Nancy Kissel murder case

The Nancy Kissel murder case was a highly publicised criminal trial in Hong Kong, in which Nancy Kissel, former wife of investment banker Robert Kissel, was brought to trial for the murder of her husband in their apartment on November 2, 2003. Kissel was convicted of premeditated murder, and was sent to prison for life.

The case is known as the "milkshake murder" because Kissel incapacitated her husband by serving him a strawberry milkshake full of sedatives before bludgeoning him to death. The case is arguably the highest profile murder of an expatriate in Hong Kong's history, and the court hearing was packed. Kissel is the first non-Chinese to be serving a life-sentence in Hong Kong.

Background

On a return trip to the United States in mid 2003, Kissel met and had an affair with Michael Del Priore, the twice-married electrical repairman who had rewired the Kissel home in Vermont. She had apparently given him an expensive gold watch. It was suggested that Del Priore may have aided and abetted, or tacitly encouraged her. Kissel made 52 calls to him in September, and 106 calls in October. On one day, she is said to have made seven calls to him both before and after her meeting with the doctor. They remained in frequent telephone communication during the days immediately following the murder.

Her husband Robert was suspicious of Kissel's infidelity, and had hired a New York private detectives to spy on his wife. Robert also had spyware secretly installed on Kissel's laptop. It recorded that on August 28, 2003, she made an Internet search for "sleeping pills," "Overdose medication causing heart attack," and "drug overdose," the prosecution later said. On October 23, she made a search for "Rohypnol." Robert apparently confided in a colleague, David Noh, that his life might be in danger.

Psychiatric expert Dr. Desmond Fung, testified that she had visited him on August 29 and again on October 30, and had obtained prescriptions of tranquillizers.

Events leading up to the trial

Murder

She claims to have had some violent disagreements with her husband, but claims to have no memories of the death of her husband.

The autopsy found flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), zolpidem, Butalbital, lorazepam and amitriptyline, among the contents of his stomach. Five contusions on his skull were given as the cause of death. Prosecution alleged that she drugged Robert with a strawberry milkshake heavily dosed with prescription medication, that she gave to her youngest child to give to him. She then clubbed her husband to death with a heavy statue once he was rendered passive.

In the days following his death, Nancy visited doctors with bruises and other injuries probably sustained during the murder, and also claimed dissociative amnesia from November 1, 2003.

Cover up

She also created a charade in order to cover up the murder. Between November 3 and 6, she purchased new bed sheets to replace the blood-stained linen, and bought nylon rope and carton boxes to pack away incriminating items. Robert's corpse was then rolled up in an oriental rug, tied with a rope and sealed with clear adhesive tape. Kissel packed boxes full of bloodstained items, had the storeroom at the apartment complex cleaned out. Nancy then called the management office to have the rug moved into their storeroom.

Kissel gave conflicting accounts to her father, maids and friends about the whereabouts of Robert. On November 6, she went to the police station with her father to report her husband's assault on her on the night of November 2. Some hours after she had filed the assault claim, after Robert had missed a conference call, the colleague to whom Robert had confided his concerns filed a missing persons report on Robert Kissel. In the early hours of November 7, 2003, police investigators discovered the decomposing remains in the store room.

Police officers who conducted the search of the Kissel apartment on November 8, discovered four boxes containing blood-stained bedding, tissues, pillows and the clothing belonging to both Robert and Nancy. The fingerprints of Kissel were found on the tape used to seal the boxes.

Timeline

November 2, 2003
*3:45pm - Kissel offered two "secret recipe" milk shakes to Robert and neighbour Andrew Tanzer
*4:00pm - Tanzer went home very sleepy
*5:00pm - Robert spoke with colleague David Noh, sounding "tired and sleepy"
*5:30pm - Robert missed company conference call
*5:58pm - Robert's last known telephone call - to his secretary about tickets for Harbour Fest. November 3, 2003
*7:00am - Kissel bandaged her hand, explained to her maid it was due to toaster burn
*7:30pm - Kissel purchased carpets and furniture (with her credit card) November 4, 2003
*9:00am - Kissel told the doctor Robert assaulted her two nights previously
*7:00pm - Kissel showed the maid her hand injuries which she said was due to Robert. She said Robert has left home and was probably staying at a hotel. November 5, 2003
*10:00am - Kissel called the Parkview management office for help to move a heavy carpet to storeroom.
*2:00pm - Four workers moved the "carpet" with trolleys to the storeroom in an adjacent building. November 6, 2003
*11:45am - Kissel filed a police report in the company of her father. She said that Robert wanted to make love and assaulted her when she refused.
*Afternoon - Noh heard that Robert's friend Bryna O'Shea has been unable to find Robert after checking many hotels in Hong Kong. Noh called the police.
*Evening - The police visited the Parkview apartment. Kissel denied renting a storeroom.
*11:35pm - The police entered the storeroom with a search warrant, and found Robert's body rolled in a carpet.

Motives

In her testimony, she offered that her husband claimed to have initiated proceedings for divorce and for the custody of their children. The prosecution alleged that divorce was not an option for Kissel, who was primary beneficiary in Robert's will, his estate was estimated at US$18 million, including stocks, real estate and life insurance policies.

Kissel admitted to killing her husband, claiming that she had been in an unhappy marriage and the victim of domestic violence: her husband had apparently subjected her to rape and sodomy over a five year period. She attempted to portray Robert as a work-crazed and controlling husband, who had succumbed to habitual and regular cocaine use since going on an MBA course. Her allegation that Robert had broken the arm of one of their daughters was contradicted by the domestic helper who witnessed the accident causing the fracture.

The Trial

The case was was heard by Mr Justice Michael Lunn at Hong Kong's High Court; Peter Chapman prosecuted; Alexander King represented the defense. The prosecution called 50 witnesses to testify in person; a further eighteen witnesses' statements and the depositions of four American witnesses were read in court. The prosecution and witnesses produced a total of over four hundred exhibits. The defence called twelve witnesses in addition to the accused, and produced a total of 57 exhibits.cite court
litigants = HKSAR (Respondent) and NANCY ANN KISSEL (Appellant)
vol =
reporter =
opinion = CACC414/2005
pinpoint = 1 & 2
court = Court of Appeal, High Court of Hong Kong
date = 6 October 2008
url= http://legalref.judiciary.gov.hk/lrs/common/search/search_result_detail_frame.jsp?DIS=62781&QS=(nancy%2Bkissel)&TP=JU]

Verdict

At the end of the trial lasting 65 days, at 8:27pm on September 1, 2005, the jury of five men and two women decided unanimously on her guilt after 8 hours of deliberations. The judge imposed a sentence of life imprisonment.cite court
litigants = HKSAR (Respondent) and NANCY ANN KISSEL (Appellant)
vol =
reporter =
opinion = CACC414/2005
pinpoint = 3
court = Court of Appeal, High Court of Hong Kong
date = 6 October 2008
url= http://legalref.judiciary.gov.hk/lrs/common/search/search_result_detail_frame.jsp?DIS=62781&QS=(nancy%2Bkissel)&TP=JU]

Robert's brother, Andrew, was granted temporary custody of Kissel's three children. After Robert's murder in April 2006, the children were placed in the custody of their paternal aunt, Jane Kissel Clayton.

Appeal

Kissel sought leave to appeal against her conviction on 28 September 2005, citing 13 grounds, of which four were irregularities at trial. The court granted leave to appeal on four of those grounds, but dismissed the appeal in respect of each of these grounds.cite court
litigants = HKSAR (Respondent) and NANCY ANN KISSEL (Appellant)
vol =
reporter =
opinion = CACC414/2005
pinpoint = 3 & 4
court = Court of Appeal, High Court of Hong Kong
date = 6 October 2008
url= http://legalref.judiciary.gov.hk/lrs/common/search/search_result_detail_frame.jsp?DIS=62781&QS=(nancy%2Bkissel)&TP=JU] The appeal was handled by McCoy SCcite court
litigants = HKSAR (Respondent) and NANCY ANN KISSEL (Appellant)
vol =
reporter =
opinion = CACC414/2005
pinpoint = 210
court = Court of Appeal, High Court of Hong Kong
date = 6 October 2008
url= http://legalref.judiciary.gov.hk/lrs/common/search/search_result_detail_frame.jsp?DIS=62781&QS=(nancy%2Bkissel)&TP=JU] and presided over by Justices Stuart-Moore, Stock, and Wright.

Rendering the court's judgement on 6 October 2008, the Justices were satisfied there had been no material misdirection by the trial judge. He added that even if there was misdirection, it would not have affected the inevitability of conviction dismissed as being without merit.

cquote|"If, contrary to that finding, any of the matters arising under grounds 5, 6, 8 and 10 constituted a material misdirection or irregularity, we are satisfied that none would have affected the inevitability of a conviction. This would be pre-eminently a case for the application of the proviso."

"This was as cogent a case of murder as might be imagined. In the welter of arguments and details that have been churned in the course of this case, both at first instance and upon appeal, the wood is in danger of being obscured by the trees. There are a number of central and clear features, about which there can be no reasonable argument"|20px|20px|Judgement in HKSAR and NANCY ANN KISSEL (case#CACC414/2005)cite court
litigants = HKSAR (Respondent) and NANCY ANN KISSEL (Appellant)
vol =
reporter =
opinion = CACC414/2005
pinpoint = 630
court = Court of Appeal, High Court of Hong Kong
date = 6 October 2008
url= http://legalref.judiciary.gov.hk/lrs/common/search/search_result_detail_frame.jsp?DIS=62781&QS=(nancy%2Bkissel)&TP=JU]

Kissel's lawyer indicated she intended to lodge an appeal with the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong. [Bei Hu and Hanny Wan, [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aG7px6AFf858 Nancy Kissel's Murder Appeal Dismissed in Hong Kong] , Bloomberg, October 06, 2008]

References

* [http://www.zonaeuropa.com/kissel.htm EastSouthWestNorth on the Kissel case]
*The Standard [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Others/Kissel.html : Complete coverage of the Kissel murder trial]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/16/48hours/main2189936.shtml Blood And Money: '48 Hours' Looks At The Killing Of Two Brothers Thousands Of Miles Apart]
* [http://www.amazon.com/Never-Enough-Joe-McGinniss/dp/0743296362 "Never Enough" by Joe McGinnis - The Nancy Kissel Case]