COPS LAUNCH NEW APPEAL ON INFAMOUS 1985 MURDER
DETECTIVES have made a dramatic new appeal for i n format ion on the unsolved murder of a Chinese community leader almost 35 years ago.
Philip Wong, who ran the popular Lucky Star restaurant, was hacked to death by three contract killers armed with machetes in Glasgow city centre on October 9, 1985.
Next month marks the 35th anniversary of his murder – but Police Scotland insist they’re still committed to bringing his killers to justice.
At the time of his killing, 48- yearold Wong was a high- profile Chinese businessman in Scotland and seen as the unofficial leader of Glasgow’s then 5000- strong Chinese community.
His slaying led to one of the biggest and most complex homicide inquiries ever undertaken by police in Scotland.
More than 50 detectives were involved at one stage with inquiries taking officers as far as Hong Kong.
A specialist south- east Asian intelligence desk was set up at the murder incident room at Stewart Street Police Office in Glasgow and detectives even found themselves learning Cantonese.
But the investigation was hampered from the outset by a lack of information from the Chinese community, who feared reprisals from the Triad gang leaders said to be behind the cold- blooded assassination.
The Glasgow Times can today reveal that a Police Scotland cold case team has been keeping the Wong murder under review using modern forensic techniques to reexamine the original evidence for fresh clues.
Detective Chief Inspector Suzanne Chow of Police Scotland’s
Specialist Crime Division said: “Behind every unresolved murder case in Scotland are families and loved ones who desperately want to know what happened to their loved one or who may have been responsible.
“Unresolved cases closed in Scotland.
“Police Scotland’s Homicide Governance and Review Team keep these investigations under review, following new information or new lines of enquiry resulting from progress in investigatory technique, such as new forensic analysis which may help identify a killer or a cause.
“” I would like to take this opportunity as we approach the 35th anniversary of Mr Wong’s murder to appeal to anyone with information to assist the investigation to contact Police Scotland and enable us to catch those responsible and finally give closure to Mr Wong’s family.”
In Times Past today we also investigate Philip Wong’s gruesome death and speak to former police officers who knew the victim.
One retired officer, Simon Keenan, reveals how he was taken are never off the original murder inquiry by CID bosses after death threats. Wong was attacked at the door of his Mercedes in Rose Street in Gartnethill in the early hours of a Wednesday morning by the three hired killers.
It’s believed the father- of- three was murdered because he had refused to do a business deal with the Triad group the Wo Shing, who were said to want a share of his lucrative Chinese video rental business.
As well as his Glasgow businesses, Philip Wong ran Chinese restaurants in Edinburgh, Perth and Stirling. Another police officer who knew the murder victim was Graeme Pearson, former head of the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency.
He gained the trust of Mr Wong while investigating an extortion racket against the city’s Chinese restaurant owners in 1979. Mr Pearson, who is also a former Labour MSP and justice spokesman, said: “Philip Wong’s murder was a very brutal and cowardly act. “There were clearly some people who did not like him and were jealous of his success in business.”