TURBULENT LOVE ENDS IN TRAGEDY
A TURBULENT relationship between a pub chef and his student girlfriend, who met on a dating website, lasted for 16 months before he killed her.
Jordan Matthews, 24, from Cardiff, who has been convicted of murder, met his girlfriend, Xixi Bi, on Plenty Of Fish in April 2015, and this is how their relationship developed:
April 2015 – Matthews and Ms Bi go on a date in Cardiff after meeting online and move in together soon afterwards.
July 2015 – Ms Bi graduates from Cardiff Metropolitan University and accepts a place on a Master’s course.
March 2016 – The couple have an argument and Matthews sends his girlfriend a message calling her a “worthless piece of s***”.
May 2016 – The victim’s brother, Zexun Bi, notices bruising around her eyes, which she has tried to cover with make-up.
July 2016 – Ms Bi is admitted to hospital to have surgery on her jaw, and tells medical staff she fell down stairs at home, despite living in a ground-floor flat.
August 18 – She spends the day in London with her friend, Pin-Wen Chen, but Matthews becomes convinced she is cheating on him.
August 19, 12am – Matthews picks his girlfriend up from Cardiff Central station and they return to their flat in Ely Road in Llandaff, Cardiff.
August 19, 1.30am – The fatal assault begins. Matthews claims it lasts for 10 minutes but a neighbour reports hearing crying all night.
August 19, 8.30am – Matthews makes a 999 call, telling the call handler: “Me and her had a bicker last night.”
August 19, 8.32am – Paramedics arrive and find Ms Bi lying on the bedroom floor as Matthews claims: “I didn’t punch her.”
August 19, 9.30am – Ms Bi is pronounced dead at the University Hospital of Wales.
August 19 – A post-mortem examination is carried out that afternoon and the pathologist concludes there was a “severe” assault involving “dozens” of impacts.
August 19 – Matthews has his first police interview and tells officers: “I just lost it. I punched her pretty hard.”
August 20 – He has another police interview and says: “I’ve beaten her up and now she’s dead.”
August 23 – Matthews appears at Cardiff Crown Court charged with murder.
October 2016 – He appears at Cardiff Crown Court again and pleads not guilty to murder.
January 2017 – Matthews pleads guilty to manslaughter but denies murder.
February 2017 – He stands trial and is convicted of murder following a two-week trial.