Professor’s rabbit experiment ‘not useful’, yoga ball murder trial hears, while university department head says he would not have approved proposal

Malaysian professor Khaw Kim Sun introduced carbon monoxide into rabbit’s bloodstream but in most cases humans inhale the gas, High Court hears

Reading Time:2 minutes

Khaw Kim Sun’s wife and daughter were found in a yellow Mini Cooper that was parked at the Sai O Village bus stop in Ma On Shan. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 8:15pm, 3 Sep 2018Updated: 10:55pm, 3 Sep 2018

A professor’s experiment that prosecutors have claimed was just a ruse to get deadly gas to kill his wife and daughter with a toxic yoga ball offered no value to humans, scientists said on Monday.

Haematologist Kwong Yok-lam said the experiment Khaw Kim Sun, 53, performed on a rabbit looked at areas that had already been explored, while Gavin Joynt, an intensive care specialist who chairs the department at Chinese University where Khaw worked, said the experiment would not transfer to humans.

Both testified at the High Court, where Khaw, a Malaysian national, has denied two counts of murder after his wife Wong Siew Fing, 47, and daughter, Lily Khaw Li Ling, 16, were found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning. Prosecutors argue their death was caused by a yoga ball filled with carbon monoxide Khaw put in the boot.

Khaw Kim Sun (centre, covering his face), is escorted by the Correctional Services Department to the High Court in Admiralty. Photo: Winson Wong

Kwong, chief of the haematology and oncology department at the University of Hong Kong, said Khaw’s experiment was “not very useful” in clinical terms.

The court heard two sessions of the experiment, which were carried out days before Wong and her daughter’s death on May 22, 2015, involved drawing blood from a rabbit, mixing samples with carbon monoxide, and reintroducing it into the animal.

In the later stage of the experiment, Khaw planned to use oxygen of 60 per cent concentration to see whether it would improve the rabbit’s situation.