A Chinese international student who fatally stabbed his girlfriend at least 75 times in a “rageous” attack in her Sydney apartment has been jailed for up to 20 years.
Weijie He, 24, killed 19-year-old Liqun Pan with two knives and a hammer in her Wolli Creek flat on June 27, 2020, before jumping from the fourth floor of the apartment building in a suicide attempt.
He pleaded guilty to the murder in October 2022, after a long period of rehabilitation due to multiple serious injuries suffered during the fall.
On Friday, NSW Supreme Court Judge Julia Lonergan sentenced He to a maximum of 20 years with a non-parole period of 13 years for the ‘extremely violent’ attack.
Weijie He, 24, killed 19-year-old Liqun Pan (pictured) with two knives and a hammer in her Wolli Creek flat on June 27, 2020, before jumping from the fourth floor of the apartment building in a suicide attempt
“He clearly intended to kill her, this is a very serious offence,” Judge Lonergan said in handing down the sentence.
Police found Ms Pan in the fetal position in a pool of blood with 37 stab wounds to her head and face, and 10 to her back, including one wound so deep it pierced the spine, the court was told.
There were also strangulation wounds and defensive wounds on the hands of the victim, who Judge Lonergan said was in ‘abject fear’ during the ‘unimaginable’ chase and struggle.
His frequent use of cans of the drug nitrous oxide (hundreds were found at the crime scene) could mean that he was experiencing a transient delusion at the time, but if so it only marginally reduced the severity of the behavior, Judge Lonergan said.
It was “terribly self-indulgent” of him to use the drug to escape reality and his responsibilities, but “this is what the perpetrator did,” the judge said.
The “frenzied” attack could also have been that He, a struggling student and the son of wealthy Chinese parents, had unloaded His own shortcomings on the victim “like so many men who kill their housemates.”
He had forcibly controlled Ms Pan for two years, including making her sign a contract stating that she would get rid of her acne, not go to bars or clubs and always have him as her phone wallpaper, it was heard the court.
Police found Ms Pan in a fetal position in a pool of blood with 37 stab wounds to her head and face, a court heard
“There is no sign of remorse,” Judge Lonergran said of the killer, who is now in a wheelchair and received the sentence through a Mandarin translator.
The judge said she took into account the hardships he would face in prison, given his numerous disabilities, as a mitigating factor in sentencing.
The impact of the killing on the victim’s family, from a small village in rural Guangdong province, had been “crushing and immeasurable”, the court was told.
They were heartbroken by the untimely death of Mrs Pan, who was described as a woman of ‘kindness and affection’.
If he serves the time, he will be eligible for parole on January 19, 2034.
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