Mother of teen girl recounts how she confronted her killer
THE mother of a teenager girl allegedly murdered by a trusted family friend has recounted how she challenged the alleged killer.
Wenjing Lin, also known as Wenjing Xu, died following an incident at Blue Sky Chinese in Baglan Street, Ynyswen, Treherbert on March 5.
Chun Xu later told police he wanted “revenge” against the 16-year-old’s mother Meifang Xu after he fell into debt.
The jury has been told 32-year-old defendant knew Ms Lin, 16, and her mother and stepfather Yongquan Jiang Yang. The family ran the Blue Sky Chinese takeaway in Ynyswen.
Xu arrived there on March 4 with a knife taken from a Chinese takeaway in Pontypridd where he was staying and stayed the night.
The next day he strangled Wenjing to death and left her body in the takeaway’s serving area before unleashing an attack on Mr Yang with two knives in the basement.
Yesterday, a lengthy statement on behalf of Ms Xu was read to the court.
She said the defendant was her “nephew but not blood-related” and she treated him like a family member having known him since he was born when their families lived close to one another in China.
Ms Xu described how she had given the defendant £30,000, which he was meant to transfer back to friends in China to repay a loan for her, but only £19,500 was ever sent.
“I knew Chun Xu gambled a lot and he lost a lot of money by gambling and his mother had to pay his debts,” she said.
“I never had a cross word with Chun Xu. I asked him about money and he kept changing his mind, asking for more time. He kept putting me off all the time and we had many conversations over the phone like this.”
She described how the alleged murderer stayed with her family on the night of March 4 this year and said they had a “nice time”.
But the following morning she recounted how she went downstairs and found her husband covered in blood and Xu holding a knife. “My husband managed to take the knife out of Chun Xu’s hands and he sat on the stairs of the basement. Chun Xu saw me making a phone call and grabbed my arm. He bit my arm really hard.
“Chun Xu told me: ‘ Don’t make a phone call now’. I said I needed to call an ambulance to take his uncle to hospital.”
Mr Yang then went upstairs to open the door for the emergency services but his wife said she heard him scream.
She said: “My husband said: ‘Come up quickly, our daughter was also assaulted by him and is unconscious now’. I ran upstairs, my husband was screaming, and my daughter Wenjing was lying on the floor.
“There was no movement, she was lying still. I am just holding her and saying: ‘Baby, baby’. My husband called a friend to come quickly.
“I couldn’t find any injuries. She was just lying flat on the floor, just sleeping. Her head was lying flat.
“My daughter is very pretty. She has fair skin and I couldn’t find any bruises or wounds. I lifted up her clothes and saw a dark mark on her neck. It was coloured purple and reddish and quite thin.
“I said: ‘How cruel, you didn’t stop and savagely killed her like this’. I called her: ‘Baby, baby’. I touched her nose and my daughter was very cold. Everywhere I touched was very cold. I felt very scared, her lips were black as well. My husband’s face was still covered in blood.
“I called Yun Yun (a neighbour) and told him to take Wenjing in his car and go to hospital to save her. I lifted her up with my husband but he was very weak and fainting. Yun Yun carried her outside and I opened the car door and Yun
My daughter is a quiet and gentle soul and I don’t know why he would do this to her. I don’t understand what happened. Only yesterday he was asking her to play a game of cards MS XU
Yun put Wenjing in the back.
“I wanted to get into the front seat of the car and drive away but Yun Yun said we needed to do CPR and check on her breathing. He asked me to pinch her nose and blow air into her mouth. I turned her head to the side and asked a British lady out walking by to call an ambulance.
“Yun Yun said to call his daughter Jessica who could speak and asked her to call an ambulance.
“Police and doctors took Wenjing from the car and carried her to the pavement. I put my hand on my daughter’s head. A lot of people were around trying to rescue Wenjing. Another friend arrived at the scene and I asked him to go to the shop to get my nephew as I did not want him to get away.
“I found Chun Xu lying facedown in the kitchen. I turned him around and I could see there was blood around his neck and his throat had been opened. He must have used the knife in the kitchen and cut his throat. There was a large knife.
“I tried to help him. I was so frightened and went to get a paramedic to help him.
“I stayed outside with my husband and daughter.”
Concluding her statement Ms Xu said: “Since the incident, things I didn’t question at the time I now see as suspicious.
“When Chun Xu came he asked me why the knife in the kitchen was blunt. He also commented on my husband’s neck and called him fat.
“I also remember prior to the incident Chun Xu was in the kitchen and his brother-in-law called him.
“My daughter is a quiet and gentle soul and I don’t know why he would do this to her. I don’t understand what happened. Only yesterday he was asking her to play a game of cards.
“Wenjing was always a good girl, she was good at school and helped all the time at the business. She was my only daughter and child.”
During his opening of the case, prosecutor Michael Jones QC said: “This defendant strangled to death this 16-year-old girl Wenjing Lin. This is not in dispute.”
Mr Jones added: “Having killed her and knowing she was dead he lured her stepfather Yongquan into the basement storage area and repeatedly and viciously attacked him with two knives causing him multiple wounds to his face and body.
“Yongquan managed to defend himself and fight back. He fortunately survived that attack on him and went back upstairs from the basement.
“He then saw the body of his stepdaughter Wenjing Lin by the serving area at the front of the property. Resuscitation attempts were made in vain and the police were called.
“Before they arrived the defendant went into the kitchen and slashed his own throat.”
Wenjing’s mother’s statement of the moment she saw her daughter was read to the court.
She said: “The moment I saw her, her face had gone black and pale. I went to hug her and her body was cold. I could see her neck was black as she had been strangled.”
Following his arrest Xu told officers: “I didn’t mean to hurt the little girl, I wanted revenge upon her mother. She had upset me on many times and she did not listen to what I say.
“My intent was revenge on mother, not little girl. No turning back any more. I wanted to take my life by cutting my throat.”
The defendant, who is of no fixed abode, denies murder of Wenjing Lin, attempted murder of Yongquan Jiang Yang, and wounding with intent of Yongquan Jiang Yang.
He has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Wenjing Lin and unlawful wounding of Yongquan Jiang Yang.
The trial at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court continues.