Tiger mum killer Wei Li told pyschiatrist he could beat murder charge and get justice

CONVICTED killer Wei Li told his psychiatrist “I can beat this, get justice and resume my life” just weeks before successfully defending murder charges, documents reveal.

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CONVICTED killer Wei Li told his psychiatrist “I can beat this, get justice and resume my life” just weeks before successfully defending murder charges, documents reveal.

In psychiatric and psychological reports, released to The Advertiser by the Supreme Court, the schoolboy who killed his mother and then fled to China boasts he is “clever enough to avoid conflict”.

He told one specialist he hoped “the truth will out” in his trial over the 2011 death of his mother, Emma Mae Tien, but added he had “no faith in the system”.

“I should have bail, I’m clearly not dangerous,” he told Dr William Brereton in January this year.

“It was a tragic accident… I have honour and integrity… I can beat this, get justice and resume my life.”

Li, 22, pleaded not guilty to murder and was found guilty, by a jury, of manslaughter.

He killed his mother in their Burnside home, after years of familial violence, during a fight prompted by his decision to practise martial arts instead of piano.

Justice Trish Kelly, who will sentence Li on Thursday, has already indicated she intends to treat his case as one of provocation manslaughter.

Wei Li, pictured in Melbourne days after he killed his mother at their Burnside family home in March, 2011.

That means his sentence will be toward the higher end of the range of penalties for that offence, which carries a maximum term of life.

In the mental health reports, compiled prior to trial, Li describes his mother as a loving person who became “twisted” by his father’s alcoholic violence.

He recalled that when he was 12, his father had smashed a bottle over his mother’s head – and because he was the only member of the family who spoke English, it fell to him to lie to police about it.

“(My mother) would always say she was allowing herself to suffer for my sake… so I could have a better life and good future,” Li told psychologist Dr Loraine Lim.

However, Li said that once his mother took control of the family’s finances she turned him into her “project”.

She made him wear “Harry Potter glasses”, dictated his fashion choices and controlled his diet because she “did not want to have a fat kid”.

Dr Lim concluded Li endured his mother’s abuse due to the “hardwired” Chinese cultural concepts of “filial piety”, or family devotion, and keeping good “face” with their community.

“In their relationship, he was the victim (and he) had become desensitised to violence over the years,” she said.

“It likely caused him to react with excessive force in an attempt to protect himself.”

Dr Brereton found Li to be “somewhat naïve and entitled”, noting his refusal to take antidepressants prior to trial because he “needs his head clear”.

He said Li was keen to emphasise details “that he believes explain his actions and reduce his culpability”.

“Mr Li pointed out that he has a lot of support, in particular his father, family, friends and his old teachers from Prince Alfred College,” he said.

“He commented ‘I’m doing this for them’.”