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Ding family murders

SOLVED2011Pioneer Close, Wootton Fields, Northampton, England3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

Jifeng "Jeff" Ding, his wife Helen Chui, and their daughters Xing (18) and Alice (12) were found dead at their home at 10 Pioneer Close, Wootton Fields, a suburb of Northampton, England, at 6:00 pm on Sunday 1 May 2011. All four had been stabbed to death. Investigators concluded the killings had actually occurred roughly two days earlier, between about 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Friday 29 April 2011 — the same day as the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Xing had been a strong student and musician who had already accepted a place at the University of Nottingham to study medicine; she was later awarded posthumous A-level grades based on predicted attainment. Alice was also described as a talented musician.

Northamptonshire Police named Anxiang Du, a Coventry businessman, as the prime suspect. Du and the Ding family had run a Chinese herbal remedy shop together in Birmingham, and since 1999 Du and his wife had been locked in a decade-long legal dispute with the Dings after their business partnership failed. Du faced a legal bill of around £88,000 after losing his final appeals, and on 28 April 2011 he was served with a court order preventing him from disposing of his assets.

On the morning of 29 April 2011, Du left his family a farewell note and travelled by train from Coventry to Birmingham and on to Northampton, carrying a knife and his passport, before taking a bus to Wootton. He killed Jeff and Helen Ding in the kitchen before going upstairs and killing Xing and Alice in a bedroom. A 999 call was made from Alice's phone during the attack, but police response was misdirected to a different address and the call was treated as closed.

Du fled in the family's stolen car to London, abandoning it in St. John's Wood, then travelled by coach to Paris and onward through France and Spain before crossing to Morocco. He was briefly detained there as a suspected illegal immigrant but released before UK authorities could establish his identity. He spent roughly 14 months living in a partly built block of flats in Morocco before being recognised from a newspaper photograph and arrested on 7 July 2012. He was extradited to the UK on 20 February 2013 and charged with the four murders.

Du's trial at Northampton Crown Court began on 12 November 2013. On 27 November 2013 a jury found him guilty of all four murders. On 28 November 2013 he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years. His subsequent appeal against the length of the minimum term was rejected.

Key facts

Victims
Jifeng "Jeff" Ding, Xing Ding, Alice Ding, Helen Chui
Date
2011
Location
Pioneer Close, Wootton Fields, Northampton, England
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1999

    Anxiang Du and his wife enter into a legal dispute with the Ding family after their business partnership fails.

  2. 2011-04-28

    Du is served with a court order preventing him from disposing of his assets.

  3. 2011-04-29

    Du travels from Coventry to Wootton, Northampton, and kills Jeff Ding, Helen Chui, Xing Ding and Alice Ding at their home; a 999 call from the scene is mishandled by police.

  4. 2011-04-29

    Du steals the family's car, drives to London, abandons the vehicle in St. John's Wood, and later travels by coach to Paris.

  5. 2011-05-01

    The bodies of the four Ding family members are discovered by a neighbour.

  6. 2012-07-07

    Du is arrested in Morocco after being recognised from a newspaper photograph.

  7. 2012-07-10

    It is confirmed that the man arrested in Morocco is Anxiang Du.

  8. 2013-02-20

    Du is extradited to the UK.

  9. 2013-02-21

    Du appears at Northampton Magistrates' Court and is charged with the murders of the Ding family.

  10. 2013-11-12

    Du's trial begins at Northampton Crown Court.

  11. 2013-11-27

    Du is found guilty of the murder of all four members of the Ding family.

  12. 2013-11-28

    Du is sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years.

  13. 2014-06

    It is reported that Du is to appeal his 40-year minimum term; the appeal is later rejected.

Best coverage

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People

  • Jifeng "Jeff" Ding

    VICTIM

    Killed at the family home in Wootton on 29 April 2011.

  • Xing Ding

    VICTIM

    Killed at the family home in Wootton on 29 April 2011, aged 18.

  • Alice Ding

    VICTIM

    Killed at the family home in Wootton on 29 April 2011, aged 12.

  • Anxiang Du

    CONVICTED

    Found guilty on 27 November 2013 of murdering all four members of the Ding family; sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years.

  • Helen Chui

    VICTIM

    Killed at the family home in Wootton on 29 April 2011.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

Pioneer Close, Wootton Fields, Northampton, England

52.2064, 0.9010

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Jifeng "Jeff" Ding, his wife Helen Chui, and their daughters Xing and Alice were stabbed to death at their home in Wootton, Northampton, on 29 April 2011. Anxiang Du, a former business partner embroiled in a long-running legal dispute with the family, fled abroad and was arrested in Morocco 14 months later; he was convicted of all four murders in November 2013.
Where did the murders happen?
Pioneer Close, Wootton Fields, Northampton, England.
Who was convicted?
Anxiang Du (Found guilty on 27 November 2013 of murdering all four members of the Ding family; sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.
More cases in England

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICDing family murdersWikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — BBC NewsBBC News · 2026-07-07
  3. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The GuardianThe Guardian · 2026-07-07

Record history

First published
JUL 10, 2026