justice Michael Lunn.

Update June 15th

* The Standard: Milkshake turned murder case witness into 'a baby'.
* SCMP:

A neighbour of Nancy Ann Kissel passed out and later bizarrely treated himself to three tubs of ice cream after she served him and her husband a "strange" milkshake in her Parkview flat, the Court of First Instance was told yesterday. Andrew Tanzer yesterday described his first encounter with Robert Peter Kissel and his family on the fateful Sunday of November 2, 2003 - hours before the top American banker at Merrill Lynch was allegedly murdered by his wife. It was also the day when the deceased intended to discuss a divorce with his wife, the court heard.

The encounter began, Mr Tanzer said, when he and his seven-year-old daughter were stopped by the accused in her Mercedes while they were about to take a taxi at Parkview to travel to the United Jewish Congregation (UJC) in Mid-Levels. He said Kissel, also on her way to the UJC, offered them a ride after noticing his daughter carrying a schoolbag bearing the logo of the congregation's Sunday school. At the UJC, Mr Tanzer was introduced to the deceased and his children. His "sociable" daughter, recognising that the Kissels' eldest daughter, June, was also from Parkview, urged him to arrange for them to play together later. He recalled having a friendly conversation with Mr Kissel for almost an hour while their daughters were playing in the Kissels' flat that afternoon. He said he asked the deceased for a glass of water. June and his daughter later came out of the kitchen with two identical glasses of milkshake for him and Mr Kissel.

"It was a strange milkshake - fairly heavy, sweet, thickened ... with banana taste, crushed cookies, reddish, which I guess was from some strawberries or flavouring," he told government prosecutor Peter Chapman. "I have never drunk something like this before." Mr Tanzer said he found it odd that the defendant never came out to talk to him. Only once had she popped her head out of the kitchen, when they were drinking the milkshake. "I asked what was in it. She mentioned something like: It was a secret recipe," he said.

Shortly after returning to his flat at about 4pm, the witness said he blacked out and fell asleep. "I have not had such an experience ever before then or since then," he said. He had felt quite disoriented the next morning because he could not recall what had happened since 4pm the day before, even though he had not drunk alcohol that day.

His wife, Kazuko Ouchi, said yesterday she felt something was wrong when her husband returned home with a "very red face". "His eyes were not focused and he was not talking as usual ... Alcohol couldn't be a reason because he doesn't turn red with alcohol," she said, adding that she had thought about calling an ambulance. Ms Ouchi said her husband told her he had taken nothing but "a milkshake made by June's mother" when she asked if he was ill. She hit his cheeks and shouted when she realised he was falling asleep. "He couldn't lift himself up. I tried to [get] him up. But his body didn't move," she said.

When he woke at about 7pm, Ms Ouchi said he ate three tubs of ice cream in a "bizarre way ... like a baby ... with ice-cream dripping all over the place. "I couldn't imagine how much ice-cream he ate. I have never seen him behaving like this."

Robin Egerton, a family lawyer, told the court the deceased had told him his wife was "committing adultery" when he first consulted him about possible separation arrangements in late August 2003. Mr Kissel had said his wife was "unfazed" when he showed her bills with details of her phone calls to her alleged lover in the US. Mr Egerton said the deceased told him at a second meeting two days before his death that he was going to discuss arrangements about separation with his wife on the afternoon of November 2, 2003.

A written witness statement from Fung Yuet-seung, an assistant in a clinic on Icehouse Street, indicated that the defendant was prescribed tablets of Stilnox, Lorivan and Amitriptyline on her visit in October 30, 2003. The drugs were also found in the deceased's stomach, according to government laboratory tests.

The defendant has pleaded not guilty to murdering her husband, whose body was found rolled up in a carpet in a Parkview storeroom in November 2003.

The case continues today.

Update June 16th

* The Standard: Kissel breaks down in court.
* The SCMP:

The wife of a top American banker ordered her maid not to clean the master bedroom and sent her on a series of unusual errands - including buying a nylon rope and clearing out a storeroom - in the days after she allegedly murdered her husband, the Court of First Instance was told yesterday.

Maximina Macaraeg, one of two domestic helpers working for the family of Robert Peter Kissel, said Nancy Ann Kissel told her to skip the couple's bedroom when she was about to start her daily cleaning of the luxury Parkview flat on November 3, 2003. "The door to the master bedroom was closed... She told me to just leave it," said Ms Macaraeg. Kissel, 40, has pleaded not guilty to murdering her husband on or about November 2, 2003. The prosecution alleges she served him a drugged milkshake before bludgeoning him to death that Sunday.

The maid, who had worked for the Kissels since 2000, also recalled last seeing Robert Kissel at a Parkview car park shortly after 5pm on that Sunday. When Ms Macaraeg returned to the flat about an hour later, she saw the door of the master bedroom slightly ajar, the court heard. She said Kissel told her to tell the children to be quiet because their father "was sleeping in the room". The helper said Kissel told her she burnt herself on the oven when she asked about a bandage on her right hand on the following Tuesday. The accused again ordered her not to clean the master bedroom. "She told me they had a fight. Mr Kissel left the house and is staying in a hotel," Ms Macaraeg said.

On Wednesday morning while tending to the Kissels' youngest son, Ms Macaraeg said Kissel "all of a sudden" ordered her to take out all the boxes from a storeroom she rented in another block in Parkview and put them in the corridor. The body of her husband, who worked for banking giant Merrill Lynch, was found rolled up in a carpet in that storeroom in November 2003.

The accused then sent her to the Adventist Hospital to buy a Velcro belt, saying her ribs were hurting. When she returned to the flat, Kissel sent her out to a hardware store in Stanley to buy rope. She bought a piece of red-and-white bundled nylon the width of a little finger. Closed-circuit TV images played to the jury yesterday showed a woman, identified by the maid as Kissel, entering and exiting her flat numerous times on November 3. Images captured at about 2am showed Kissel going down to the car park and taking the lift back up to the flat in less than 15 minutes. It also showed her carrying a rug and a big suitcase in two separate instances that afternoon.

Samantha Kriegel, a friend of the accused, told the court Kissel called her on November 6 and asked if she could take over a fund-raising event she had been organising for the United Jewish Congregation. "She was very distraught ... she said she was dealing with issues about Robert's health," she said. She had met the defendant's father, Ira Keeshin, who she thought had just arrived from the US, during her brief visit to the Kissels' flat that morning to pick up the invitation cards for the event. "She looked terrible ... and seemed like she has been under lots of stress." Ms Kriegel said Kissel had asked her on the phone not to mention her husband's situation while in the flat for fear that "she will breakdown in front of the children". Kissel, who has often been expressionless during the trial, was in tears when the witness left the court.

The case continues today.

Update June 17th

* The Standard: Murder suspect 'could not forgive,; maid tells court.
* SCMP:

The four-year-old son of top American banker Robert Peter Kissel had no idea that his father's corpse was being carried past as he held open the door of the family's Parkview apartment so four workmen could wheel out a "smelly" rolled up carpet, the Court of First Instance heard yesterday. Maximina Macaraeg, a domestic helper for the family, told the court the boy, the youngest of the three Kissel children, groaned from the smell when the men from Parkview's housekeeping office pushed their old carpet out on a trolley on the afternoon of November 5, 2003.

"It seemed that he smelled something funny. I pulled him [to me] and said: `Come here.' As I pulled him, I also smelled [something] smelly," she said. Testifying on the eighth day of a 40-day jury trial, Ms Macaraeg said that defendant Nancy Ann Kissel had ordered her to tell the workmen to move items, including the carpet, her husband's golf clubs and a cabinet in the master bedroom, to a storeroom she rented two blocks away. The defendant had told the maid she was tired and would retire to her bedroom when the workmen came.

The prosecution witness said the head workman asked her "why was it that the carpet ... was smelly?" when he returned with the key of the storeroom after finishing the job...Ms Macaraeg recalled she was admiring the two new carpets she found in the living room on the morning of November 5 when she saw the old carpet - which used to cover the floor of the living room - rolled up behind the couch. "When I saw it, I felt uncomfortable. Because I wanted to get rid of the bad feeling, I asked her: `What was that?'" Ms Macaraeg said. Kissel told her pillows and bed sheets were wrapped in the rug.

But the maid said she did not believe her because the old carpet roll was "so big". The maid said she called the other helper at the house, Connie, and told her that "Mrs Kissel might have done something wrong to Mr Kissel". The defendant had earlier told her that the deceased had an argument with her and was staying in a hotel. The witness was asked to identify a large number of items seized from cardboard boxes in the flat, including the metal ornament alleged by the prosecution to be the murder weapon. The object had a base about 15cm wide with two needles sticking up and two detached figurines of two girls kneeling in their dresses.

Ms Macaraeg said the ornament, which was also examined by Mr Justice Michael Lunn and the seven jury members, was originally placed on top of the cabinet in the master bedroom.

The helper yesterday described Kissel as a "good woman" with a "hot temper". "If you made a mistake, she would bang the door or whatever she sees," she said. But Ms Macaraeg said the defendant's temper only emerged in early 2002. She also observed a change in the couple's relationship, saying there was no more "sweetness" between them in early 2003.

The witness agreed when Gary Plowman SC, for the defence, asked her if she thought Kissel was more generous to Connie, who had worked for the family longer, than to her. She refused to look directly at Mr Plowman all the way through yesterday's cross-examination, even at the request of the counsel.

Ms Macaraeg was also shown the contents of the boxes in photos, including blood-stained bed sheets and towels. But she refused to look at the pictures of the face of the deceased.

The case continues today.

Update June 18th

* The Standard: Victim's home wide open, court hears.
* The SCMP:

A maid working for Nancy Ann Kissel yesterday denied telling police that Kissel had said, a day after she allegedly murdered her husband, that he had "hit and assaulted" her. Maximina Macaraeg told the Court of First Instance that the defendant only told her she had had "an argument" with her husband, and that the master bedroom was not to be cleaned.

Defence counsel Gary Plowman SC asked the witness why she had said in signed statements on November 7 and November 18, 2003, that "in the morning, Nancy told me she was hit and assaulted by Robert". The maid apologised and said she had not read the written statements properly before signing them. "That is my mistake, sir. I did not read them because the police hurried us," she said.

Ms Macaraeg also denied knowing that Nancy Kissel had broken ribs - as recorded in one of her earlier written statements - when she sent Ms Macaraeg to the Adventist Hospital to buy a Velcro belt for her on November 5, 2003. She told the court yesterday that her employer said only that her back was hurting. Mr Plowman asked her if Robert Peter Kissel was a strong person who liked to be in control of his family. Ms Macaraeg replied that he would discipline his children if they misbehaved. But she said he would never harm them.

Asked by Mr Plowman if the deceased would also discipline his wife, the helper said: "Possible."...Cross-examining Ms Macaraeg on the ninth day of the sensational trial, Mr Plowman asked her if she had noticed that the defendant had a black eye and was wearing dark glasses some time around September and October, 2003. The witness said she had not noticed it.

Mr Plowman also asked if she remembered Kissel wearing a Velcro belt some time in 2001. She said she did not see the belt, although the defendant had told her she broke her ribs after playing tennis at Aberdeen Marina Club at that time. She also remembered that her employer was limping with an injured ankle after the family returned from a vacation in Phuket. Otherwise, she said, she could not recall seeing any injuries on Kissel since she started working for the family in early 2000. The witness said she knew nothing about the deceased's drinking habits.

A sense of tension was revealed yesterday as the witness told the court how she detected a change of attitude on the defendant's part, starting from 2002. "I was not happy because her attitude was bad," she said. At one point around April that year, the maid said she decided to leave her job, but the defendant had said she could not. "I stayed in my room for five days, not doing anything. I kept waiting," she said. In the end, the deceased persuaded her to stay.

The defence counsel revealed yesterday that the metal ornament alleged by the prosecution to have been the murder weapon had been inherited by Kissel from her grandmother. Ms Macaraeg also told the court that many people walked in and out of the Parkview apartment after November 6, 2003. She said the police did not seal off the flat but only told her not go to the master bedroom.

The case will continue on Monday.

Update June 21st

* The Standard: Stressed banker 'beat wife'
* SCMP: "Court told of drug-fuelled assault on Kissel"

Nancy Kissel told one of her maids that cocaine, alcohol, power and money had driven her banker husband to assault her on the day she allegedly murdered him, the Court of First Instance heard yesterday. Conchita Macaraeg said Kissel showed her bruises and cuts on November 4, 2003, and told her she had had a fight with her husband two days earlier. Kissel, 40, is accused of bludgeoning Robert Peter Kissel, a senior Merrill Lynch banker, to death after serving him a drugged milkshake in November 2, 2003.

She has pleaded not guilty to murder.

"Mrs Kissel said Mr Kissel assaulted her, was very drunk and he was under the drug cocaine," Ms Macaraeg, the second domestic helper to give evidence, said. "She also said Mr Kissel kicked her ribs," said Ms Macaraeg, a Filipino who had worked for the family since 1998 and is sister-in-law to helper Maximina Macaraeg, who gave evidence last week. When she asked Kissel why her husband would assault her, "she said it was because of his work. He had a lot of stress. She also said it was because of power and money". Kissel also told her that her husband was probably staying in a hotel, the maid said.

The victim's body was found wrapped in a carpet in the storeroom at Parkview, the Tai Tam development where the Kissels lived.

Ms Macaraeg said that on the morning of November 5 she noticed the living room carpet was rolled up behind the couch. She asked Kissel: "How did you manage to roll it by yourself when you told me last night your ribs were very painful?" Kissel had replied that she had asked for help. The helper said she told the deceased's colleague David Noh of the "unusual events" and asked him to report the matter to the police as a missing person case.

After the conversation with Kissel, Ms Macaraeg went as instructed to buy towels and a bed cover for the master bedroom. "She told me she used a new [bed cover] because the old one reminded her of Mr Kissel and it made her very lonely." The head of a group of workmen called to the flat about 2pm that day, Chow Yiu-kwong, told the court of a smell "like salt fish" when they moved the carpet to a storeroom two blocks away. "When I squatted down to carry the carpet, I smelt something like what Chinese people eat - salt fish," Mr Chow said. His three colleagues from the Parkview housekeeping office also noticed a "strange smell" as they moved the carpet on trolleys, along with the deceased's golf bag, a cabinet, a piece of white flimsy paper and a few cartons.

Mr Chow said his group was received by a Filipino maid. But when he returned after completing the task, a foreign woman of medium build and golden hair opened the door and asked him if everything was alright. "I told her a smell came from the carpet. But she acted as if nothing had happened and then she said goodbye and closed the door," he said.

Ms Macaraeg was asked by government prosecutor Peter Chapman about the alleged affair between Kissel and Michael del Priore, a TV repairman, when the family stayed in Vermont, United States, in the summer of 2003. The maid said Mr del Priore started visiting to fix their sound system in May when the victim was there. In July, after the deceased returned to Hong Kong, Ms Macaraeg said Kissel told her Mr del Priore was bringing his daughter to play with her children. When "Michael and Mrs Kissel were together, she would tell me to go down and watch the children play", she said. The repairman was still with Kissel when Ms Macaraeg and the children retired to bed at about 10pm.

The maid also recalled another time in July when Mr del Priore visited at night to fix their telephone lines. She said she was woken about 11pm by Kissel's daughter, who slept with the accused, who said she could not find her mother.

The trial continues today.

Update June 22nd

* The Standard: Maid defends slain banker.
* SCMP: Kissel maid quizzed on daughter's broken arm:

The defence in the Robert Kissel murder case sought to paint a picture of the top banker as a fierce disciplinarian - questioning a family maid yesterday about how the Kissels' daughter came to suffer a broken arm while on holiday.
Gary Plowman SC, counsel for Nancy Ann Kissel - who denies murdering her husband - asked Conchita Macaraeg whether it was true that the deceased had pulled his toddler daughter June's arm twice to quiet her down, shortly before she was sent to hospital with a broken elbow during a family holiday in Phuket at Christmas 1999...Mr Plowman contended that the child and the Kissels' elder daughter, Elaine, were jumping around in the bedroom of a villa at the Sheraton Laguna Hotel after the family returned from dinner.

"I suggest that ... Mr Kissel received a mobile phone call and he asked his wife Nancy to tell the children to keep quiet so he could take the call. Because Mr Kissel was having difficulty with his mobile phone, he went into the bedroom and pulled June off the bed to tell her to behave herself and stop making noises," said the counsel. Mr Plowman asked whether it was true that June burst into tears and went looking for her mother and that as the defendant was asking her daughter what had happened, Kissel had pulled June by the arm again. "I suggest that there was an argument between Mr and Mrs Kissel about his rough handling of the children. Mrs Kissel accused her husband of being responsible [for what happened to their daughter]," counsel said.

Ms Macaraeg said Mr Plowman's version of events that day was wrong. The Filipino maid said June's elbow had been broken by Elaine, who is now nine, repeatedly jumping on her sister, now aged six, while they were playing and watching television in the living room of the villa. Ms Macaraeg said that the incident happened in the morning rather than after dinner. She also insisted the couple had not been there when June got hurt and that she had not heard them arguing about the injury. "What I know is that all of us panicked when June was crying ... and Mr Kissel told Elaine: `It's okay. It is an accident'," the prosecution witness said.

The maid agreed that the couple sometimes argued because the deceased took a firmer line than his wife in disciplining their children, and that the victim was a disciplinarian whereas the accused was "not so much" a disciplinarian. "Did Nancy believe that Robert Kissel was rough in the way he handled the children?" Mr Plowman asked. Ms Macaraeg said she did not know.

Asked about her knowledge of the deceased's drinking habits, the maid said she had not seen him drinking whisky. She said she could only recall once finding a crystal whisky tumbler in the kitchen sink on any morning in September or October 2003, and that the glass was cracked. She said Kissel had explained to her later that he had miscalculated when he put the glass in the sink without switching on the light the previous evening. Counsel asked her why she had told the defendant's solicitor in an interview in December 2003 that she would find a whisky glass in the sink of the Parkview flat two mornings a week during the period in question. "I don't remember saying this," she replied.

The Court of First Instance also heard yesterday that the accused bought 10 tablets of Rohypnol - known as the date-rape drug - on November 4, 2003.

The case continues today before Mr Justice Michael Lunn.

Update June 23rd

* The Standard: Trial told of 'turning point'
* SCMP: "Wife said 'you'll pay for this', court told:

Robert Peter Kissel told a friend that his wife Nancy had warned him "you will pay for that" after the wealthy banker pushed her aside in the middle of a heated argument, the Court of First Instance heard yesterday. David Noh, a close friend and colleague of Robert Kissel at Merrill Lynch, said the incident had marked the "turning point" in the couple's relationship in the mind of the banker, whose wife is on trial for murdering her husband.

Recalling what Robert Kissel had told him, Mr Noh said: "They had a disagreement. Nancy kept yelling at Rob ... He shoved her aside. She then said to him: `You will never live that down'." Asked by the prosecutor to elaborate, Mr Noh said the deceased told him Nancy had said: "You will pay for that." He could not recall when the incident took place, but said it "pinpointed when things started to go wrong".

Mr Noh worked under Robert Kissel in early 2000 at Goldman Sachs in a team that purchased assets of companies facing bankruptcy. The two moved to Merrill Lynch in August 2000, where Robert Kissel became Asia-Pacific managing director of global principal products and Mr Noh was second-in-command...Mr Noh said Robert Kissel had sounded "bizarre" during their last contact - a 10-minute telephone conversation about 5pm on November 2, 2003. Mr Noh said he was talking about real estate prices while the banker kept talking about export growth.

"Rob was on a different tangent. He said he was sleepy and tired ... He sounded sometimes slurred in his speech and very mellow. I had to stop him," he said. "Being his good friend, I made fun of him," he added. During the call, the deceased also told the witness about his intention to discuss divorce with his wife that evening, the court was told. As a result, when the deceased did not show up for a conference call as planned at 7.30pm the same day, Mr Noh said he thought his boss was still in the middle of the discussion with his wife.

After Robert Kissel failed to attend an important meeting the following day, Mr Noh said he phoned him a few times until he eventually reached Nancy Kissel. "She told me they had some family issues and Rob would call me back soon," he said. She gave him a similar reply on November 5, the court heard. Mr Noh said he made a missing person report at the Western police station on November 6, 2003.

He said yesterday the victim's primary concern in any divorce had been access to his three children. "He said he would give Nancy as much money as she needs to keep her lifestyle - even if it meant bringing her boyfriend to Hong Kong - so that he could see his children on weekends." Mr Noh said he first learnt from the deceased about the couple's marriage problems in May 2003.

The banker had lost hope in the marriage after he found phone bills - allegedly showing frequent contacts between the accused and her lover in Vermont, US - in her handbag in late September, Mr Noh said.

The hearing before Mr Justice Michael Lunn continues.

Update June 25th

* The Standard: Police 'misled' Kissel on purpose of interview
* The SCMP: Kissel denied she rented storeroom, officer tells court

Nancy Kissel denied having rented a storeroom at her luxury estate, Parkview, where she allegedly hid the body of her American banker husband rolled up in a carpet, the Court of First Instance heard yesterday. Yuen Shing-kit, formerly chief inspector of crime at Western District police station, said Kissel answered "no" when his teammate and officer in charge of the case, See Kwok-tak, asked if she had rented a storeroom in the Tai Tam residential complex shortly after 10pm on November 6, 2003.

Inspector See then told Kissel the police had confirmed with Parkview's management on an earlier visit on the same day that she had rented a storeroom and asked if she had the key, he told the court. The accused said no again and asked to talk in private to her father, Ira Keeshin, who arrived a day before from Chicago according to immigration records. Mr Yuen said Mr Keeshin suddenly jumped up with his palms on both sides of his head, saying "oh my God, I don't believe it" a few times while walking towards the officers.

"At that time, I looked at Mrs Kissel. I saw her sobbing ... shuddering more severely than the first time [when we entered the flat]," Mr Yuen said. "I sensed something unusual." The accused eventually handed over three keys to the officers after they told her father they had search warrants, the prosecution witness said. He then invited Kissel to go to the storeroom with his team. "She refused to go and said she would never go there," he said. Mr Yuen said he saw a big roll of carpet covered by a plastic sheet, a bag of golf clubs and some furniture when his team entered the storeroom. "I smelt a strong smell, [which] according to my experience was [from] a dead body," he said.

A pathologist cut open the wrappings of the carpet and inserted his hand into the roll and confirmed he could feel a human head at 2.15am on November 7, 2003...

Alexander King SC, for the defence, argued yesterday that Mr Keeshin said "oh my God, it can't be" instead of "oh my God, I don't believe it". He also suggested that Mr Yuen had told Mr Keeshin "I have children as well" in a show of sympathy after telling him "I am fairly confident we know what happened". But the prosecution witness said that was not the case. Mr King also argued that by the time police arrived at the front door of the apartment, they had already known they were investigating a murder, rather than a missing person case, and that Kissel was a suspect.

He said police had already acquired information from David Noh, a colleague and close friend of the deceased, about a large, smelly carpet in the storeroom when he reported the banker was missing to the Western District police station at about 4pm on November 6. The court also heard yesterday that the warrants issued by the magistrate had mentioned an investigation of a potential murder.

Mr Yuen said "correct" when the defence counsel asked him to confirm that his team had "at no time" cautioned the defendant while they were in her apartment on November 6. But he justified the failure to do so by arguing that murder was only one of a number of possibilities he had in mind at the time.

The case continues before Mr Justice Michael Lunn on Monday.

Update 28th June

* The Standard: Defense pounces on 'unfair police'
* ESWN has a couple of translations of Chinese press reports of the case.
* SCMP: Officer denies bid to trick murder suspect:

A defence counsel for Nancy Kissel accused a senior police inspector of "playing cat-and-mouse" with him yesterday after the officer repeatedly denied having tried to trick the murder suspect by pretending to be investigating a case of assault and a missing person when questioning her at her Parkview flat. Alexander King SC argued in the Court of First Instance that police already had reasonable grounds to suspect his client had killed her banker husband, Robert Peter Kissel, when they rang the doorbell of her luxury Tai Tam apartment after 10pm on November 6, 2003. Mr King said Kissel had never been cautioned or told of her right to silence during the officers' visit, which followed her report to Aberdeen police that her husband had assaulted her and a missing person report filed by Robert Kissel's colleague, David Noh, to Western District police the same day.

See Kwok-tak, the officer in charge of the case, said suspicions that Kissel had killed her husband were "not that great". Mr King asked why, if the senior inspector was investigating an assault case, he had not paid any attention to Kissel's description in the master bedroom about how her husband had beaten her up. Mr See said it was partly because Chief Inspector Yuen Shing-kit, who was also in the bedroom, was listening to the defendant. The second reason was his attention was drawn to the "abnormal" situation of the room, which he said was in disarray, with clothes and boxes everywhere and many travel bags in the bathtub of the adjacent en-suite bathroom.

Mr King asked the prosecution witness "whether the little suspicion you had about a murder, upon your entry to the bedroom, ignited into a very big and real suspicion that you are now investigating a murder?" "It was not that certain it was a murder case. But ... there were a lot of question marks," said Senior Inspector See, adding that the scene in the bedroom had prompted his decision to find out quickly what was in a storeroom at the Parkview estate. The court heard the witness had learned from estate staff during his first visit to Parkview earlier that day that the defendant had hired workers to carry a heavy, smelly carpet to a storeroom.

"You are just playing around with me ... like a cat playing with a mouse," Mr King told the witness...Mr King asked why Senior Inspector See had to return to the Western District police station instead of going straight to Kissel's apartment on November 6 after talking to the management staff.

The witness said he had to apply for search warrants before returning and that his team was concerned Kissel might not let them into the storeroom without a warrant. He also told the court yesterday he discovered that Kissel's laptop computer had gone missing when he returned to the apartment on November 12. Asked by government prosecutor Peter Chapman how he eventually recovered the computer, Senior Inspector See said it was given to his subordinate by a lawyer representing Kissel.

The witness also described how a colleague vomited after discovering stinking, blood-stained towels in a black plastic bag in Kissel's daughters' room.

The trial continues today.

Update 29th June

* The Standard: Kissel defense challenges police over arrest notes.
* SCMP: Omissions were my mistake: constable

A constable told the Court of First Instance yesterday that it had been her mistake not to record possibly vital evidence from a conversation between Nancy Kissel and police in the hours leading to her arrest for the bludgeoning death of her husband.
Ng Yuk-ying, attached to Western police station, said Senior Inspector See Kwong-tak had told her to take notes of the interview in the Kissels' luxury Parkview flat after 10pm on November 6, 2003. At the time, they were investigating missing-person and assault cases. Constable Ng had been told Kissel had alleged she had been assaulted by her husband, Robert Peter Kissel.

But Alexander King SC, for the defence, argued that the officers were trying to mislead his client because they believed at that time that the case was one of murder. He pointed out yesterday that nowhere in her three written records - two notebooks and her statement taken in November 2003 - did Constable Ng mention that the investigation on that day was related to an assault. "It was my mistake. I forgot to record that into my police notebook as well as my notepad," Constable Ng said. In her statement, Constable Ng wrote that on arrival at the apartment, Chief Inspector Yuen Shing-kit explained to Kissel "the purpose of the visit [was that] we were investigating a missing-person case".

"Would you agree that it was a mistake you made not once, but three times?" asked Mr King. "Yes," Constable Ng replied....Mr King asked Constable Ng why none of her notes could verify her claim that Kissel had asked for a lawyer after Mr See, the officer in charge of the case, showed Kissel search warrants and that she had said "no" when asked if she had the keys to the storeroom. "I did not write down each and every word on my record," she replied.

Mr King asked why she had referred to Kissel as "AP" - police terminology for "arrested person" - twice in the part of her notes relating to incidents that occurred around 11.30pm, more than three hours before Kissel was cautioned and arrested. Constable Ng said she had written it incorrectly and the second "AP" actually meant "accompanied her". "I wrote too fast, I made a mistake," she said.

Mr King suggested to Constable Ng that Kissel said repeatedly "He wouldn't stop. He wouldn't stop", and later on, "Make sure the children are okay", after some officers left the flat to search the storeroom. But she disagreed. Constable Ng said she had heard Kissel's father, Ira Keeshin, say "My God, I don't believe it" four to five times in the flat but had not recorded it. "That surprised me and I had forgotten to write that sentence down," she said. The witness told prosecutor Peter Chapman she had been able to take more-complete notes of the first part of the conversation because they were speaking slowly.

The court also heard, in a written statement by Senior Inspector Wong Po-yan, that Mr Keeshin had asked for photographs to be taken of his daughter's injuries when she was treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital after the arrest. But the witness said Mr Keeshin changed his mind after talking to defence lawyers on the afternoon of November 7.

The case continues today.

Update June 29th

* SCMP: Kissel jurors endure bloody stench:

Jurors at Nancy Kissel's murder trial endured a stomach-churning day yesterday as the prosecution paraded a large number of blood-stained items seized at the alleged crime scene. The items were taken from the master bedroom of the Parkview flat Kissel shared with her husband and included a large white pillow half soaked in blood.

A strong stench spread from the tiny court storeroom next to the public gallery as police officers removed trial exhibits for Cheung Tseung-sin, the constable tasked with collecting physical evidence from the Parkview premises, to identify. At one point, an officer had to close the door of the storeroom to stop the smell from spreading. Prosecutor Polly Wan asked officers to show the witness contents of the four black plastic bags retrieved from the bedroom of the accused's two daughters in November 2003.

Most of the items, including two white pillows, two pillow cases, two towels, three bed sheets, a duvet, a T-shirt and nine pieces of tissue paper, were splattered with blood that had turned brown. The exhibits, examined by government chemists and stored in transparent plastic bags, are alleged to have originated from the master bedroom of the luxury apartment...Senior Inspector See Kwong-tak, officer-in-charge of the case, had said earlier in cross-examination that the smell in one of the bags was so bad that his colleague immediately vomited in the flat when it was first discovered.

The defendant lowered her head as most of the blood-stained objects were carried across the courtroom for the witness, counsels, the judge and the jurors to examine. The deceased's father, William Kissel, was in apparent grief and held his head in his hands throughout the ordeal, refusing to look at any of the objects. The stench had by this time become so intense that some police officers, members of the jury and the public gallery had to cover their mouths and noses with their hands. Officers said they had done all they could to remove the smell before the exhibits were presented in court yesterday.

The portrayal of the alleged murder scene was continued by Senior Constable Chong Yam-hoi, following Constable Cheung's testimony in the afternoon. Constable Chong, asked yesterday to identify a series of photographs taken at the flat, told the court that the close-up shots revealed blood stains were found on the wall, floor, a cabinet and on photo frames in the master bedroom. The court also heard that samples of the deceased's hair, stomach, penis, nails and anus were tested in a government laboratory. Government chemists and forensics officers are expected to testify in the next two weeks.

The case continues today before Mr Justice Michael Lunn.

Update 1st July

* SCMP: Kissel defence queries 'white powder':

Nancy Kissel's defence counsel drew the attention of the Court of First Instance yesterday to photos showing what he believed to be "white powder" on the carpet of the Parkview bedroom in which she allegedly murdered her husband.
Chong Yam-hoi, the senior police constable assigned to collect physical evidence, said forensics officer Tam Chi-ching had told him on November 7, 2003, to cut a square of the bedroom's bloodstained carpet for analysis. Photographs taken by another officer that day and identified by the witness yesterday revealed a bloodstain between the bed and the chest of drawers.

Alexander King SC, for the defence, asked Constable Chong who had decided on the size of the carpet sample. He said he had not been given instructions on size. Mr King then directed him to look at one of the photos showing the carpet. "Can you see white powder on the carpet?" he asked. The constable said he was not sure. Mr King pointed out that on November 7 the photographer had taken shots of the master bedroom before moving to the kitchen. He asked the officer why the photographer had returned to the bedroom afterwards to take two more shots before moving to other areas of the Tai Tam flat. Constable Chong said there was no special reason.

The defence counsel drew the witness's attention to another photograph taken of the bedroom carpet during his investigation on November 8 and asked him again if he could see "what appeared to be white powder on the floor".

"I don't know if it was powder," Constable Chong said...The court has heard Kissel told her domestic helper her husband attacked her under the influence of cocaine and alcohol after she refused to have sex on November 2. When asked yesterday who decided what to seize in the flat on November 8, Constable Chong said he was acting on the instructions of Senior Inspector See Kwong-tak and a government chemist. He could not recall seeing two bloodstains on a pair of brown knee-length boots in the bedroom.

His team had not seized a green travel case in the master bedroom's bathroom or a car key kept in a small box in the kitchen as seen in photos Mr King showed him. Forensic officer Mak Chung-hung told the court he was called to assist the investigation of the Parkview storeroom in Tower 15 of the complex in the early hours of November 7. He said he measured the heavy, stinking carpet roll which was lying on the floor and found it was 205cm long, 60cm wide and 45cm high. There were four seat cushions on top of the carpet which had been bound tightly with adhesive tape.

The court heard earlier from a police officer that the deceased's body had been covered with towels and his head put in a black plastic bag which was tied with blue, nylon string. He had then been placed in his daughter's sleeping bag, which had been stuffed with more towels and plastic bags before being rolled up in the carpet.

The case continues on Monday.

Update July 5th

* The Standard: Blood stains spattered around bedroom
* SCMP:

Blood was spattered across at least three sides of the spacious master bedroom in the flat in which Nancy Kissel allegedly bludgeoned her husband to death, a scientific evidence officer told the Court of First Instance yesterday. Tam Chi-ching, the government laboratory expert who was called to examine the bedroom with police officers on November 7, 2003, said he identified tiny blood spots on a photo frame placed on the left side of the head of the bed, one side of a wardrobe, the outer wall of the en suite bathroom, a cabinet near the foot of the bed and a television set on top of the cabinet.

Asked by prosecutor Peter Chapman how many blood spots could be seen on the television set, Mr Tam said: "The whole screen." He also told the court a surface of the cabinet under the TV was also covered with blood spots. The witness said that even as he was in the corridor walking towards the master bedroom of the luxury Parkview flat in Tai Tam, he smelt a foul smell similar to that of a decomposing body.

...Mr Tam also recalled finding a piece of green carpet at one end of the bed. When he lifted it, he discovered another carpet underneath with a stain that looked like blood. The result of a chemical test he conducted at the scene confirmed it was blood, he said. A bloodstain was found on the bed when Mr Tam lifted a green bedcover and white quilt. Similar stains were found on a pillow, he said. He recommended that officers seize the quilt and pillow.

Mr Tam told jurors he found bloodstains and rubbing marks on the headboard of the bed. He also found some "dirty stains" on the tailboard and observed that a small part of the cloth covering it had been cut. "According to the spread of bloodstains [in the master bedroom], I was of the view that someone had been attacked," he said. He then told police to cordon off the room and asked a government chemist to attend the scene to conduct a blood pattern analysis.

When asked by defence counsel Alexander King SC how many areas had been tested that day, Mr Tam said only the carpet near the foot of the bed had been tested. The court also heard from another prosecution witness yesterday that the day after the bedroom investigation, police went to the car park of the Parkview development to search a Porsche car used by the deceased. Constable Chan Ping-kong, of Western police station, said his team found four books of insurance policies in a storage area under the car's bonnet.

He said two of the policies were under the name of the defendant, while the other two were under the name of the deceased. Evidence emerged earlier that the defendant was the beneficiary or primary beneficiary of three life insurance policies worth a total of US$5 million that her husband held with a New York-based insurance company, as well as two Merrill Lynch life insurance policies with a total value of US$1.75 million.

The hearing continues before Mr Justice Michael Lunn today.

Update July 7th

The case has been postponed until Monday.

Update July 12th

* The Standard: Banker did not put up a struggle, murder trial told.
* SCMP:

There was no sign that Robert Peter Kissel put up a vigorous struggle when he allegedly was bludgeoned to death by his wife at the foot of their bed, jurors heard yesterday. But government chemist Lun Tze-shan was challenged by counsel for Nancy Kissel on why he had consciously omitted analysing samples from two bloodstains found near the head of the bed.

The chemist was called to analyse bloodstains in the bedroom of the Kissels' Parkview flat on November 8, 2003, six days after Nancy Kissel is alleged to have murdered her husband, a senior Merrill Lynch banker. She has pleaded not guilty. Mr Lun told the Court of First Instance the fatal attack could have happened at a low position in the space between the end of the bed and cabinets in the bedroom.

Identifying blood splatters or spots in seven areas of the bedroom from the photos he and his colleague took during their visit, Mr Lun explained that five of the stained areas - a TV screen, two cabinets, a brown paper bag and the rim of a wardrobe - were all at a low level around the foot of the bed. The remaining two areas - a framed painting and part of the wall below it - were near the head of the bed. DNA tests conducted on the blood samples seized from these areas showed they probably came from the deceased, he said.

Mr Lun said there was no sign of a vigorous struggle.

In the event of a struggle, "blood from the wounds of either of them would come into contact with furniture or the wall", Mr Lun said, and the stains would usually be "flattened out". But he had found no such bloodstains...Mr Lun said he believed the deceased was attacked when he was sitting or lying at a low position since there were no bloodstains higher on the walls or ceiling.

Defence counsel Alexander King SC asked Mr Lun why he had not mentioned in his report bloodstains found on a dehumidifier and a picture frame leaning against the wall on the floor near the bed head. Mr Lun said he noticed the stains but felt it was not necessary to record them and had not done a DNA analysis on them. "You made a conscious decision of not reporting the finding?" the defence counsel asked.

Mr Lun said he could already establish that blood was splashed from above on to the wall from two other bloodstains on the hanging picture and the part of the wall immediately below it.

The case continues before Mr Justice Michael Lunn today.

Update 13th June

* The Standard: Kissel crime scene expert sticks to guns under fire.
* SCMP:

The basis on which a witness made his bloodstain pattern analysis in the master bedroom of Nancy Kissel's Parkview flat was "fundamentally flawed" because he had failed to locate a number of possible bloodstains and signs of wiped-off blood, defence counsel Alexander King SC told jurors yesterday. Mr King argued that the government chemist, Lun Tze-shan, had deprived Kissel of a fair trial by destroying notes he made during his three-hour investigation of the room on November 8, 2003, six days after she allegedly murdered her husband, Robert Peter Kissel.

Dr Lun, who was asked yesterday to identify photographs taken by a scientific evidence officer, agreed that most revealed what appeared to be bloodstains in the bedroom. But when asked why he did not record them with his other bloodstain findings in his report, he replied he could not recall, or, in some cases, it was unnecessary. The bloodstain locations he allegedly missed included the wall separating the en-suite bathroom and bedroom, the door, a pair of dumb bells and a piece of cardboard near the bed head, and the wooden frame of a wardrobe...

Dr Lun said one of the photos revealed "possibly two blood smears" on the wardrobe and the wall near the foot of the bed. He could not rule out the possibility they were caused by a struggle. On Monday, Dr Lun said there was no sign the deceased had put up a vigorous struggle when allegedly attacked at the foot of the bed.

"Is it true the failure of locating one or two bloodstains could lead an expert to an erroneous or flawed conclusion?" Mr King asked yesterday. "It could be," said Dr Lun. But he disagreed with Mr King's allegation that the basis of his analysis was fundamentally flawed. Dr Lun, who had said it was unlikely an elongated object had been used, clarified yesterday that he could only say "an elongated weapon was not used after it had blood on it" - since it would cast off blood, which he could not find.

He said he was not aware bedding had been changed and a cabinet, two chairs and an armchair had been moved from the room before his inspection. He had no idea the flat had been handed back to the family before his second inquiry in the room on November 12. Dr Lun said that shortly before his retirement in June last year, he destroyed a notebook containing notes he made during the November 8 inspection. Asked by Mr King why, he replied: "I did not want to keep any information relevant to the laboratory when I left because I believed it would be immoral." He had put the data in a computer file but did not have a printout.

"You destroyed those notes at the time you knew you were going to be a potential witness for a homicide case, did you?" Mr King asked. Dr Lun replied "yes". He also agreed that the effect of destroying his notebook was that the court could not check its contents. But he said he did not do it with the intention of depriving the court of a fair trial.

Mr King said the only available contemporaneous record the chemist made at the crime scene was the photos he took. But he argued yesterday that they were taken by a family digital camera and were of poor quality.

The case continues today before Mr Justice Michael Lunn.

Update 14th July

* The Standard: Kissel jurors look for bloodstains.
* SCMP:

The jury in the Kissel murder trial was yesterday allowed its first close-up view of a blood-spattered television set and chest of drawers taken from the room where Nancy Kissel allegedly bludgeoned her husband to death. They were also asked to weigh with their hands a green carpet that CCTV footage appeared to show Kissel, 41, carrying at the Parkview estate on November 3, 2003, a day after she is alleged to have killed Merrill Lynch banker Robert Peter Kissel. A receipt for a carpet dated that day was found in her handbag, according to police. Three days later she told police her husband had assaulted her, causing multiple injuries.

Police officers in the Court of First Instance unwrapped the plastic sheeting covering the television set and the chest of drawers it sat on in the master bedroom of the Kissels' flat. Government chemist Lun Tze-shan testified on Tuesday said he found blood on the two items that was "probably from the deceased".

Constable Chan Kin-wah told the court he seized both items on November 12, 2003. The jury, lawyers and the judge took turns inspecting them. Constable Chan also identified a green carpet with a tag on one corner marked "CL 18" that matched a receipt from the furniture shop Tequila Kola which he took from the defendant's handbag. The receipt said: "4x6 feet, CL 18, taken, November 3, 2003"...Prosecutor Polly Wan asked the jury to look at a still from CCTV footage that showed the defendant carrying what appeared to be the green carpet. She then invited the jurors to carry the rug...The constable also identified other exhibits, including five bottles of pills from a kitchen cabinet, a mobile phone belonging to the deceased and samples of white powder found in the bedroom.

Defence counsel Alexander King SC also questioned Constable Chan about the three visits he made to the flat to conduct investigations. Mr King asked him whether he had been told by a superior to search the two rooms of the defendant's children during his first visit to the flat on November 12, 2003. He said he had investigated the room shared by the two daughters, but not the son's.

Constable Chan told the court he returned to the flat the next day after one of the Kissels' domestic helpers told police she had found items that had aroused her concern in "the wardrobe in the boy's room". His team seized plastic bags with a torn bedcover and stained tissue paper. The defendant's lawyer also told police to return on November 17 to collect more items.

The case continues today before Mr Justice Michael Lunn.

Update 15th July

* The Standard: Kissel DNA match 'probable'
* SCMP:

Damage to a heavy metal ornament Nancy Kissel allegedly used to bludgeon her banker husband to death suggested "significant force" had been used, a forensic scientist testified yesterday.
The family heirloom, weighing 3.7kg, is in the form of two girls seated face to face on a base the size of a man's hand. The witness, Wong Koon-hung, told the Court of First Instance it appeared the figurines had been stuck into the base when the metal was still hot. In addition, three nails protruding from the base held them in place. The witness said he believed "a force had been applied to the back of the heads of the figurines", causing the two pairs of legs to bend upwards and become detached from the base on which they lay. "A five-year-old would not have the strength to cause such disfigurement but adults would certainly be able to do that," he said.

Asked by government prosecutor Ada Chan if considerable force was needed for the disfigurement, Dr Wong said: "It is a significant force, not considerable." The court has heard the ornament had been an heirloom from the accused's grandmother...Pang Chi-ming, the government laboratory's DNA typing expert, said the two figurines and the ornament's base were splattered with blood when he received them for tests in November 2003.

Dr Pang told jurors he had tested DNA taken from blood on the ornament's base against samples taken from the deceased's spleen and the accused's saliva, and found it matched the deceased. The chance that the blood came from any white American other than Robert Kissel was one in 429 billion, he said.

"You have any idea about the size of the population of the whole world?" asked the prosecutor. "It is about six billion," the witness replied.

Dr Wong said he found DNA matching Kissel and the deceased on a blue cord the prosecution says was tied around a sleeping bag into which the deceased's body had been pushed. He also found DNA from three people on a white rope the defendant is alleged to have wound around a rolled-up carpet containing the sleeping bag with the body. Dr Pang said he could not rule out that the defendant was one of the three people whose DNA was on the rope.

Prosecutor Peter Chapman, who read out evidence given by two other chemists yesterday, said laboratory tests on two samples of a white powder taken from the wooden portion of the bed and the carpet near the foot of the bed in the master bedroom where the murder allegedly took place contained sodium carbonate, a chemical found in cleaning agents.

The sample contained no dangerous drug, Mr Chapman said. Mr Justice Michael Lunn asked the prosecutor to confirm that the white power was not cocaine. The prosecutor said that was so.

The case continues today.

Update July 16th

* The Standard: Blood from accused, victim found at scene.
* SCMP:

Blood samples that might have come from Nancy Kissel were found on the heavy metal ornament used to bludgeon her husband to death, a government chemist told the Court of First Instance yesterday. Pang Chi-ming, a DNA typing expert who testified as a prosecution witness for the second day yesterday, said his analysis revealed a mixture of DNA in the two blood samples obtained from the heads of two figurines on Kissel's heirloom. He told government prosecutor Ada Chan the possible sources of the DNA mixture were Kissel and the deceased.

Evidence given by Wong Koon-hung, a chemist who testified on Thursday, identified the back of the two figurine heads as the locations where "a significant force" had been applied. He added that this caused the legs of the two figurines - which lay flat on the base - to bend upwards.

Dr Pang said the blood samples extracted from other parts of the ornament, such as the top and bottom of the base, contained DNA that could only have come from the deceased. Dr Pang, who explained his DNA findings on a large number of bloodstained exhibits in court yesterday, said he found a blood stain between the third and fourth fingers of the interior of a black plastic glove the police seized from the Kissel daughters' room.

He told the jurors that DNA tests indicated the defendant was possibly the source of the stain and added that another bodily substance extracted from other parts of the glove was also possibly from her. The other bloodstained exhibits that were shown in court yesterday - including a number of cushions, pillows, and duvets - carried DNA possibly from the deceased, said Dr Pang.

The witness also told jurors that he found "quite a lot of blood" on a pair of navy blue shorts and a blue T-shirt exhibited in court yesterday. The clothing was allegedly worn by the deceased. The smell from the blood-stained items was such that the court interpreter wore a face mask and at least one juror covered his nose with a handkerchief.

In cross-examination, Alexander King SC, lawyer for the defence, asked Mr Wong why part of the DNA types taken from a carpet sample from the master bedroom could not be obtained. "Would a possible reason be that the carpet had been cleaned by sodium carbonate," asked Mr King.

Mr Wong replied: "I don't know if sodium carbonate would damage the DNA." He added he had not tested for the presence of the chemical, which is used in cleaning products, on the carpet sample. Asked if he had examined a piece of cloth found at the end of the couple's bed and the deceased's black pants, Dr Pang said his records showed that he had not done so.

The case continues before Mr Justice Michael Lunn on Monday.