Melbourne wheelie bin victim Ju ‘Kelly’ Zhang’s mother faces killer in court

A mother has collapsed in court when she confronted the man who killed her daughter and dumped her body in a bin.

Joon Seong Tan, 38, was found guilty by a jury last week of murdering Ju ‘Kelly’ Zhang at her home in Epping in northern Melbourne on February 2, 2021.

Tan had thought that his girlfriend of only a month, Mrs. Zhang, was cheating on him with another man, so he killed her while her eight-year-old son was in another room.

He then cleaned up and moved Ms. Zhang’s body first to a washing cabinet and then to a wheelie bin.

Tan drove the barge to Heidelberg West, where he placed it with other barges for collection.

The next morning, after driving Ms. Zhang’s son to school, he returned and watched the garbage truck empty the garbage can, before returning to Ms. Zhang’s house, where he reported her missing.

It took police four months to find Ms. Zhang’s body in a dump in Wollert.

She had suffered at least one stab wound to her heart.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Ms. Zhang’s mother, Renqun Li, told the Supreme Court that her daughter was a studious woman who should have had a bright future ahead of her.

When they found out their daughter was missing, Ms. Li and her husband Xiaoyou Zhang dropped everything in China, using donations from friends to go to Melbourne.

For months they thought she had been kidnapped and that they would see their daughter alive again, but that never happened.

“We often wonder why God is so cruel, why he made us lose our only child as we get older,” she told the court through a Mandarin interpreter.

Mrs. Zhang’s young son, Jack, is still calling out for his mother, having persistent nightmares.

Joon Seong Tan (pictured) has admitted to killing Zhang

In his victim impact statement, the now 10-year-old told the court that he felt alone and scared without her.

Ms. Li called on Justice Mandy Fox to give Tan a severe sentence, noting that their only child was killed for his own selfish means.

“We hope that justice will eventually triumph over evil and justice will be given to our family,” she said.

Ms. Li pointed at Tan and yelled “bastard” in Mandarin when she finished reading her victim impact statement.

She then burst into sobs and had to leave the courtroom before two employees of the Wollert tip read their statements.

Harry Taylor, the site’s landfill manager, described feeling both elated and depressed as he lifted Ms. Zhang’s tiny body from the mud-soaked waste.

The tip’s risk manager, Christopher Smith, swallowed tears and said his team was grieving for a woman they had never met.

‘[Tan] could have saved so many from unnecessary pain and fear,” he said.

Tan’s lawyer, Greg Hughan, said his client was moved by the emotional statements and he now admitted to killing Ms. Zhang.

A provided image of dumpsters used during the Tan murder trial

The 38-year-old claims that Ms. Zhang had a knife by her bed and that she grabbed it first while they were arguing over their children, the lawyer said.

Mr Hughan explained that the confession showed that Tan had accepted responsibility for his crimes and that he would not appeal against his conviction.

“He doesn’t want to perpetuate the grief,” the lawyer said.

But Judge Fox said she would not accept Tan’s version of events, saying his admission showed no remorse.

Tan will be sentenced at a later date.