A jealous killer who brutally stabbed his girlfriend to death in her own home was on his way to the airport when the police happened upon him.
Joon Seong Tan, 38, was sentenced to 28 years in prison by Victoria’s High Court on Friday for the 2021 murder of Melbourne mother Ju ‘Kelly’ Zhang, 33.
Justice Amanda Fox set a 23-year non-parole period and told Tan he would likely spend every day of his sentence behind bars before being sent back to Malaysia, where he was born.
Ju ‘Kelly’ Zhang, 33, was killed by her boyfriend of a month – after she started seeing another man
Above, Joon Seong Tan during his interview with Victoria Police. He was found guilty of murder in May after a jury took less than a day to deliberate
At Tan’s sentencing, Judge Fox revealed how close the vile killer was to escaping justice.
The court heard that homicide detectives were on their way to arrest Tan when they happened to see him strolling down the street.
Detectives were eager to talk to Tan after he failed to meet them as arranged after the mysterious disappearance of Ms. Zhang – a woman he had only been dating for a month.
“On February 7, the police were on their way to your address in Doncaster when they found you by accident on a nearby street,” said Judge Fox.
“You had your passport and $3,500 in cash.”
Tan was arrested and his passport confiscated while detectives worked the case against him.
It would be four and a half long months before his victim’s body was finally found in a tip in northern Melbourne after a painstaking search.
Tan would continue to deny killing Ms. Zhang until lunchtime after a jury convicted him of murder in May.
Joon Seong Tan (pictured) will spend 28 years behind the bar after being found guilty of murder
Ms Zhang’s body was found four months later in a dump in Wollert, Melbourne’s north
On Friday, the court heard harrowing details of how Ms Zhang was stabbed at least six times in the chest by Tan at her home in Epping, while her eight-year-old son watched television in another room.
When her mutilated body was finally retrieved from the dumpster, forensic experts were able to determine that she had fought ferociously for her life, with stab wounds on her forearms and hands.
When Tan finished, he lied to her little boy and told him that his mother had abandoned him.
After driving the boy around to “search the street” for his mother, Tan dumped Ms. Zhang in a wheelie bin and drove it to Heidelberg West – 15 km away – where the bin was put on the street with others for collection.
Then he waited for the garbage truck to empty Ms. Zhang’s body from the garbage can.
Judge Fox sentenced Tan for his cold and ruthless behavior.
“The way you mistreated Ms. Zhang’s body and threw her into a household garbage can was insensitive and disgraceful,” she told Tan.
“You literally treated her like she was garbage.”
Single mother Ju ‘Kelly’ Zhang (pictured) was murdered in her Melbourne home in February 2021
Justice Fox said Tan’s relationship with Ms. Zhang had “hardly begun” when he killed her.
“Yet she trusted you, introduced you to her (son) and invited you into her life.”
The court heard that Tan killed Ms. Zhang after she started a new relationship with another man.
“You found out she was seeing another man through conduct that amounts to stalking,” Judge Fox said.
“I am convinced that you took her life because you felt rejected and furious. Kelly had a right to feel safe and protected in her home, but you murdered her in her own bedroom with her young son in a nearby room.’
The court heard that Ms. Zhang’s son was now living with his elderly grandparents, where he kept asking when his mother would come home.
“The first person you lied to was (her son). You made an eight-year-old believe that his mother had just left without him and disappeared, which was just cruel,” said Judge Fox.
“You were an adult and a friend of his mother, so he confidently drove you around on a fictional search for his mother. You also implicated (him) in a mock search of his house where you pretended to look for his mother in several bedrooms.
“The next morning you drove him to school and kept lying and telling him that his mother still hadn’t returned. At that time, you had put Ms. Zhang’s body in a container.”
The court was told that Tan had told a friend that he thought his new girlfriend Ju Kelly Zhang (pictured) was cheating on him
Police later found that Tan had googled “how many years for killing a person in Australia” shortly after dumping his girlfriend’s body.
In the days that followed, Tan did several hair-raising Google searches on his phone, including “how is stinking rubbish disposed of in Australia” and how many years for murder in Australia.
Tan’s months-long murder trial heard from dozens of witnesses, including Ms. Zhang’s friends and ex-husband.
The jury was told how Tan met Ms. Zhang online in early 2021 and quickly fell in love with her and called her his wife.
Prosecutors told jurors that Tan killed Ms. Zhang sometime between 5 and 6 p.m. after eating with her and her eight-year-old son.
Ms. Zhang had reportedly soured relations with Tan and started seeing another man.
Tan had seen his car parked in her driveway.
The jurors were told that Tan had told a friend that he thought Ms. Zhang was cheating on him and if he found out that was the case, he would “kill her, hug her and die together.”
If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, domestic violence or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732