A Hong Kong court has remanded a British man in custody after he was charged with the murder of an Indonesian woman at a waterfall park in the Southern district.
Jamie Tzewee Chapman, 34, appeared at Eastern Court on Friday morning to face a count of murder over the death of Novitasari Mevi on October 27 at Waterfall Bay Park, Aberdeen.
During the session, the prosecution applied for an adjournment to proceedings to allow time for further investigation.
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Chapman’s lawyer raised no objections to the adjournment and did not submit a bail application on behalf of the Briton, with the defendant set to appear at court again on January 24 of next year.
“In the meantime, you will stay in jail,” Principal Magistrate Don So Man-lung told Chapman.
Under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, those charged with murder can only be granted bail at the order of the judge, with a magistrate’s court unable to handle such a bail application.
A court document available for press inspection stated that Chapman was a Hong Kong identity card holder and lived in Ap Lei Chau.
Ap Lei Chau is near Waterfall Bay Park, where Mevi’s body was found on October 28.
At 7am that day, police received a report that her body had been found at the bottom of the waterfall. She was later recovered from the pond and certified dead at the scene.
Officers later arrested Chapman and his wife at the high-speed railway station in West Kowloon when they returned to Hong Kong on Tuesday of this week.
Chapman’s wife was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. She was released on bail and is required to report back to police next month.
More from South China Morning Post:
- British businessman charged with murder of Indonesian helper in Hong Kong
- Couple arrested over suspected murder of domestic helper found dead at Hong Kong waterfall
- Woman found dead in pond at Hong Kong’s Waterfall Bay Park
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