Wei Li found guilty of manslaughter over death of mother at Burnside

VITAL evidence that helped convict Wei Li of his mother’s manslaughter was found, by chance, by a police specialist who was testing new software.

VITAL evidence that helped convict Wei Li of his mother’s manslaughter was found, by chance, by a police specialist who was testing new software.

The Advertiser can now reveal the stroke of luck that brought about the end of the five-year saga over the death of Emma Mae Tien at Burnside in 2011.

A specialist trialling new translation software randomly chose Li’s computer to test its Mandarin Chinese function — and discovered a litany of internet searches on how best to kill a person, including suicide.

A Supreme Court jury on Monday deliberated for seven-and-a-half hours before finding Li, 22, not guilty of murder by unanimous verdict.

Li smiled as the jury instead unanimously found him guilty of the lesser crime of manslaughter.

He has been remanded in custody and will face sentencing submissions on Thursday.

Li, 22, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Emma May Tien, but said she died by his hand during an incident of self-defence in their home.

Prosecutors alleged the killing was premeditated, as evidenced by Google searches for stabbing and police avoidance techniques.

The court also heard Li tried to buy a one-way ticket to Singapore after the incident, and did not return to Australia for three years after fleeing to China.

Li took the stand to refute the allegations, claiming his yelling, screaming mother “came at” him in a fit of rage because he was practising martial arts instead of the piano.

Wei Li has been found guilty of manslaughter over the death of his mother in March, 2011, in Burnside. This picture was taken days after her death.

He claimed she had been physically abusive toward him for years, that his father was an alcoholic, and that he went to China to forget about the killing.

Prosecutors, however, insisted that was an “invention” to justify his actions, and cross-examined Li about his hiring of a male prostitute in Melbourne before his departure.

The jury of six men and six women retired at 12.45pm.

At 4pm, they returned to ask Justice Trish Kelly for legal definitions of murder, manslaughter, provocation and wilful act.

They also asked if it was reasonable for them to consider Li’s emotional state, arising from his relationship with his mother, at the time of the incident.

The jury’s verdict was based in part on data recovered from Li’s computer, showing he had scoured the internet for police avoidance techniques and methods of effectively killing people.

In his evidence, Li claimed he conducted those searches to find the fastest and most painless way to end his own life.

When Li first stood trial, in July last year, that evidence did not form part of the prosecution case.

On July 14, however, prosecutors asked the trial be interrupted due to the unexpected discovery of previously unseen records on Li’s computer.

Justice Trish Kelly asked why the material had not been brought to light earlier, and prosecutor Tim Preston said it was due to advances in technology — and good luck.

“The e-crime people work with a series of computer programs designed to extract from various devices, like phones and computers, data,” he said.

“One of them received an updated program ... that understood Mandarin Chinese.”

Mr Preston said the officer “had no specific interest” in Li’s computer, choosing it solely because it was the only one in SA Police’s possession that contained data in Mandarin.

“Upon analysis, there were Mandarin characters that identified what it was that had been punched into this computer, allowing the computer to go to those sites,” he said.

“It was fortuitous that he (the officer) used the particular computer to test the updated software.”

Justice Kelly agreed to allow the evidence, but only in a new trial, because it could be used to argue both murder and manslaughter.

“This has come up in what seems to be an astonishingly late point in time,” she said.

“But, given that we need to buy a new computer every year and update it every six months, it’s not so astonishing.”

Timeline

March 2011: Wei Li’s mother Emma Mei Tran is found dead at the family’s Burnside home. Wei Li leaves Adelaide, heading first to Melbourne then Singapore, and on to China.

July 2014: Wei Li is deported from China back to Adelaide to face a murder charge.

July 2015: Wei Li faces a Supreme Court trial. A mistrial is declared days later and a jury of jury of nine women and two men is discharged.

January 20, 2016: A new Supreme Court trial before a jury begins.

February 2016: Wei Li is found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter over his mother’s death.