October 28th 2024.
Xiaozheng Lin was filled with rage as he strangled a woman in her apartment. She had asked for more money while they were engaging in sex work, and he couldn't control his anger. After his arrest, he admitted to the police that he had used force to bring her under his control. However, this was not the end of his violent spree.
Just 24 hours later, the 22-year-old committed a second murder. This time, it was another sex worker in her own home. The victims were 31-year-old Yuqi Luo and 51-year-old Hyun Sook Jeon. Lin attacked them in December of 2022, stealing not only cash but also personal belongings like designer handbags. He was scheduled to go on trial for their murders in August, but just one month before, he offered to plead guilty to two counts of manslaughter. The prosecutors accepted this plea, and the details of the case were kept under wraps by a court gag order until it was lifted in early 2023.
Today, Lin sat in the Supreme Court in Melbourne for a pre-sentence hearing. He remained silent and kept his head down as the events leading up to the murders were recounted. It all began on Boxing Day of 2022 when Lin visited a brothel. After that, he called a friend to drive him to see Yuqi Luo, a Chinese national who ran a sex work business out of her apartment. Lin had lost money gambling with TAB and planned on robbing her. His friend dropped him off near her apartment after midnight, and he proceeded to shower and have sex with Luo. However, things took a violent turn when Lin asked her for oral sex, and she refused without an additional payment. Enraged, Lin pressed her into the bed, but she fought back and bit him on the hand. In a fit of rage, he hit her and strangled her. Later, he told police that her request for more money was what pushed him over the edge. He then stole $7000 in cash, her phone, and several designer handbags before leaving her for dead. When questioned by police, he callously stated, "She was gasping for air, and I thought, okay, today I had a robbery and I didn't kill her."
A friend of Luo's discovered her body and called emergency services. Her father, Luo Bo, expressed his deep sorrow and shock at her death, saying, "It's extremely difficult to accept the cruel reality that my daughter has been murdered." Less than 24 hours after killing Luo, Lin went to see another sex worker, 51-year-old South Korean Hyun Sook Jeon, at her apartment in Docklands. After having sex, he violently assaulted her and stole her laptop, bank cards, phone, and building keys. When her body was eventually found, it was too decomposed to determine the cause of death.
Lin's lawyer, Paul Smallwood, stated that his client had admitted to assaulting Jeon but claimed that it was in "circumstances where she was seriously shaken." Smallwood also acknowledged that his client would face a lengthy prison sentence and would likely be deported back to China. Prosecutor Kristie Churchill emphasized the seriousness of Lin's actions, stating that he had caused the deaths of two vulnerable women in their own homes, where they should have felt safe. She also pointed out that he had callously stolen from them and showed no regard for their safety or dignity.
Lin has been in custody since his arrest in December of 2022 and will be sentenced at a later date.
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