Crime Of Passion.

[_Echinochloa_]

A Chinese man accused of murdering a Chinese student was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter by a jury at the Central Criminal Court tonight.

During the 10-day trial, Hua Yu Feng (aged 27), of The Woods, Woodbrook Glen, Bray, Co. Wicklow, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms. Xiang Yi Wang (aged 21), originally from Fuxing City, China, at Woodbrook Glen in Bray on July 4, 2003.

He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but this was not accepted by the state.

Ms Wang, known as "Linda", had been living with a Chinese family at The Grove, Woodbrook Glen, Bray, Co. Wicklow at the time.

A jury of seven men and five women delivered the unanimous verdict after two hours and eight minutes of deliberation.

The victim's mother, who was present along with Linda's father and uncle, collapsed in sobs in the courtroom when she heard the verdict through an interpreter.

Feng was remanded in continued custody until Monday, when Mr Justice Paul Butler is expected to deliver a sentencing.

Earlier today, defence counsel Mr Diarmuid McGuinness SC told the jury that the killing was a "classic, if not tragic, crime of passion", in his closing submissions. "That's not to excuse it or justify it," he added.

The court has heard that the accused and deceased had been in a relationship for 18 months. The two had been seen holding hands in Bray in the weeks prior to Linda's death.

On the day before the killing, Linda had been out on a date with Garda Sean Lynan, a man she had first met on June 17th through activities relating to the Special Olympics, where the two volunteered.

Gd Lynan had told the court how Linda had told him openly how much she liked him and had sent him text messages, one of which read: "You are a good-looking man." He had not replied to any of the texts.

On July 3rd, Gd Lynan collected Linda from Portobello College in his car and they went on to Stillorgan, stopping at a McDonald's before driving to Enniskerry where they took a walk.

The court heard the two went to a hotel in Enniskerry around 10.30pm and left around 12.30am.

"And physical intimacy took place there, is that correct?" prosecuting counsel Mr Patrick James McCarthy SC asked Gd Lynan. "That's correct," Gd Lynan replied.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Mr McGuinness SC, Gd Lynan told the court he had no knowledge of Linda having a boyfriend in Ireland or that she worked in a chip shop in Bray. He told the court that Linda had told him she had a boyfriend in China, "but that was over".

"Were you keen to foster a relationship with her?" Mr McGuinness SC asked. "I wasn't sure at the time," he replied.

The court heard that on the night she was killed, Linda confessed her love to Gd Lynan. "She told me she loved me, I told her she didn't know me long enough to say those words," he said.

The jury heard that Linda alternated between being tearful and happy during the lift home from Enniskerry that night, but slammed Gd Lynan's car door as he dropped her off.

"Was she cross with you?" Mr McGuinness asked. "Yes, she didn't appear happy that we couldn't meet on Friday," he said.

"Then she got out of the car and walked towards her doorway. I just looked over my shoulder and saw her walking back up the driveway and I drove away," Gd Lynan said. This was at 1.07am, according to the clock in Gd Lynan's car, which was three minutes fast.

The court has heard that the accused made 13 phone calls, most of which were two to three seconds long, to the deceased after midnight. The last call was at 1.02am and lasted 43 seconds. The evidence could not determine if the accused had reached Linda or just left her a message.

In his statement to gardai, Feng said he called Linda and she came out of her house to meet him and they walked to a nearby "garden" to "because that's where we always go to talk", the accused said.

The jury had heard that the accused had purchased three cans of Bavaria Crown and had been drinking alone in a local pub in Bray. He returned to his home and retrieved a carving knife, "because I was drunk".

Asked if he intended to harm Linda, he said: "No, I never meant to do that."

The court heard the accused then left his house with the knife to go to Linda's house, but he did not recall how he was carrying the knife. "At that moment I got very, very drunk and I was mad. I just remember the stories she told me of that man," he said.

According to the accused, Linda had told him "love stories" involving another man and that he knew this man's name and job.

"That made me very, very crazy, very angry," he said in the statement.

Linda was found dead on the morning of July 4th with seven deep stab wounds to the trunk, lying face up in a green area near her home in Bray. Six of the stab wounds were inflicted from behind, two of which had gone completely through her body from front to back.

A necklace she had been wearing was imprinted in her neck, indicating that her neck had been compressed from 15 to 30 seconds, the court heard.

"Five of the stab wounds had injured internal organs – the liver, the heart, both kidneys and the right lung," state pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy had told the court. The cause of death was "haemorrhaging, shock and breathing difficulties from stab wounds to the trunk," Dr Cassidy said.

Heavy blood-staining was found on three different locations in the area, indicating that there was movement from the deceased.

According to his statement, Feng stood over Linda and asked her for any final words. "All of the time she said, 'I'm sorry mum and dad'," he said.

"I said I loved her and I go with you," Feng said in the interview. "I found an empty can of beer to try and cut my wrist. I did not find the artery," he added.

The accused fled to Belfast on July 4th, where he was admitted to hospital after slitting his wrists at a local youth hostel where he stayed between July 4th and 10th. He said he wanted to die where "no one else knows me".

Feng's cousin collected him by taxi from Belfast and brought him to Dublin voluntarily, where Feng was arrested on July 13th.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2005/02/11/story188978.html#

[smacko]

just another pointless killing.