The woman who was reportedly murdered by a British businessman after he tried ending their affair has been pictured for the first time.
The lifeless body of Mevi Novitasari, 25, was found floating in a pond at the bottom of a waterfall in Waterfall Bay Park in the seaside community of Aberdeen, Hong Kong, on Monday.
Novitasari, originally from Indonesia, was found with severe wounds to her head and police are working on the theory she was pushed off the edge and then drowned.
Local Hong Kong media have speculated Novitasari and a Hong Kong resident Jamie Tzewee Chapman, 34, were having an affair but she did not work for him.
Chapman was charged with her murder but did not enter a plea when he made his first appearance in court on Friday, and no request for bail was made.
MailOnline has established that Chapman has been living on the former British colony for more than ten years where he has run a coffee shop called Givres with his locally born wife.
They were both arrested on Tuesday after travelling to mainland China but then returned to Hong Kong when Novitasari’s body was found.
Officials said Novitasari and Chapman had been seen entering the Aberdeen beauty spot together late on Sunday but he then left 30 minutes later on his own.
Travel records show he and his wife left Hong Kong for China but then returned on Tuesday when they were initially both arrested but his partner was later released.
Chapman and his 36-year-old wife were held on Tuesday at West Kowloon railway station after travelling back from China.
Superintendent Sin Kwok-ming said that the case was being treated as murder because the suspect had done ‘many unreasonable things, including not contacting police’.
His wife had been held on suspicion of assisting an offender before being released on bail pending further investigation.
Chapman is believed to be originally from London and he was educated at Loughborough University where he graduated in 2011 before moving to Hong Kong.
Publicly available company records in Hong Kong show he set up Givres in 2015 and Chapman lives with his unidentified wife in Ap Lei Chau, around a mile from the waterfall.
On its website Givres – which is based by the famous mid-level escalators in Hong Kong – says: ‘Be sure to try our signature handcrafted gelato roses and speciality coffee.
‘We aim to serve not only the best coffee in Hong Kong but also the best ice cream in Hong Kong!’
It adds the ‘concept’ was born in London and adds it is ‘topped off with Great British customer service’.
The coffee shop has a number of high-end clients including Tiffany & Co, Tissot, Dior and Salvatore Ferragamo.
Givres has a four-star rating on TripAdvisor although the latest review from 2019 says ‘staff could be a bit happier though’.
Chapman was remanded in custody and is next due in court in January.
