Robin Bower hopes Public Security Bureau officers will shed light on mystery killing of the 60-year-old
NIALL.FRASER@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Thursday, 14 April, 2016, 11:02pm
Hilary Bower was a Hong Kong permanent resident and British national. Photo: SCMP Pictures
The grieving brother of Shenzhen murder victim Hilary Bower arrived in the southern metropolis last night in search of answers over the mystery killing of the Hong Kong academic.
Less than 24 hours after he arrived in the SAR on a flight from London, Robin Bower travelled to Shenzhen where he hoped to meet Public Security Bureau officers investigating the murder of his 60-year-old brother.
Bower, a language instructor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, was killed more than three weeks ago on March 22, the same day he was last seen alive passing through the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Lo Wu border checkpoint.
But news of his killing was only revealed on Tuesday when Hong Kong police said the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau had told them that Bower – a permanent Hong Kong resident and British national – had been killed.
The circumstances surrounding the killing of Bower remains a mystery but it is understood at least two people have been arrested by the mainland authorities in connection with his death.
After declining to confirm that the academic had been killed, the British government slightly shifted its stance yesterday.
“We are providing support to the family at this difficult time, and will remain in close contact with local authorities,” said a spokesman for Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Bower, who commuted to Hong Kong each day from Shenzhen, was last seen by his mainland girlfriend, Shi Xiumei, with whom he lived along with his six-year-old son, on March 21.
She fully expected him to return home the next day and came to Hong Kong to report him missing on March 31, the same day the British consulate in the SAR was alerted.
Last week fears emerged that his disappearance could have been tied to a HK$9 million windfall he was expecting from the sale of a mainland property. Bower was due to retire later this year.
On Tuesday night, Richard Charles – a friend and work colleague of Bower – criticised police on both sides of the border for their handling of the disappearance.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1936028/brother-murdered-hong-kong-academic-arrives-shenzhen-search
