'Mystery lodger' link to Chinese student murders » Communities » 24dash.com

The brutal murder of two Chinese graduates took a new twist today as detectives appealed for a mystery lodger to come forward.

Police hunting the killers of Xi Zhou and her boyfriend Zhen Xing Yang, both 25, have revealed an unknown man may hold clues to finding out who is responsible.

Officers have appealed for the Chinese man who was sub-letting a room with the couple in their flat in Newcastle's West End to come forward.

Miss Zhou and Mr Yang - both graduates of Newcastle University - were attacked in their ground floor flat in Croydon Road with a knife and another sharp weapon and suffered severe head injuries.

At a news conference in Newcastle, police revealed that the victims advertised one of their bedrooms for rent by placing an advert on a local Chinese website www.ncl.cssauk.org.uk.

The website displayed two photographs of the flat together with a contact mobile telephone number for Mr Yang.

Det Supt Steve Wade, who is leading the murder inquiry, said: "We now believe that an unidentified male rented a room from the couple on or about August 1 this year.

On the August 3 or 4 Mr Yang routinely contacted his mother in China via telephone and informed her that he had taken on a new lodger.

"Mr Yang informed his mother that the new lodger was a student and that he came from the Jinzhou area of the northern seaport city Dalian.

"We have no further information to identify the lodger and enquiries to trace him have so far failed.

"We urgently need to identify this unknown lodger who could have vital information to assist the murder investigation, and to eliminate him from our enquiries."

Northumbria Police also released new photographs of the couple, which have been recovered from their computer.

The picture shows Miss Zhou, known as Ci Ci, and Mr Yang, known as Kevin, on a recent visit to Alnwick Castle in Northumberland.

Another photograph was also released of Miss Zhou singing at a local restaurant and a plan of the flat where the brutal murders took place on August 9.

It has emerged Mr Yang may have been involved in an internet betting scam and may have used forged documents to gain a place at Newcastle University.

Mr Yang had been tortured before he was hacked and stabbed to death, and the couple's cat was drowned by their killers.

It was revealed last week that internet users on UK-based Mandarin websites had identified Mr Yang as a recruitment agent for a gambling racket which relied on the results of live Premier League football games being shown a couple of minutes later in China to beat the bookies.

Detectives are checking the murdered couple's bank accounts for possible withdrawals by their killers.

Detectives want to know if Mr Yang was tortured for details of any cash or profits of alleged internet and forgery scams being stashed away.

The officer leading the inquiry said he was keeping an open mind to the motive for the killings.

"Enquiries are continuing into allegations of internet betting scams and the obtaining of fraudulent university qualifications however our enquiries thus far do not reveal the couple's involvement in major criminality and their lifestyle and finances are not what could be expected of anyone involved in organised crime," Mr Wade said.

"The levels of violence used in the killings is completely disproportionate to the level of minor fraudulent activity discovered on the couples computer thus far.

"We must not lose sight of the fact that Xi Zhou and Zhen Xing Yang are victims of a senseless killing and their parents and friends are left devastated and unable to comprehend what has happened."

Police have also set up an email address for people to email directly Northumbria Police. The address is northumbriapolice@ymail.com

This has been set up to allow people to contact Northumbria Police and they can leave messages in their chosen language.

The stand alone email address has been set up in response to an Internet chat room on powerapple.com where detectives have posted an appeal in both English and Chinese.