Man remanded in double killing case

Oct 28 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

A MAN appeared in court yesterday charged with the murder of two Chinese graduates who were found hacked to death in their Newcastle home.

Guang Hui Cao, 30, of Castle Close, Morpeth, Northumberland, is accused of murdering Xi Zhou and her boyfriend Zhen Xing Yang, both 25, in their ground-floor flat in Croydon Road, Fenham, on August 9.

It was two days before the couple’s mutilated bodies were found.

In raids last week on addresses in Fenham, Morpeth and in Bournmoor, near Houghton-le-Spring on Wearside, 17 arrests were made.

And yesterday Chinese national Hui Cao attended Newcastle Magistrates’ Court for a 10-minute hearing.

The accused, with stubble and wearing a green sweatshirt, spoke through an interpreter to confirm his name and age. Northumbria Police made an application, which was granted by the magistrate, to hold £4,565 seized at his home.

The money can be held by the force for three months to allow investigations.

Guang was remanded in custody to appear before Newcastle Crown Court on November 10 for a preliminary hearing.

No pleas were entered and no application for bail was made.

During last week’s raid, two other men were arrested in connection with the killings but have since been released on bail pending further inquiries.

A further 14 people, again all Chinese nationals, were arrested on suspicion of burglary and immigration offences. They have also been bailed.

It is thought the swoops followed surveillance and were the result of evidence gathered from the crime scene and other premises.

Yesterday’s court hearing is the most significant development in an intensive two-month investigation. Detectives believe Mr Zhen, who was also known as Kevin, may have been tortured for up to an hour before he was hacked and stabbed to death by his killer.

Xi Zhou, known to friends as Ci Ci, was last seen walking home from a shift as a waitress at city centre restaurant Wagamama at about 4pm on Thursday, August 7.

Their bodies were in separate rooms and their pet cat was found dead, submerged in a bowl of water under the sink in their bathroom.

In an effort to unearth vital clues Det Supt Steve Wade, who is leading the investigation, made two nationwide appeals on BBC’s Crimewatch programme.

The couple’s parents travelled from their homes in China to hold an emotional Press conference in which they pleaded for information to help trace their killers.

Ci Ci’s father Sanbao Zhou, 58, a local government official from Hunan province in the south of China, and Kevin’s mother, Shu Zhen Qu, 52, from Dalian City, said they would not rest until justice was done.