Fellow student's horror over Chinese murders
Aug 14 2008 by Paul Loraine, The Journal
A CHINESE student last night revealed she decided not to live with a couple who were later murdered – because she did not like their cat.
Xiao Luo, 24, was shown around the Fenham home of Xi Zhou and her boyfriend Zhen Xing Yang at the beginning of July, as they had a spare bedroom to rent.
She said she was happy with what she saw and got on well with the couple but, because they had a cat, she moved into another flat on the same road.
Xiao said it came as a huge shock when she recognised images of the couple, both 25, shown in the media after they were brutally murdered at their home.
The bodies of the Chinese nationals were found on beds in separate bedrooms of their flat in Croydon Road on Saturday afternoon.
Detectives have yet to establish a motive, but believe the killer or killers may have been known to the victims. Police found the couple’s black and white cat dead in a bowl in their bathroom, hidden by a towel and kitchen gloves.
Xiao said: “When I saw the pictures, I was so shocked. I couldn’t believe it was them.
“It was bad enough when I knew it was Chinese students, but to see to pictures and to recognise them was terrifying. I feel really lucky because the only reason that I didn’t take the flat was that there was a cat.
“Now I just think I’m so pleased I don’t like cats. It’s just terrifying to think I had the chance to rent that flat and I might have taken it.”
Ms Zhou worked as a waitress at the Wagamama restaurant in the city centre where her colleagues said she had a “bubbly personality and was a joy to work with”.
She met Mr Yang at Newcastle University and both graduated in with masters degrees in 2006. They both had UK visas, which were due to run out later this year. Xiao, who works as a waitress in Newcastle’s Chinatown, said: “They seemed like really nice people. When I went around, there was another guy in the flat who was in the lounge playing on the computer.
“The girl said he used to live with them, but had moved out and that’s why they had the other room. The flat was pretty normal.”
Xiao moved to Newcastle in September 2006 from Shan Dong Province in China to start a degree in international business at Northumbria University.
She said the impact of the killings had resonated through the entire Chinese community on Tyneside, and revealed that she plans to move out of Fenham as soon as she can.
Xiao said: “It’s not just me, but lots of Chinese girls are walking the streets alone.
“When I’m on the bus now, I feel like people are looking at me. I’m really scared.
“I really don’t know why someone would do this. It was so gruesome that I think it was probably personal.
“I really feel it’s a shame about them and I want to help in any way I can so they find who did this.”
