Xiaozheng Lin probed over second death after being charged with murder

A man charged with murder after a woman was found dead in a Melbourne apartment will be grilled after the disovery of a second body.

Xiaozheng Lin is assisting police with inquiries into the discovery of the body of a second woman.

A young man charged with the murder of a woman found in a Melbourne CBD apartment will be interviewed by police over the suspicious death of another woman at a separate unit.

Xiaozheng Lin, 22, was charged with murder after a 31-year-old Chinese woman was found dead by friends in a La Trobe St apartment on the evening of December 27.

As part of their investigation, police attended another unit three days later on Waterside Place where the body of a 51-year-old Docklands woman was discovered.

At Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, an application was granted to allow Mr Lin’s transfer from remand custody to a police station so he could be questioned over the second woman’s death.

“I am making an order transferring you into the custody of a detective to be interviewed and fingerprinted,” magistrate Belinda Franjic said.

“I am doing so because you are reasonably suspected of having committed the offence of murder and that offence is another offence than what you are currently being held for.”

Appearing via video link from Melbourne Remand Centre and with the assistance of a Mandarin interpreter, Mr Lin appeared emotionless during the hearing.

He was arrested in Preston on December 29 after investigators released two pictures of him to the public in an effort to locate him.

Detectives are yet to determine the circumstances of the woman’s death but they believe it is linked to the death of the Chinese national.

Following Mr Lin's arrest, Detective Acting Superintendent Dean Thomas said he understood there was “angst” in the community after the deaths of two women in the same week.

“At this stage there is nothing to indicate we are looking for any further victims, and we have a man in custody who was known to both women,” he said.

Mr Lin will return to court at a later date.