The Nancy Kissel Case - Part 2

Yesterday was day 1 of the trial.  The opening statement by the government prosecutor presented a case that was at considerable variance from the initial press reports in November 2003 (see Part 1).  The English-language press coverage of yesterday's proceedings are found at:

• SCMP via SimonWorld
• The Standard: Cheating wife beat banker to death, jury told by Albert Wong
• The Standard: Potential juror excused after second try by Albert Wong
• Bloomberg: Hong Kong Banker Kissel's Murder `Premeditated,' Court Told by Clare Cheung
• The Guardian: US banker murder case enthralls Hong Kong by Jonathan Watt.

This post is a review of the local Chinese-language coverage.  As this was the first day during which jury selection took up much of the time, the press reports among various newspapers are quite similar on the coverage of the first part of the opening statement, to be continued the next morning.  But here are the additional tidbits:

• (Sing Tao, print edition)
  Chronology of events:
  1989: Robert Peter Kissel married Nancy Ann Kissel
  1997: The Kissels moved to Hong Kong, where Robert joined Goldman Sachs
  1998 March: Robert Kissel sets up a will which leaves his estate to his wife
  2000: Robert Kissel moves to Merrill Lynch as managing director of global investments
  2002 year end: The Kissels visited the United States, where Robert's sister noticed that the couple's relationship was deteriorating
  2003 January-February: Robert installs spyware in Nancy's laptop; hereafter, Robert monitors her email.
  2003 March-July: Nancy brings their three children to the United States to escape SARS, and has an affair with a television repairman.
  2003 June: Robert hires a private detective to investigate Nancy.
  2003 July: The private detective confirmed that Nancy was having an affair with the television repairman; Robert discussed divorce with lawyers; Nancy returned to Hong Kong and kept in touch with her lover.
  2003 September: Robert told the private detective that he was concerned about being poisoned by Nancy.
  2003 October: Robert found out that Nancy had been using another mobile telephone to communicate with her lover; Robert told the private detective again that he was concerned about his own safety.
  2003 end of October: Robert told his brother and friend that he intended to ask for a divorce on Sunday (November 2).
  2003 November 2: Robert died.
   
• (Apple Daily)  Robert Kissel's March 1998 will states that if he dies before his wife, 100% goes to her; if she should die before him, then his estate will be distributed as 20% to his brother, 20% to his sister, 20% to his father-in-law, 20% to his mother-in-law and 20% among friends.
   
• (The Sun)  In the email exchanges between Michael del Priore and Nancy Kissel, they speak about their daily lives, including food preferences and love talk, referring to each other as "Baby" and "Honey."  In one section, Nancy Kissel wrote, "I think about you so much, Michael ..."  In another one, Michael del Priore wrote, "I am going crazy ... when the cusotmers ask me questions, I want to tell them, 'Leave me alone, I am busy thinking about Nancy."
   
• (Ming Pao)
  
  How Robert Kissel discovered his wife's affair:
  Method 1: He noticed that there was a telephone bill for a different mobile phone that she uses to speak to her lover in the United States
  Method 2: He installed a piece of spyware on his home computers in order to read the contents of the email between his wife and her lover as well as monitor her online activities.
  Method 3: He hired a private investigator it see if his wife was having an affair with Michael del Priore and take photographs/videos.

    
(Photos: Oriental Daily, The Sun)

(Photo: Apple Daily)

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