卫报:Newcastle杀人案

Enoch

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/16/11


Xi Zhou, who was found dead with her boyfriend in a flat in Newcastle. Photograph: Northumbria police/PA

Whether she liked it or not, Zin could normally hear everything that went on in the flat below her on Croydon Road in Newcastle's West End. If the young Chinese couple downstairs weren't getting along, she would first hear the argument, then the music turned up to drown it out.

But on the evening of Thursday August 7, Zin heard nothing. She didn't see her downstairs neighbours again until last Saturday afternoon. They were in body bags, being taken away for postmortems.

Xi Zhou and her boyfriend, Zhen Xing Yang, both 25, had been murdered in a savage, prolonged attack with a knife and another sharp-edged implement. The postmortem revealed extensive bruising to Zhen Xing's forearms, which had been sustained up to an hour before he suffered the blows to his head that killed him. His girlfriend, a waitress at the Wagamama restaurant who also went by the name Ci Ci, had been beaten and suffocated.

Police later discovered that the pair's black and white cat had been drowned and hidden in the bathroom in a bowl of water covered with a towel and a pair of kitchen gloves.

Northumbria police believe the killer or killers were known to their victims because they appear not to have forced entry into the flat. But why this popular couple, who met at Newcastle University where they were studying for MAs in 2005, were targeted was unclear.

Though the postmortem could not establish a time of death, police believe the murder probably took place after Xi returned from work at Wagamama on Thursday afternoon. Neither she nor her boyfriend were seen after that.

Finally, this Thursday a possible motive emerged. Internet forums for the Chinese community were aflutter with one particular theory: that Zhen Xing had been involved in shadowy businesses, and gained some dangerous enemies.

Under the user name lanyang0201 - the numbers correspond with his birthday - he posted adverts on Chinese language websites, based in Britain, to recruit people to report on football matches around the world. The aim would have been to take advantage of delays in almost live broadcasts to place bets.

On one website, Zhen Xing wrote: "It is a very simple job, any student who is interested please contact Zhenxing Yang." An email address was then listed. An advertisement posted under the name of CICI-U - his girlfriend's nickname - on the powerapple website last October said: "Work: watch football games and send live information to people. Requirement: Basic understanding of football rules, no professional background needed, advantage if you have a car. Location: Sheffield, London, Blackpool, Portsmouth, York, Hull and many other places."

Replies to some of these posts suggest he failed to pay those who responded to the advert. One person wrote: "Give me the money as soon as possible, it has been three weeks. You don't even answer the phone, you liar." Another threatened the couple, writing: "I'm sure I can find them, wait there I will find you."

According to a report in the Newcastle Journal newspaper, Zhen Xing used a discussion board for Chinese students to advertise fake university certificates. He wrote: "Can provide a real certificate to prove they studied abroad. You should finish your studies but if you couldn't finish, we might be able to help. Those who are interested in the offer can get it done today, no deposit, 10 working days and by 10 days you will know if it is fake."

With the help of Mandarin interpreters, police trawled through the forums and examined a computer and three mobile phones taken from the couple's flat.

Detective Superintendent Steve Wade, leading the investigation, said: "Community intelligence supported by the examination of computer equipment and mobile call data has shown that both of the victims have been involved in fraudulent activity which has angered and upset a number of people."

Zin, the couple's upstairs neighbour, was shocked to hear of their possible link, according her pastor, Eddy Tang, who preaches at the International Christian Fellowship, a church popular with the Chinese community.

"She didn't know them too well, but they would say hello and have a chit-chat, and said they were very nice. She is very scared after what happened. She was literally feet away when the murders were being carried out and yet she heard nothing," Tang said yesterday.

Other friends expressed their disbelief on the web forum powerapple. "It is really them ... oh my God! How come!! They both are wonderful people! The girl always smiles and the boy is very well mannered," wrote one poster, in Chinese. "My friend told me they were planning to return back to China, getting married and start a small business," said another.

One poster said they had gone to college with Zhen Xing in Cornwall. "The deceased man was my classmate in my language class, he's pretty clever and tall ... too sad ... He is a very good cook," they wrote. Yesterday Cornwall College St Austell confirmed that Zhen Xing had studied international English there between 2003 and 2004 as an adult student, but failed to pass the course.

And as for the cat, a postmortem concluded that it had been drowned at around the same time as the murders were committed. Police are investigating whether killing a cat had any cultural significance in Chinese culture and whether cats were thought to be lucky.

But this theory was pooh-poohed in Newcastle this week, where, according to the North East Chinese Association, the Chinese population is 6,000-7,000 strong (including 2,000 students). One Chinese man who has lived in Newcastle for 20 years, said: "Killing a cat has no meaning in Chinese culture at all. If they had had a dog, they probably would have killed that. It's simply a warning sign."

Forensic experts were yesterday conducting tests on the cat to see if any DNA was in the cat's claws that could provide a clue as to the killer.

The Chinese community in Newcastle was buzzing with rumours about the murder this week. All along the restaurant-packed Stowell Street, the main thoroughfare of the city's Chinatown, locals huddled around discussing the case in doorways, in Mandarin and Cantonese.

Though the police say they have ruled out any Triad link, many Chinese people are not so sure. "The way in which they were killed was so ruthless, that I think it must have been a professional," said one.

But others said the Triad was very weak in Newcastle. "We have some Triad, but compared to other big cities such as Manchester, they're third division," said Eddy Tang. "People here are involved mostly for the recreational side."

lemonbunny

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