Shu Man Poon pleads guilty to double murder of Ellerslie couple Mei Han Chong and Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok

• Shu Man Poon pleaded guilty to killing Mei Han Chong and Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok in Ellerslie.
• Most aspects of the case are now under a new suppression order.
• Poon will be sentenced on May 30; Lok Li’s trial was aborted and rescheduled.

Double-murder defendant Shu Man Poon has pleaded guilty to killing Mei Han Chong and Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok in the couple’s Ellerslie home two years ago, the media can now report after a suppression order lapsed this morning.

However, most aspects of the case are now subject to a new and far-reaching suppression order.

Poon, 44, appeared in the High Court at Auckland dock on Monday morning last week, just hours before jury selection was to begin for his trial alongside 27-year-old Lok Li. He instead entered guilty pleas, which were suppressed for reasons that cannot be reported.

Shu Man Poon appeared in the High Court at Auckland to begin his trial last week but instead pleaded guilty to two counts of murder. Photo / Michael Craig

Li’s trial was delayed before getting off to a brief start with the Crown opening address on Thursday last week. However, the six-week trial was aborted the next day before the first witness was called. The reasons for the aborted trial are also suppressed.

“There’s some prospect of the trial being unfair to Mr Li,” Justice David Johnstone told jurors as he dismissed them last week, adding he would not divulge details beyond that.

A new trial date for Li has not yet been set. Poon, meanwhile, is set to be sentenced on May 30.

Lok Fung Lorrence Li, 27, is accused of the double murder in November 2023 of Ellerslie residents Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok, 66, and his wife Mei Han Chong, 67. Photo / Michael Craig

Kwok, a 66-year-old orthopaedic nurse originally from Hong Kong, was found dead in the couple’s home in November 2023. Police discovered his wife’s body in a bushy area several days later.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.

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