The Lin family murders occurred in North Epping in the northwestern suburbs of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia, on 18 July 2009. The victims were newsagency proprietor Min Lin; his wife, Yun Lin; their sons, Henry and Terry; and Yun Lin's sister, Irene Lin. The family was bludgeoned to death. Min Lin's sister, Kathy, discovered the bodies. Jun "Brenda" Lin, 15, was the only surviving immediate family member after the incident; she was on a school trip in

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

with

Cheltenham Girls High School Cheltenham Girls High School, is a public, comprehensive, high school for girls, located in Cheltenham, a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1957 and operated by the New South Wales Departme ...

at the time. On 5 May 2011, Lian Bin "Robert" Xie – Kathy's husband – was arrested and charged with the murders. After several abandoned trials, a third trial ended in December 2015 with a

hung jury A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. A hung jury may result in the case being tried again. Thi ...

. Xie was later granted

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

. A retrial was held in 2016, with a jury finding Xie guilty of the murders by a majority verdict on 12 January 2017.

Murders

In the early hours of 18 July 2009 in North Epping,

, newsagent proprietor Min Lin, age 45; his wife, Yun Lin, 43; their sons, Henry (12) and Terry (9); and Yun Lin's sister, Irene Lin (39), were bludgeoned to death. Kathy Lin, sister of Min Lin, and her husband Lian Bin "Robert" Xie discovered the bodies when they went to the house at around 9:00 am to see why the newsagency run by the Lin family was not open. After entering via the unlocked front door and discovering the murder scene, Kathy called

000 Triple zero, Zero Zero Zero, 0-0-0 or variants may refer to: * 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number * 000, the size of several small List of screw drives, screw drives * 0-0-0, a Droid (Star Wars)#0-0-0, dro ...

for an ambulance and struggled to explain the situation. Xie left Kathy at the house waiting for the police to pick up Min and Kathy Lin's parents, who lived in

Merrylands Merrylands is a suburb in Western Sydney, Australia. Merrylands is located west of the Sydney central business district and is in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Cumberland Council, New South Wales, Cumberland Ci ...

. Police and paramedics quickly arrived at the scene, but the victims were pronounced dead.

Investigation

Police investigators noted heavy blood spatter from floor to ceiling. The faces of the victims were so disfigured that

forensic analysis Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

had to be used to identify them. There was no evidence of a break-in, suggesting the use of a key. Nothing had been ransacked or stolen. It was clear that the killer had known the layout of the house, the location of the

circuit breaker A circuit breaker is an electrical safety device designed to protect an Electrical network, electrical circuit from damage caused by current in excess of that which the equipment can safely carry (overcurrent). Its basic function is to interr ...

, and the fact that Brenda Lin was not home, as it appeared that the attacker did not enter her room. Forensic analysts also determined that the killings had been started with a hammer-like object, alleged at trial to have been bought from a

discount store Discount stores offer a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down costs. Types (Uni ...

, and four of the five victims had additional signs of

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are m ...

. There were twenty-four bloody shoe prints that were also evident, determined to be around US-size 8.5 to 10.5, indicating a lone attacker. Brenda (then 15) was the only member of the immediate family to survive. She was on a year-10 French school trip in

with

at the time, and learnt of the murders via

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

. After the murders, Xie and Kathy Lin became her legal guardians, and they resumed operation of the newsagent business. Brenda later alleged that she was

sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is r ...

by Xie during this period. A month after the attack, Strike Force Norburn was set up to coordinate the investigation. In May 2010, the NSW Crime Commission told Kathy about the discovery of shoe prints that may match an ASICS sneaker. Subsequently, video collected during six-month-long covert police surveillance showed Xie cutting up a size 9.5 ASICS sneakers box and flushing it down a toilet. It was also found that Xie cleaned his garage on the morning of the murders. Forensic investigators searched his home and found a stain on the floor of the garage, which the

Crown prosecutor Crown prosecutor is the title given in a number of jurisdictions to the state prosecutor, the legal party responsible for presenting the case against an individual in a criminal trial. The title is commonly used in Commonwealth realms. Examples * ...

alleged was blood. Later analysis of "stain 91" by Cybergenetics, a US company, revealed it to contain DNA from four of the five victims.

Trials

Just after 9:00 am on 5 May 2011, Xie (then 47) was arrested without incident at his home in North Epping following an extensive investigation. On 19 December 2012, he was committed for trial. Xie's trial had been scheduled to begin in September 2013.

DNA tests Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

on some evidence were in the process of being completed. Authorities alleged the motive for the crime was that, while Xie had been an

ENT Ents are giant humanoids in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth who closely resemble trees; their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest. Their name is derived from an Old English word for "giant". The Ents appear in ''The Lord ...

doctor in China before migrating to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 2006, he had made an unsuccessful attempt to open a restaurant there before relocating to

. Xie felt slighted by his loss of status and face when compared to his successful in-laws. He was also sexually attracted to his underage niece, Brenda Lin. On 22 July 2013, the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil law (common law), civil matters, and hears ...

delayed the trial until 17 March 2014. This was agreed between the prosecution and the

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

, although press reports were not able to comment on the reasons for the delay. On 20 May and 21 May 2014, in the Supreme Court, Min and Kathy Lin's father, Yang Fei Lin, described his horror at learning that the five family members were dead. Xie's second trial for the murders began in August 2014, but was abandoned again shortly thereafter in September due to health issues of the trial judge. Xie's third trial commenced in February 2015. Xie, who had been refused

ahead of the trial, pleaded not guilty. Robert Xie's defence lawyers argued that the injuries inflicted upon the family members indicated that the murders were committed by more than one person. On 1 December 2015, after a nine-month trial and eleven days of deliberation, two separate notes from the jury of twelve indicated they were unable to reach a verdict. An agreement still could not be reached after a direction from presiding Justice Elizabeth Fullerton indicating that she would accept a majority verdict of eleven to one. Fullerton formally discharged the jury on 1 December. The date for a retrial was initially undecided, but then confirmed for August 2016. Xie was granted bail on 8 December 2015. The final trial commenced in Sydney in June 2016. As in the previous trial, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, and Justice Fullerton advised a majority (11 to 1) verdict would be accepted by the court. On 12 January 2017, a jury found Xie guilty of five counts of murder. Xie was sentenced on 13 February 2017 to five consecutive

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

s in prison without the possibility of parole. An

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

against the conviction was dismissed in February 2021.

Aftermath

It was reported in May 2024 that Brenda Lin was now an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse. Since 2021, Lin had helped to established a network of 12 meetup hubs, The Survivor Network, in Australia to assist other victims in their recovery process.

References

{{Reflist

Murders

Investigation

Trials

Aftermath

See also

References

Further reading