Hong Kong doctor, with hands and feet bound, falls to death in Canada
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Dr Joanne Suk-Wah Tse was found dead with her hands and feet bound at the foot of a condominium in Calgary, Canada.
PHOTO: JOANNE SUK-WAH TSE/FACEBOOK
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Canadian police are investigating a murder-suicide case that has shocked a community in Calgary in western Canada.
A 69-year-old doctor, identified as Dr Joanne Suk-Wah Tse from Hong Kong, was found dead with her hands and feet bound at the foot of the Westgate Park condominium in Spruce Place SW on April 15.
Police said they were alerted to the case at around 7.10pm, and as first responders arrived to assess the situation, a man jumped from an upper-level balcony and fell to his death.
The man was identified as 61-year-old Tang De Lin. He is suspected to have pushed or thrown Dr Tse off the balcony of an 18th-floor unit in the condominium building.
An autopsy found that both died from blunt-force trauma.
Police said the relationship between Dr Tse and Tang was new. Investigations are ongoing to uncover possible motives behind the murder-suicide.
“This event was domestic in nature, however. We believe this was a new relationship and we are still trying to determine the nature of the relationship and the events that led up to this tragic outcome,” Sergeant Sean Gregson from the homicide unit said on Monday.
“I can’t remember in 24 years of being a police officer seeing something like this,” Sgt Gregson added.
“The first event, the fall, probably drew attention and people out to their balconies. And then a lot of people would have witnessed the second fall,” he said, adding that the incident will have a “huge impact” on potential witnesses.
The police managed to locate Mr Tang’s car on Thursday with tip-offs from the public and the media.
Many of Dr Tse’s former patients left flowers and cards outside her private practice, just blocks away from where she fell to her death.
Local media reported that Dr Tse was recently divorced after her husband was found to have an extramarital relationship in 2019.
One of her patients said she had two sons, one of them living in Canada and the other in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong news outlet HK01 reported on Friday that Dr Tse was sued in 2019 for owing a businessman friend more than HK$24 million (S$4 million).
