Jealous boyfriend admits to murdering Ju ‘Kelly’ Zhang in extraordinary about-face

The jealous boyfriend of Ju ‘Kelly’ Zhang – whose body was found at a Wollert rubbish tip – has admitted murdering her after he came face-to-face with her grieving mother.

The jealous boyfriend of Ju “Kelly” Zhang has admitted murdering her in an extraordinary about-face after he was confronted by her distraught parents in court.

Joon “Sam” Seong Tan, 38, was last week found guilty of stabbing the young mother, 33, to death inside her Epping home before dumping her body in a wheelie bin that he left for collection on a street 10km away.

For two years, Tan claimed she walked out and did not come back but he admitted his guilt during a pre-sentence hearing at the Supreme Court on Wednesday after he came face-to-face with Ms Zhang’s grieving parents who said he had caused them “excruciating pain”.

After hearing their emotional victim impact statements in which Ms Zhang’s mother became so distressed she was escorted from the courtroom, Tan’s lawyer Greg Hughan said his client admitted killing Ms Zhang.

Joon ‘Sam’ Seong Tan was last week found guilty of stabbing Ju ‘Kelly’ Zhang. Picture: Supplied

“He is guilty of the murder of Ms Zhang,” he said, adding Tan would not launch any appeals.

Mr Hughan said Tan claimed he had been arguing with Ms Zhang about living with his children before she picked up a small kitchen knife that was left on her bedside table in February 2021.

Tan claimed he grabbed the knife off her before stabbing her.

But Justice Mandy Fox did not accept Tan’s version of events, finding it “implausible” that a knife would be left on the table or that Ms Zhang was the one who picked it up.

The trial heard Tan killed Ms Zhang, who had only been seeing him for a month and wanted to break up, during an argument about her seeing other men.

Earlier in the hearing, Ms Zhang’s mother Renqun Li read out an emotional victim impact statement describing the trauma of losing her daughter.

Ju “Kelly” Zhang left behind her eight-year-old son.

Ms Zhang’s death has caused family ‘unimaginable grief’.

“It has been two years since her tragedy and our family is still immersed in unimaginable grief,” she said through a Mandarin interpreter.

“Our only child was killed by the murderer because of his own cruel and selfish desires.”

“Only seeing the murderer severely punished can we feel any comfort.”

Ms Li cried as she read her statement before pointing and yelling directly at Tan who sat emotionless in the dock.

After she returned to her seat, Ms Li uncontrollably sobbed and struggled to breathe.

She was assisted out of the courtroom by police and supporters, resulting in the hearing being briefly stood down.

In a moving statement read out on his behalf, Ms Zhang’s son Jack, who was eight-years-old at the time of her murder, said he did not understand why his mother had “left” him.

“I am so afraid because my mother has always been around to take care of me,” he said.

“I miss my mum very much and hope my mum can come back to me.”

Tan admitted his guilt during a pre-sentence hearing at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Picture: Valeriu Campan

After killing Ms Zhang, Tan drove around the neighbourhood with Jack pretending to search for the “missing” mother.

Ms Zhang’s father Xiaoyou Zhang said he and his wife had travelled to Australia hoping their daughter had been kidnapped and was still alive.

But when her body was found at Wollert tip four months after she disappeared, he said their hopes were destroyed.

Mr Zhang also spoke of the financial burden of living in Australia for two years without being able to work, saying they had to sell their business in China and were reliant on donations to survive.

He added there would be no one to take care of him and his wife when they were older, as was customary in their home country.

Police combed through the Wollert tip searching for Ms Zhang.

“We want the offender to spend as many years in jail,” he said.

“However, no matter how many years he spends in jail it won’t bring our daughter back.”

The court also heard from staff at Wollert tip who worked closely with Victoria Police in searching for Ms Zhang’s remains.

Former landfill manager Harry Taylor described the painstaking task of searching for Ms Zhang’s body in pouring rain and knee deep mud.

But he said staff were “utterly committed” to finding her and that he felt a bond with Ms Zhang despite having never met her.

“We were glad we found her but depressed that a young boy had lost his mother,” he said.

“We all have ongoing sadness in our lives that was not ongoing before.”

Tan will be sentenced at a later date.