Wei Hu, 40, and Yingying Zhou, 36, named as couple killed in Nunawading suspected murder-suicide
An eight-year-old boy frantically banged on his neighbour’s door after witnessing his parents involved in a suspected murder-suicide. His “lovely” mother has been remembered for her smile, while his father was revealed to be a school library technician.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
An “absolutely lovely” mother killed in a suspected murder-suicide in Nunawading on Saturday has been remembered for her beautiful smile.
Wei Hu, 40, is believed to have killed 36-year-old Yingying Zhou, also known as Vivian, in a luxury Audi parked in the driveway outside his eastern suburbs home.
Mr Hu, a library technician, died at the scene on Mt Pleasant Rd soon after emergency services arrived.
The former couple’s eight-year-old child was in the back seat of the white SUV as the tragedy unfolded.
“He’s a fantastic little kid and he saw all of that,” a neighbour said.
“He ran here and knocked on my door, banged on my door to get help.
“He got help from somebody. Somebody rang triple-0 and looked after him until the police came. It’s bloody shocking.”
The neighbour, who knew the couple for almost a decade, described Vivian as a lovely mother who always had a smile on her face.
“She was lovely, absolutely lovely,” he told the Herald Sun. “She was always smiling.
“She always said hi when she saw me. I still just can’t believe what has happened.”
The couple is thought to have separated recently, with Mr Hu moving from their Blackburn home to their Nunawading property less than a week before the tragedy.
Mr Hu was a library technician at elite private school, Scotch College, and ran the coding club.
He was missing from work on Monday before police formally notified the school of his death on Tuesday.
It is understood that students in the coding club have been offered counselling, and the school’s psychological support services and chaplains are on hand for staff.
One shocked student told the Herald Sun: “Mr Hu was a very kind-hearted teacher who always looked out for students.”
Social media reveals he was an avid runner, who regularly ran at an athletics track in Doncaster and trails across Melbourne, including Mount Dandenong.
He also posted a photo of Uluru in 2015, captioning it “one of the greatest countries in the world”, along with snaps of Paris, Shanghai and Beijing.
A runner who knew Mr Hu said he was a “cheery” man who would chat to others as they jogged.
He said the 40-year-old “dropped out of the picture” more than a year ago.
“He just seemed like a pretty fun guy,” he said. “He was always cheery.
“I reckon this will be a shock. He wasn’t prominent but he was well-known.
“He was always happy to chat.”
In a statement released on Saturday police said they were “not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident”, and that officers would prepare a report for the coroner.
“The female and male were located in a parked vehicle outside a property on Mt Pleasant Road just after 6pm,” the statement said.
“The female was deceased when emergency services arrived, the male died at the scene a short time later.
“A child that was also believed to have been in the vehicle was not physically injured. It is believed parties are known to each other.”
MORE NEWS
MAN IN UNDIES FIGHTS OFF CAR THIEVES
REVEALED: THE FASTEST-GROWING SCHOOLS IN VICTORIA
DEFIANT SETKA HAS ‘NO REASON TO STEP DOWN’
Domestic Violence Victoria acting chief executive Alison Macdonald said Saturday’s shocking attack was a reminder of the toll of family violence.
“This case obviously had some particularly horrific implications for the child involved,” she said.
“While there is absolutely no place for complacency, it is a reminder of the scale of the work to turn this around.
“We remain hopeful that we will see a decrease in both the prevalence family violence in our communities and the number of women who are murdered.
“We don’t want people to think that because we had a royal commission and a lot of government investment that the work is done and dusted.
“It is not the time to take the foot off the pedal … as cases like this remind us, we still have a long way to go.”
— For 24-hour domestic violence support, call the national hotline 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or on MensLine on 1800 600 636.