Lin Family Murders

In the early hours of 18 July 2009, newsagency proprietor Min Lin (45), his wife Yun Lin (43), their sons Henry (12) and Terry (9), and Yun Lin's sister Irene Lin (39) were bludgeoned to death in their home in North Epping, in the northwestern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. The bodies were discovered around 9:00 am by Min Lin's sister, Kathy Lin, and her husband, Lian Bin "Robert" Xie, when they went to check why the family's newsagency had not opened. Kathy called emergency services, but the victims were pronounced dead at the scene. The only surviving immediate family member was Jun "Brenda" Lin, then 15, who was on a school trip to New Caledonia with Cheltenham Girls High School at the time and learned of the killings via Facebook.

Investigators found heavy blood spatter throughout the house and disfigured victims requiring forensic identification. There was no sign of forced entry, nothing appeared to have been stolen, and the attacker seemed to know the layout of the house, including the location of the circuit breaker, and appeared aware that Brenda was not home. Forensic analysis indicated the attacks began with a hammer-like object and that four of the five victims showed additional signs of asphyxia. Twenty-four bloody shoe prints, sized roughly US 8.5 to 10.5, pointed to a single attacker. A dedicated investigation, Strike Force Norburn, was established a month after the killings. Covert surveillance later showed Xie cutting up an ASICS shoebox and flushing pieces down a toilet, and forensic search of his home garage found a stain that a Crown prosecutor alleged was blood; later DNA analysis of the stain reportedly matched four of the five victims.

Xie, an ENT doctor from China who had relocated to Australia, was arrested on 5 May 2011 and charged with the murders. Prosecutors alleged a motive involving feelings of diminished status compared to his in-laws, as well as an alleged sexual attraction to his niece, Brenda Lin. He was committed for trial in December 2012. Multiple trials were delayed or abandoned, including a second trial in 2014 halted due to the presiding judge's health. A third trial, beginning in early 2015, ended in December 2015 with a hung jury after prolonged deliberation; Xie was granted bail shortly after. A further trial commenced in mid-2016, and on 12 January 2017, a jury returned a majority guilty verdict on all five counts of murder. Xie was sentenced on 13 February 2017 to five consecutive life sentences without parole. His appeal against conviction was dismissed in February 2021.

Following the murders, Brenda Lin later alleged she was sexually abused by Xie while he and Kathy Lin acted as her legal guardians. As of 2024, Brenda Lin has become an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, helping establish a network of meetup hubs in Australia known as The Survivor Network.