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| Man guilty of Chinese pair murder | |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| A man has been found guilty of murdering a Chinese couple at their flat in Newcastle. | |
| The mutilated bodies of Zhen Xing Yang and his girlfriend Xi Zhou, both 25, were found in their flat in Croydon Road on 9 August 2008. | The mutilated bodies of Zhen Xing Yang and his girlfriend Xi Zhou, both 25, were found in their flat in Croydon Road on 9 August 2008. |
| Restaurant worker Guang Hui Cao, 31, of Castle Close, Morpeth, Northumberland, had denied the killings. | Restaurant worker Guang Hui Cao, 31, of Castle Close, Morpeth, Northumberland, had denied the killings. |
| Newcastle Crown Court heard how the couple had been involved in a lucrative internet betting scam. | Newcastle Crown Court heard how the couple had been involved in a lucrative internet betting scam. |
| Miss Xi died after being hit with a heavy weapon and was found bound and gagged face down on a bed. | Miss Xi died after being hit with a heavy weapon and was found bound and gagged face down on a bed. |
| Mr Zhen died after being repeatedly hit with a hammer-like weapon and having his throat slit. | Mr Zhen died after being repeatedly hit with a hammer-like weapon and having his throat slit. |
| Tied up | |
| Guang pretended he wanted to sub-let a room in their flat to make contact with the popular couple before killing them. | |
| After the murder, he changed his clothes and fled from the property with laptop computers and mobile phones which linked him to the couple. | |
| The phones were found dumped in a nearby park by two boys, with the batteries and sim cards missing. | |
| Guang claimed he was tied up while the couple were killed | |
| They were handed to police after the murders were featured on the BBC's Crimewatch programme, and police discovered phone contacts between the couple and Guang. | |
| He was arrested at his home and police discovered a flake of Mr Zhen's blood on Guang's glasses, while more blood was found in two recesses of Guang's watch. | |
| In his defence, Guang claimed he had been blackmailed into unwittingly helping to set up the couple's deaths after threats were made to his family in China. | |
| He said he was in the flat at Croydon Road when they were killed, but was tied up and locked in the bathroom. | |
| The court heard that the couple could have been killed for their part in a lucrative internet betting operation which saw £233,000 pass through their bank accounts in three years. |