A HONG KONG man has retracted his confession that he killed his son 15 years ago during his second hearing at the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court on Wednesday.

    During the first hearing in February, the man, surnamed Kan, 54, admitted to killing his mistress and their 2-year-old son in 2000 before hiding their bodies in a rented apartment in Buji, Longgang District.

    His alleged crime wasn’t discovered until May 2014 when a cleaner was hired to clean his apartment.

    He had been paying rent regularly since 2000. The landlord only hired a cleaner to clean his room after he failed to pay the 3,000 yuan (US$476) rent on time at the end of April last year. The cleaner discovered the bodies of Kan’s mistress and son in a plastic bag.

    Kan was arrested by Shenzhen police as he entered the city from Hong Kong in May 2014.

    In the late 1990s many people from Hong Kong lived in Buji because it is close to the Luohu Checkpoint. While living there, the then 40-year-old Kan met his girlfriend, surnamed Yi. The pair had a son in 1998, although Kan already had a wife and a pair of children in Hong Kong.

    Kan worked in Hong Kong, but occasionally visited Yi and her son. He gave them about 2,000 yuan each month.

    Kan went into debt after losing a huge amount of money gambling and found himself unable to support his mistress and son in Shenzhen.

    During the first hearing, Kan told the court he decided to kill Yi and his son because of financial stress.

    Kan contradicted his confession during the second hearing Wednesday, saying Yi killed their son May 18, 2000. Kan said Yi lost control during a quarrel with him and strangled their son.

    Kan and Yi had been arguing about problems with their son’s hukou caused by the child being born out of wedlock.

    Kan, who was drunk, was enraged by the killing of his son and strangled his mistress to death, he told the court.

    Kan said he initially admitted to killing their son because he wanted to take all the responsibility, but now he feels he has to tell his family the truth.

    Prosecutors said they have enough evidence to prove Kan killed both people. The court has yet to give a verdict.

    Kan’s lawyer said his family was willing to pay compensation to Yi’s family.

    Police said Yi’s disappearance went unnoticed for 14 years because she had lost contact with her family after becoming a mistress.  

    (SD News)