A Chinese international student who fatally stabbed his girlfriend at least 75 times in a “furious” attack inside their Sydney apartment has been sentenced to up to 20 years in jail.
Weijie He, 24, killed Liqun Pan, 19, with two knives and a hammer in his Wolli Creek apartment on June 27, 2020, before jumping from the fourth floor of the apartment block in an attempt to kill him. suicide.
He pleaded guilty to the murder in October 2022, after a long period of rehabilitation due to multiple serious injuries suffered in the fall.
On Friday, NSW Supreme Court Justice Julia Lonergan jailed He for 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 his Wolli Creek apartment on June 27, 2020, before jumping from the fourth floor of the block apartments 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 a fetal position in a pool of blood with 37 stab wounds to her head and face, and 10 to her back, including a wound so deep it passed through her spine, the court was told.
There were also strangulation wounds and defensive wounds to the hands of the victim, who Judge Lonergan said must have been in “abject terror” during the “unimaginable” chase and struggle.
His heavy use of nitrous oxide canisters – hundreds were found at the crime scene – could mean he was in a temporary delirium at the time, but if so, it only marginally reduced the severity of the behaviour, Judge Lonergan said.
It was “terribly self-indulgent” for He to use the drug to escape reality and his responsibilities, but “this is what the offender did,” the judge said.
The “furious” attack could also have been He, a struggling student and the son of wealthy Chinese parents, taking out his own shortcomings on the victim “like so many men who murder their common-law partners.”
He had coercively controlled Ms Pan for two years, including forcing her to sign a contract insisting she get rid of her acne, not go to bars or clubs and always have it in the background of her phone, the court heard.
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 confined to a wheelchair and received the sentence through a Mandarin translator.
The judge said she took into account the difficulties he would have in prison given his numerous disabilities as a mitigating factor in the sentence.
The impact of the murder on the victim’s family, who came from a small town 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”.
Once his time is served, he will be eligible for parole on January 19, 2034.
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