Xie to stand trial for Lin murders

LIAN Bin 'Robert' Xie will stand trial in the Supreme Court next year charged with murdering five members of his wife's family in their Sydney home.

If convicted of the 2009 Lin family murders, Xie, 48, faces life imprisonment, Central Local Court heard on Wednesday.

Following lengthy committal proceedings, Magistrate John Andrews ruled there was enough evidence against Xie to put the case before a Supreme Court jury.

Xie applied for bail immediately after the decision was handed down, which was opposed by the Crown on the basis that if convicted, he faces life imprisonment.

Xie's wife, Kathy Lin, who has supported him throughout the proceedings, wept in court as she pledged to give in her passport as well as her husband's if he was granted bail.

Xie also started crying as he witnessed his wife's distress.

He is accused of murdering his brother-in-law, Min "Norman" Lin, 45, Mr Lin's wife, Yun Li "Lily" Lin, 43, her sister, Yun Bin "Irene" Yin, 39, and two boys, aged nine and 12, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Their bodies were found in a North Epping house, in Sydney's northwest, on July 18, 2009.

They had been beaten to death in their bedrooms with a hammer-like object, while the cause of death for four of the victims also included asphyxia.

During four weeks of hearings, the Crown alleged there was a "compelling" case Lin murdered the family in a crime of "extreme hatred and hostility".

Crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC said the prosecution case against Xie was a circumstantial one that rested on "looking at all of the strands of information" that pointed to him being the killer.

This included DNA evidence in the form of a spot, which was found on the floor of his garage.

Mr Tedeschi submitted it contained the DNA of at least four different people and could "only be blood" taken from the crime scene.

He conceded, however, the case in relation to Xie's motive was "weak".

Defence barrister Graham Turnbull SC said the case against Xie was based almost entirely on speculation and he had no chance of being convicted.

He argued the DNA evidence would be inadmissible at trial.

Opposing bail, Mr Tedeschi said Xie had strong financial and family links to his native China and posed a significant flight risk.

Lester Fernandez, representing Xie, said the prosecution case was weak and Xie had strong community ties that would prevent him from fleeing.

Mr Andrews will hand down his decision on bail on Thursday.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Xie to stand trial for Lin murders

Dengan url

http://mesinjahitan.blogspot.com/2012/12/xie-to-stand-trial-for-lin-murders.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Xie to stand trial for Lin murders

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Xie to stand trial for Lin murders

sebagai sumbernya