Lin family murders

Lin family murders
Location North Epping, New South Wales, Australia
Date 18 July 2009
Attack type
 Mass murder
Weapons Hammer-like object
Deaths 5 (Min Lin, Yun Lin, Irene Lin, Henry Lin, Terry Lin)

The Lin family murders were the 2009 killings of North Epping, New South Wales, Australia news agent Min Lin; his wife Yun Lin; his sister-in-law Irene Lin; and their two sons, Henry (12) and Terry (9). The family were bludgeoned to death with a hammer-like object, allegedly bought from a $2 store.[1] The faces of the victims were so disfigured that forensics had to be used to identify them.

Kathy Lin, sister of Min Lin, discovered the bodies when she went to the house at around 9:00 am to see why the news agency run by the Lin family was not open. She called the police and an ambulance, but the victims were beyond help.

Brenda Lin, 15, was the only member of the immediate family to survive. She was on a school trip in New Caledonia with her Cheltenham Girls classmates at the time of the murders. She learned of the murders via Facebook.

Arrest of suspect

Just after 9:00 am on May 5, 2011, Brenda's uncle Lian Bin "Robert" Xie, 47, was arrested without incident at his home in North Epping, following an extensive investigation. Brenda had been living with Xie and his wife Kathy Lin since the murders. On 19 December 2012, Robert Xie was committed for trial.[2]

Trial of suspect

Xie's trial had been scheduled to begin in September of 2013. DNA tests on some evidence were in the process of being completed.[3]

On 22 July 2013, The Supreme Court delayed the trial until 17 March 2014. This was agreed between the prosecution and the defence, although the newspaper reports were not able to comment on the reasons for the delay.[4]

The grandparents of Henry and Terry, Yang Fei Lin and Feng Qing Zhu were in the Supreme Court of New South Wales with their daughter Kathy Lin on 20 May and 21 May 2014. Yang Fei Lin also describes his horror when he found out that five family members were dead. Lin had also criticised Xie for not having a job.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Wells, Jamelle (12 May 2014). "Robert Xie trial: Lin family 'murdered with hammer bought from $2 shop'". abc.net.au. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Paul Bibby (19 December 2012). "Lin family slaying: Robert Xie to stand trial over deaths". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  3. ↑ Trial over Lin family murder could last 12 weeks by Jamelle Wells, ABC News, May 31st 2013. Retrieved 2013-7-20.
  4. ↑ DALE, AMY (22 July 2013). "Lian Bin 'Robert' Xie will not go to trial over the Lin family killings until next year". Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  5. ↑ Bibby, Paul (21 May 2014). "'Everything is gone': grandfather describes horror of finding out five family members were dead". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 May 2014.

Further reading

See also