Friend of Ju ‘Kelly’ Zhang says she wanted to break-up with boyfriend days before disappearance

The friend of a woman allegedly murdered by her boyfriend says she had planned to break up with him days before she vanished from her Epping home.

Ju Zhang disappeared from her Epping home in 2021.

A friend of Ju “Kelly” Zhang says she planned to break up with her new boyfriend but would keep him around because of his money.

Joon “Sam” Seong Tan is standing trial for the murder of his girlfriend Ms Zhang, 33, whose body was found in a Wollert rubbish tip four months after she vanished from her Epping home.

Close friend Xiaolei “Shelley” Chi told the Supreme Court on Tuesday she visited Ms Zhang at her home two days before her alleged murder where they discussed her relationship with Mr Tan.

“She said she was quite disappointed with Sam,” Ms Chi said through a Mandarin interpreter.

“She had no plans to stay in a relationship with Sam, she no longer wanted to see him.”

Joon Seong Tan is standing trial for the alleged murder of Ju Zhang. Picture: Josie Hayden

But while under cross-examination by Mr Tan’s lawyer Greg Hughan, Ms Chi said Ms Zhang enjoyed her new boyfriend’s money and that he helped clean the home she shared with her eight-year-old son.

“Did she say she wanted to keep him around for those reasons but not a relationship?” Mr Hughan asked her.

“Yes,” she replied.

Ms Chi added Ms Zhang yelled at and sometimes “bossed around” Mr Tan whom she had met online just a month earlier.

During her testimony, Ms Chi said her friend was also speaking to another man, named Eric, who she had met online in the days before her alleged murder.

She said Ms Zhang had told her that she and Mr Tan had argued after he read messages with the other man on her phone.

Ms Chi said she spoke with Ms Zhang on the phone two days later, with her friend saying she wanted to invite Eric over for dinner that night.

“She wanted to see what type of guy Eric was,” she said.

Prosecutors allege about 6pm on February 1, 2021, Mr Tan murdered Ms Zhang in her home during an argument about her relationship with the other man.

The jury was told her injuries included “sharp force” trauma to her heart and other “defensive type” injuries to her hands and arms.

Joon Seong Tan leaves the Supreme Court. Picture: Valeriu Campan

It’s alleged he then wrapped Ms Zhang’s body in a bed sheet and dumped it into a garbage bin before driving to Heidelberg where he placed it on the street.

He allegedly dropped Ms Zhang’s son off at the school the following morning before returning to the street to watch a garbage truck collect the bin.

Ms Zhang’s body was found four months later in Wollert rubbish tip wrapped in a blanket and wearing a pink dressing gown.

The jury on Monday was told Mr Tan allegedly searched online “how many years for killing a person in Australia” in the days after his girlfriend’s disappearance.

But Mr Hughan said his client maintained his innocence and that he was unaware Ms Zhang was seeing another man.

The trial continues.