The Jars Murderer | Lam Kor Wan | 1982 | 1/2

[Music] In the year 2024, Hong Kong was ranked the 7th safest city in the world. It's a passing nearly 140 other countries, and even beating Singapore by three places. But this doesn't necessarily mean that the city of Hong Kong has been free from tragedy. Over the past century, Hong Kong has witnessed crimes that eclipse even the most twisted plots of fiction. From the Hello Kitty murderer in 1999 to the death and dismemberment of Socialite Abbey Choi in 2023, the city has experienced real-life horrors far more chilling than those portrayed in movies and novels. In 1985, a horror movie titled The Hong Kong Butcher was released in cinemas with a simple yet terrifying description. A serial killer taxi driver stalks the women of Hong Kong. While it might seem like just another fictional thriller meant to excite audiences, this movie was unfortunately based on a real-life case that occurred just three years before its release. [Music] His name was Lam Kau Wan, a man often referred to as the "Jaws murderer" due to a gruesome history of preserving his victims dismembered body parts in glass jars. In the 1980s, his crimes were the number one reason as to why many would text their friends and family or send images of taxi license plates when traveling home alone, especially in the early hours of the morning. But perhaps the most chilling detail was that Lam shared his bedroom with his brother, who remained completely unaware of his gruesome activities. And for the next six months, his immediate family remained oblivious to the horrors occurring right under their roof. [Music] You're listening to Hainas, an Asian Chukrion podcast, brought to you by Medicor and produced by One Up Media. This episode may contain sensitive details and graphic imagery. Listen to the description is advised. [Music] Today, the Shartin District in Hong Kong is known for its upscale residential complexes and the Xingmun River Channel. But in the 1980s, Shartin was mostly barren land with only a few buildings. One February morning in 1982, construction workers in the area were taking a break by the Xingmun River. As one worker led his cigarette, he spotted something unusual in the water. Initially, he thought it was a toy or a mannequin. But as he got closer, he realized it was a human hand, swollen and discolored. Panicked, he alerted his supervisors. Within seconds, more workers had gathered and soon they discovered not just a hand, but also a dismembered leg. As the police arrived, a total of seven body parts were retrieved. These parts were later identified as belonging to a woman. However, this gruesome discovery was just the beginning. Record state that Lam Kourwan came from an average family in Hong Kong. He was born in 1955. A time when Hong Kong was under British rule. Lam's father worked for a petroleum company based in Brunei. So from 1957 to 1962, the family moved there to be closer to his workplace. However, his childhood was marred by violence and domestic abuse. Record state that his father had a short temper and was frequently abusive, filling the home with angry shouts and the agonized cries of his mother. Lam also suffered greatly at the hands of his father and during relentless beatings. On one particularly brutal occasion, his father slammed him into a wall with such force that he was knocked unconscious and left with two black eyes. This environment of constant fear and violence left deep scars on Lam, turning him into a withdrawn loner, hiding from a world where he believed everyone was out to hurt him. During his teenage years, the family moved back to Hong Kong. This could have been Lam's chance to escape his abusive past, make new friends and enjoy his youth. But the urban jungle of Hong Kong was a stark contrast to the calm, laid-back Brunei. Records indicate that upon Lam's return to Hong Kong, the physical abuse inflicted upon him had ceased, but he faced significant challenges adjusting to his new environment. Despite achieving relatively decent grades, his life in school was difficult. He struggled to make friends and as a result, sought comfort in his electronic chess set, which to him was a constant companion in an increasingly lonely world. As he transitioned into adulthood, new responsibilities and tensions emerged. He later moved to the Kun Tong District in Hong Kong with his family, but over time, the immense pressure and his father's harsh expectations caused his academic performance to decline. This was around the period where his behavior took a turn for the worse. When Lam was about 19 years old, records indicate that his family began to notice his increasingly abnormal behavior and a disturbing fascination with female flesh. Though this description seemed bizarre, it hinted at an obsession that extended beyond mere sexual interest. Here's an example to illustrate what we mean. The year was 1974 and the sound of water dripping in the bathroom echoed softly in Lam's quiet home. His sister was taking a bath, her silhouette barely visible through the frosted glass. Not too far away, a pair of eyes watched her intently. As she spun around while scrubbing her wet hair with shampoo, she noticed that the bathroom door stood ajar. Through the narrow gap, an unmistakable pair of eyes stared intently at her, unblinking and eerily fixed. It was none other than her own brother, Lam Corwan, peeping at her through the crack in the bathroom door. Furious, she suddenly screamed and cursed at Lam before grabbing her towel, wrapping it around her body, then slammed the door shut. Over time, the family moved to Eastern Calune, hoping a change of environment might curb his troubling behavior. However, just a year later, Lam's descent into darkness continued. After a heated argument with his father, he was kicked out of the house. The records do not mention what happened to him during this period, but it is noted that shortly after being kicked out of the house, he was arrested by the police. When the authorities contacted his parents to inform them that their son had been detained, they were horrified. According to the police, he had approached a woman outside a public toilet and coerced her into allowing him to touch her bottom area. When she refused, he got angry and brandished the knife, threatening to hurt her. However, instead of being sent to prison, Lam's fate took a different turn. A government psychiatrist diagnosed him as mentally ill, recommending his transfer to Castle Peak Hospital, Hong Kong's oldest and largest psychiatric facility. Lam would spend the next 100 days of his life there, and upon his release, he appeared to be a completely different person, even adopting a new name, Lam Yao Kang. But the truth is, a name change and three months of rehabilitation did little to change his nature. His obsession with female flesh grew darker and more twisted, and soon he set out on a sinister path, one that would shock the city. Records state that in 1978, Lam obtained a taxi license and started working as a cab driver. Two years later, he was assigned to drive the night shifts, a schedule that was perfect for his withdrawn nature. Driving through the city at night further diminished his contact with his family. They rarely saw him anymore, and by the time his shift ended, his parents and siblings had already left for work, leaving the house empty. Interestingly, it was during these solitary hours that he developed a keen interest in photography. But although this new hobby seemed to provide an outlet for his creativity, his underlying obsession with female flesh never faded. For the next few years, Lam remained aloneer. He never had a girlfriend and turned to pornography to satisfy his sexual urges. He was also too embarrassed to buy adult magazines from retail stores, so he ordered them directly from the UK. Over time, he amassed a horde of these materials, keeping them under lock and key. His family was completely unaware of his secret stash and might have even believed that he had outgrown his perverse interest in women. However, as time passed, pornography alone failed to satisfy his escalating obsessions. Seeking a new thrill, Lumbar to Polaroid camera and began taking pictures under the cubicle doors of women's toilets. Eventually, he got caught in the act multiple times and he had to abandon the idea. But he was already far from a well-adjusted man. His pent-up frustrations and perverse inclinations were a ticking time bomb. Even if he had stopped spying perversely on women in bathrooms, his disturbing urges persisted. It was only a matter of time before he would be driven to commit something truly unthinkable. It was the early morning of February 3, 1982, and a woman named Chan Feng Lan stepped outside the Chinese Palace nightclub. She had spent the evening partying and drinking with her sister and several friends. But now, it was time for her to head home. She decided to flag a taxi and as she walked toward the edge of the sidewalk, a cab sped into view and then pulled over to the spot where she was standing. She opened the passenger door and settled inside to see that a frail-looking young man was behind the wheel. On the windscreen was a sticker that displayed the driver's name and license number. It read, "Lamb Corwan." Within seconds, the cab raced away from the nightlife district heading toward Mon Coc. The initial moments of the journey were uneventful until she asked the driver to pull over. The cab came to a halt and she staggered out to vomit on the pavement. A few minutes later, she got back in and asked Lam to return to the nightlife district, only to change her mind once more. With a frustrated grunt, Lam complied, but something within him snapped. Instead of taking the direct route, he veered off course, steering away from the bustling city streets. Eventually, he stopped the cab in a secluded area. He turned off the engine and listened to the rain pounding on the roof, then glanced over to see Chan fast asleep, oblivious to the fact that they had not yet reached her destination. With sinister intentions, Lam quietly got out of the cab, retrieved an electrical wire from the trunk and then slipped back into the passenger seat. Once inside, he looped the wire around her neck. The sudden pressure jolted her awake and she immediately realised she was being strangled. She fought desperately, screaming at the top of her lungs, but the torrential rain drowned out her cries. In a matter of moments, her struggle ceased and she fell silent. Lam's gaze remained fixed on the lifeless woman beside him. His eyes roamed slowly over her fair skin and exposed legs, his mind racing with disturbing and intrusive thoughts. After murdering Chan, Lam was faced with the grim and daunting task of disposing of her body. In a panic, he dragged her corpse home and decided he would stash her beneath the sofa in his family's apartment. Hours later, he took money from Chan's wallet, headed to a nearby hardware store and purchased an electric saw. The following day, once everyone in the house had left, Lam proceeded with his grim task. However, before he did any cutting, he removed Chan's clothes and took several photographs of her naked body. Then he methodically dismembered her into seven different pieces, documenting the grisly process on a video, which he later titled "Series Secrets". Record state that among the dismembered body parts, one piece consisted solely of Chan's sexual organs. Lam later placed this specific part into a plastic box and carefully preserved it with rice wine. The other severed body parts were wrapped in multiple layers of newspaper, encased in a plastic bag and tossed. Eventually, they were thrown into a river, where the heavy rain helped to wash them away. This was not the only murder that Lam would commit, because after this gruesome act, he experienced a chilling epiphany. He recognized that the murder of Chan had been hasty, disorganized, and extremely inefficient. Lam understood that if he wanted to continue this, he would need a more calculated and effective method to handle such macabre tasks. Coming to improve his approach, he purchased a pair of surgical scissors, a scalpel, and bottles of a malder height, marking a shift to a more clinical and systematic method. No longer relying on makeshift tools, he adopted specialized equipment for dismembering and preserving body parts, ensuring that his next murder would be more precise and methodical. He also recognized that his night shift schedule, combined with heavy rain and the blanket of darkness, offered him the perfect cover and minimized the chances of being seen, making it easier to conceal his crimes. Armed with this strategy, Lam set out to find another victim. He would go on to claim three more innocent lives, all of whom were women, and all of whom would be dismembered. There are even rumors that one of the victims' flesh was consumed by Lam. But as his murderous rampage continued, he grew increasingly reckless in his executions. While the sheer brutality of his actions was so horrific and vile that it sent shivers down the spines of everyone in Hong Kong, it was not the shocking nature of his crimes, but the manner in which he was eventually apprehended that was even more startling. It's coming up in the next episode. heinus an Asian True Crime Podcast is brought to you by MediCorps and One Up Media. This episode was produced and written by Guangjin, edited by Alex, narrated by Jason, audio experience by Ethan Sam, additional engineering by Ashley from One Up Media. Special thanks to executive producer Danny Coddy for MediCorps. Thank you for listening. We'll see you in the next one.