Police fear for murdered woman’s missing husband as huge manhunt is launched for mystery ‘third person’
There are serious fears for the husband of the woman whose badly decomposed body was found dumped near Sydney Airport.
The body of Zhuojun ‘Sally’ Li, 33, was discovered by a jogger on Monday, badly decomposed and wrapped in plastic at Sir Joseph Banks Park off Foreshore Road, in Botany in Sydney’s south-east.
Police fear Ms Li’s husband, Jai-Bao ‘Rex’ Chen, 33, may also have been killed.
A silver Toyota Avensis, which does not belong to either of them, was seized by homicide officers because they believe it was used to transport Ms Li’s body.
On Saturday, Homicide Squad Detective Chief Inspector Danny Doherty said police were ‘trying to identify the third party’.
“A strong focus for us at the moment is mainly on Rex, but we need to keep an open mind, we are also looking at a strong third party option,” Chief Inspector Doherty said.
Police said there was no link between the car and Ms Li or Mr Chen and launched a large-scale hunt for a “third person”.
“We are looking at associations and friends of Sally and Rex who may have been able to transport a body to Botany and then also cover up the actual body at the crime scene,” Detective Chief Inspector Doherty said.
There are serious fears for the husband of the woman whose badly decomposed body was found dumped near Sydney Airport
The body of Zhuojun ‘Sally’ Li, 33, was discovered wrapped in plastic at Sir Joseph Banks Park (pictured) on Foreshore Road, in Botany in Sydney’s south-east, on Monday.
‘It is a question mark whether Rex is a person of interest or a victim. We still don’t know.’
Chief Inspector Doherty said Mr Chen was last seen alive in November and there was a “strong investigative theory” that a third party could be involved.
“Not only in Sally’s suspected murder, but we also need to look at a third party involved in Rex’s disappearance,” Doherty said.
He added: ‘At this stage we believe he (Rex) is in Australia but whether he is alive or dead we do not know.’
Doherty said they were a “normal couple” with no known links to organized crime.
The concerns about Mr. Chen’s safety come as The Australian revealed that Mr Chen has a string of drug-related convictions.
Mr Chen was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order in 2022 for supplying a prohibited drug.
The order expired in January this year.
A silver Toyota Avensis (pictured) was seized by a homicide officer which they said was used to transport Ms Li’s body
He was subject to additional conditions, namely that he must be supervised by a Community Corrections officer and must continue treatment for his ‘alcohol and drug problems’.
Mr Chen was also convicted of possession of stolen property, but no further punishment was imposed.
Mr Chen was also found guilty of possession of a prohibited drug in August 2020, but entered a parole order and was not convicted.
His parole order was revoked in November 2020 when he breached his conditions by committing further offences.
He was convicted of four charges of supplying a ‘small quantity’ of prohibited drugs and sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order.
Mr Chen was also convicted of two charges of possession of a prohibited drug and given a further six-month community corrections order.