By Perry Duffin and Sally Rawsthorne
Long before police suspected Jai-Bao “Rex” Chen was murdered by foreign hitmen and his body was dumped in Sydney bushland alongside that of his innocent wife Zhuojun “Sally” Li, they believed he was involved with “serious, sophisticated” criminality.
Court files obtained by the Herald reveal Chen was caught in a police dial-a-dealer drug sting years before he was killed by people allegedly linked to his homeland of Taiwan.
NDIS worker Zhuojun “Sally” Li nd her husband, former drug dealer Jai-Bao “Rex” Chen were both killed, then dumped in bushland beneath the flight path in Botany.Credit: NSW Police
Police discovered the bodies of Chen and Li, both 33, dumped metres apart in a tract of bush and parkland that runs the length of Port Botany.
A jogger found Li’s body first in the bushes on December 9. Chen’s body was found days later submerged in a creek and covered in reeds. Police believe financial debt was the motive for the “targeted double murder”.
Police had a thick file on Chen before his death – everything from DNA to his phone records. All had come to them through a dial-a-dealer drug bust in 2020.
Kings Cross police in May that year launched an operation targeting users of a website called LeafedOut, the court documents said.
LeafedOut showed a map of Sydney with blue cannabis leaf icons representing buyers, and green leafs for dealers. It allowed one to match with the other, leave reviews and peruse drug menus.
Chen was a driver and, using the name “Captain Hook”, he delivered cannabis and edibles across Sydney throughout that year, including to suburbs such as Mosman, Cremorne, Redfern, Narrabeen and Ultimo.
The clients were pleased and left good feedback for Chen’s deliveries, which he made in a silver Holden Vivo.
He was unaware a woman who ordered hundreds of dollars’ worth of edibles was an undercover officer who paid him with traced bills.
Police suspect hitmen linked to China and Taiwan killed Chen over a gambling debt and Li was caught up in the murder.Credit: Nine News
On the evening of July 17, 2020, officers watched Chen’s Holden roll through a red light off William Street in Darlinghurst and pulled him over.
The smell of cannabis wafted out of the window as Chen handed over a Taiwanese driver’s permit.
Police found two sandwich bags of cannabis in Chen’s jacket pocket and five more in the glove compartment.
“He said it was for his personal use, and he smokes a lot,” the fact sheet reads.
Chen’s passenger, a woman the Herald has chosen to refer to as “YP” out of concern for her safety, had helped him carry out the deals, according to the documents.
Chen and YP were arrested and charged. Chen was on a bridging visa and had no official source of income.
“The offences involved are serious and sophisticated, using an online platform to advertise and arrange supply of prohibited drugs,” the police document from the case reads.
“He is currently in Australia on a bridging visa and police believe he is a flight risk.”
A raid of his Pyrmont apartment unearthed brownies, cupcakes and bags of cannabis.
“Investigations reveal that the supply of prohibited drugs is the accused’s sole source of income.”
Chen pleaded guilty to seven possess or supply cannabis charges in November 2020, and was released with a 12-month community corrections order.
Two years later, in July 2022, he was found guilty of small-scale supply again and given another 18-month community corrections order. That order expired in January this year.
Homicide squad commander Danny Doherty addresses media after the discovery of the bodies.Credit: Steven Siewert
Had he done serious prison time, he would have been expelled from the country. Instead, he stayed with his new wife and racked up a major gambling debt.
Chen was last seen alive in November. Detectives believe two people killed Chen and his wife Li at their Greenacre home and fled, potentially to China and Chen’s native Taiwan.
Homicide squad Commander Danny Doherty said the killing of the married couple appeared to be motivated by money.
“There were some moneys owed – there was no other criminality that we were aware of,” he said.
“Sally has unfortunately become a victim because of that.”
A silver Toyota Avensis spotted at the scene where the bodies of Rex Chen and Sally Li were dumped in Botany has been seized by police.Credit: NSW Police
Li was also before the courts at the time of her death – she had undertaken civil action in Bankstown Local Court through her business, NDIS provider Harmony In Home Care, against a migration agent.
Her civil action was discontinued this month when Li failed to appear in Bankstown Local Court. Police believe that she was already dead by her December 3 court date.
Police have seized a Toyota Avensis, not owned by either Li or Chen, which they believe is linked to the two people involved in their deaths.
Those two people are suspected of driving the couple’s bodies from their Greenacre home and dumping them in the bushland off Foreshore Road in the early hours of November 30.
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