The Girl Whose Decapitated Head Was Left Inside a Hello Kitty Doll

If you’re a fan of Hello Kitty merchandise, prepare yourself—after hearing about this case, you’ll never look at those adorable kittens the same way again. This is one of the most shocking and disturbing true crime stories in Hong Kong’s history: the Hello Kitty murder.

The Haunting Confession

It all began in May 1999, when a terrified 14-year-old girl, known only as Ah Fong, walked into a Hong Kong police station. She claimed she was being haunted by the ghost of a dead woman—bound with electrical wires, covered in blood, and unable to rest. At first, the police dismissed her story, believing she was hallucinating or under the influence of drugs, given her troubled background and ties to unsavory individuals.

But then, Ah Fong revealed something that changed everything: she was involved in the murder herself, and she knew exactly where the body was hidden. She explained that the ghost had been tormenting her for weeks, demanding that she confess.

The Horrific Discovery

Still skeptical, the police followed Ah Fong to an apartment in Kowloon. What they found would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

The apartment was decorated from floor to ceiling with Hello Kitty memorabilia—curtains, towels, sheets, silverware, and dozens of plush dolls. But one oversized Hello Kitty mermaid doll stood out, and inside it was something so nightmarish that it would shock the entire nation: the decapitated head of the victim.

The scene was so gruesome that a seasoned investigator later admitted he had never encountered such brutality in his 21 years on the force.

The Victim: Fan Man-yee

The victim was Fan Man-yee, a woman whose life had been marked by hardship from the very beginning. Abandoned by her parents as a baby, Fan grew up in an orphanage, only to be kicked out at 16 with no skills and nowhere to go. Desperate to survive, she fell into addiction, petty crime, and sex work.

For a brief period, Fan found some stability—she married a fellow addict, had a son, and tried to turn her life around. She found work as a hostess and attempted to overcome her addiction, but her struggles continued.

The Tragic Chain of Events

In 1997, Fan crossed paths with Chan Man-lok, a 34-year-old triad member and drug dealer. Chan became both her customer and supplier, and when Fan stole $4,000 from him, he demanded repayment with interest—$10,000 total. Fan managed to return the initial sum, but Chan wasn’t willing to wait for the rest.

In March 1999, Chan and two accomplices, Leung Wai-lun and Leung Shing-cho, kidnapped Fan and brought her to their apartment. There, they subjected her to unimaginable torture for more than a month. She was beaten, burned, tied up with electrical wires, and gagged with filthy rags. Ah Fong, just 13 at the time and dating Chan, participated in the abuse, later admitting she thought it was “for fun.”

Fan’s suffering was relentless. As she grew weaker, the men escalated their cruelty, suspending her from the ceiling and using her as a human punching bag. When she finally died alone in the bathroom, her body was mutilated further in a grotesque attempt to cover up the crime. The men dismembered her, boiled her remains, and disposed of most of the body with household trash. Her head was stuffed inside the Hello Kitty doll, while other parts were fed to dogs or stored in the fridge.

The Aftermath

The police arrested Chan and his accomplices, and Ah Fong testified against them, providing harrowing details of the ordeal. Despite the overwhelming evidence of torture, the men denied murder, claiming Fan died of a drug overdose and that they dismembered her out of fear of being implicated.

Due to the condition of Fan’s remains, medical examiners could not determine the exact cause of death, and the men were convicted of manslaughter rather than murder. They were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years—a decision that still sparks outrage.

Ah Fong was not charged, as her testimony was crucial to the case.

The Lingering Hauntings

After the crime, eerie events plagued the building. Residents reported ghostly touches, women’s cries at night, and sightings of a female apparition on the stairs. Staff at a nearby salon found Hello Kitty dolls mysteriously appearing overnight, and CCTV footage showed unexplained shadows. The building was eventually abandoned and demolished in 2012.

Conclusion

The Hello Kitty murder remains one of the most chilling cases in Hong Kong’s criminal history—a story of unimaginable cruelty, haunting guilt, and the dark side of humanity. For those who love Hello Kitty, the innocence of the brand has forever been stained by this horrific chapter.

Sometimes, reality is far scarier than fiction.