Crimewatch brings new clues in Chinese murder case
Sep 13 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal
VITAL clues have been handed to police officers investigating the murder of two Chinese graduates after a Crimewatch reconstruction was aired to the nation.
The BBC programme was broadcast on Thursday night, and focused on tracing a missing lodger who may hold the key to the brutal murders of Xi Zhou and her boyfriend Zhen Xing Yang, both aged 25.
It also portrayed the last known movements of the two victims, and appealed for information concerning three people seen outside the Newcastle property.
Investigating officers are now sifting through scores of new leads, including an anonymous caller who claimed to know the lodger and the identity of the killers.
Northumbria Police Det Supt Steve Wade, senior investigating officer, said: “We have had a good response so far to the new appeal, receiving a number of interesting calls and texts containing potentially important information regarding the case.
“We have received several calls identifying the man seen in the street from the artist’s impression.
“An anonymous caller rang in with the identity of a man who they said may know the lodger and we have received a text from an individual saying that they know who is responsible for the murders. All of the information we have received is now being examined and investigated.”
The Chinese couple were found bludgeoned and stabbed to death in their ground-floor Tyneside flat in Croydon Road, Fenham, on August 9.
Xi Zhou, known to friends as Ci Ci, was last seen alive walking home from a shift as a waitress at city centre restaurant Wagamama around 4pm on Thursday, August 7.
Police officers fielded telephone calls in the London Crimewatch studio and also manned phones in the Major Incident Room in Byker Police Station, where the investigation is based.
Since the gruesome discovery, it has emerged that both Zhen Xing Yang and Xi Zhou were involved in a variety of internet scams.
An investigation of Chinese internet chat sites by The Journal revealed growing anger at the pair and even a series of threats made to their safety.
They were apparently involved in an international betting scam that takes advantage of Chinese censorship laws.
It involves Mandarin and Cantonese speakers commentating live on Premiership matches to contacts in China, who relay the information before it is officially approved by censors, giving a time advantage to place bets.
The pair were also apparently involved in fake documentation scams, including degree certificates and visas. Anyone with information should contact Northumbria Police on 08456 043-043 or 03456 0430-043 or email northumbriapolice@ymail.com.
