A man who killed two sex workers in the space of 24 hours has struck a deal with Victorian prosecutors, allowing him to dodge a murder conviction.
Instead, Xiaozheng Lin will be jailed for the lesser charge of manslaughter over the deaths of Yuqi Luo, 31, and Hyun Sook Jeon, 51, in late 2022.
Lin, a 24-year-old Chinese national, went to Ms Luo’s Melbourne CBD apartment on La Trobe Street on December 26, 2022 and had sex with her, before assaulting and strangling the woman to death.
The Supreme Court of Victoria heard he left her naked body in the apartment and stole $7,000 cash, handbags and Ms Luo’s phone.
Xiaozheng Lin was charged with murder in December 2022. (Supplied: Victoria Police)
Lin committed an “unlawful and dangerous” act which caused Ms Jeon’s death, the prosecutor said, however a post-mortem had been unable to identify how she died.
“He stole from them, he left them in positions with no regard for their safety or dignity,” Ms Churchill said.
“His assaults were entirely unprovoked on women who were physically smaller than him and he has provided no insight into the reasons why or how he killed Ms Jeon.”
The court heard Lin used the women’s bank cards to pay his phone bill and to try and clear debts from his sports betting account.
The sex workers did not know each other and had never encountered Lin until their deaths, the court heard.
Lin was due to face a double-murder trial but prosecutors agreed to his offer to plead guilty to manslaughter in July this year, defence barrister Paul Smallwood said.
The standard sentence for murder in Victoria is 25 years with a maximum of life in prison.
However, with murder off the table, Lin now faces significantly less jail time. Each manslaughter charge carries a maximum of 25 years, and if standard sentencing practices are followed, he will serve a bulk of his sentence concurrently.
Killer tells court he believed ‘I didn’t kill her’
Lin was arrested within days of the attacks, after he was captured on security cameras and items belonging to the women were found at his house.
Lin told police that a fight with Ms Luo broke out when he demanded additional sexual services and refused to pay. He said he tried to silence her when she screamed, pressing her head against the bed.
“We started to argue. I controlled her with my hands but what happened next is completely forgotten. But I did bring her under control with force,” he said.
“I had a robbery. I didn’t kill her. That’s what I thought.”
Lin, who wore a crumpled white shirt, black pants and sneakers, cried in the court dock as details of his offending were read out.
After his arrest, he refused to tell police how Ms Jeon was killed, but Mr Smallwood said his client had admitted to seriously shaking her during the attack.
“Within the space of about 24 hours he killed two women in circumstances where he himself has no previous criminal history and no history of violence at all,” Mr Smallwood said.
Victim’s family suffering ’emotional torture every day’
A victim impact statement read out on behalf of Ms Luo’s father said the crime had taken the most considerate and caring person from their family.
“We are suffering this tremendous emotional torture every day,” he said. “My daughter was 31 years old, right in the prime of her life.”
A written victim impact statement was also provided to the court by Ms Jeon’s husband.
Mr Smallwood said his client, who spoke little English, developed a gambling addiction while growing up in China and spent much of his school years being teased by other children because he walked with a limp caused by a basketball injury.
“He’s never had a girlfriend, he’s never had a committed partner because of his self-conscious state in relation to his physical appearance,” Mr Smallwood said.
“Because of that his sexual outlet after he arrived in Australia was through the engagement of sex workers.”
Mr Smallwood said his client had been held in protective custody since his arrest.
Justice Stephen Kaye described the case as “very tragic” and said he intended to sentence Lin within the next fortnight.
