A MAN who admitted strangling 16-year-old Wenjing Lin in a chinese takeaway near Treorchy wanted revenge on the girl’s mother because “she upset me on many times and didn’t listen to what I say.”
Wenjing Lin was found lifeless on the floor behind the counter of her family’s Chinese takeaway in Ynyswen on March 5, 2021 and was pronounced dead after emergency services couldn’t revive her.
Chun Xu, 32, denies her murder but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, he has also denied attempting to murder Lin’s stepfather, Yongquan Jiang, at the Blue Sky Chinese takeaway.
Xu admitted attacking Jiang with two knives but denies that he had intended to kill him or cause him serious harm.
Although not related, Mr. Xu was described as being like a nephew to Meifang Xu, Wenjing’s mother, but there had been arguments between their families regarding money.
The court heard that in the December of 2020 the family entrusted Mr Xu with £20,000 that he promised he would send back to China for them to repay a friend who had loaned them the money they needed to start their takeaway in Ynyswen.
Mr Xu, however, only sent some of the money back to China and gambled away about £14,000, which he had begun to pay back.
On March 4 2021, the court heard that Mr Xu travelled to Ynyswen from Pontypridd where he was both living and working in another Chinese restaurant.
He had in his possession one of the knives used to attack Mr. Jiang.
The jury then heard that he had asked the family not to tell anyone about his visit, during which he had a meal with members of the family and stayed until the next day.
The next morning, Wenjing was getting ready to go to school and talking with her friends on the picture-messaging app Snapchat.
The court heard that just sixty minutes before Wenjing was killed, Mr. Xu had used the internet to search “can fingerprints be destroyed by fire?”
Michael Jones said that Wenjing sent her last message just before 9:30am and that no further responses came from her as “she had by now been killed by the defendant”.
The court heard that at about 11:00am, Mr. Jiang heard noises coming from downstairs, when he went down to the ground floor he found Mr. Xu who asked him to come with him down into the basement for a cigarette and to get fish from the freezer.
When Mr. Jiang opened the freezer door, the jury heard that Mr. Xu attacked him with two knives and stabbed him in both his neck and his body.
During the ensuing struggle, Mr. Jiang asked Mr. Xu why he was doing this, to which he replied: “Money, money, money”.
Ms. Xu then came down into the basement and witnessed the two men fighting. When she tried to use the phone, and Mr. Xu bit her.
When Mr. Jiang managed to get back onto the ground floor he found his stepdaughter lifeless on a black mat by the takeaway counter.
Despite all efforts made by the emergency services, Wenjing could not be revived.
Mr. Xu also required medical attention as he had sliced his own throat following the attack.
Mr Jones told the court that £900 was discovered in Mr Xu’s pockets, where they also found Wenjing’s keys and mobile phone.
During police interviews, Mr. Xu offered no explanation for his actions.
The trial continues.
