CCTV of murdered graduate released
- 00:01:05
- ITN
CCTV of murdered graduate released
CCTV images of the last known movements of a young Chinese graduate murdered with her boyfriend in a Newcastle flat have been released. Xi Zhou and her boyfriend Zhen Xing Yang, both 25, were attacked in their flat in the city's West End area with a knife and another sharp weapon and suffered severe head injuries. Police released 11 shots of the 25-year-old waitress as she made her way home to Croydon Street in Newcastle last Thursday. Miss Xi failed to turn up for work the next day and on Saturday her body and that of her boyfriend were discovered by a friend. In the first shot, Miss Xi was filmed finishing her shift at the Wagamama restaurant in Newcastle city centre shortly after 3pm last Thursday. Moments before she had been enjoying a meal with her colleagues at the premises. Still in her uniform, she is seen leaving the restaurant at around 3.45pm and heading for home - and a gruesome death. The next shot is of the graduate boarding a 39 bus from the city centre to the city's West End. A series of six shots show her walking up the stairs, sitting by the window on the double-decker, then getting off the bus around ten minutes later in Stanhope Street, a multi-cultural area, popular with students. A council and police-operated camera then filmed Miss Xi, known as Cici, walking away from the bus stop a couple of hundred yards from her two-bedroom home. The final image shows her turning into Croydon Road at just after 4pm on Thursday. She was never seen alive again. Police have not yet established her boyfriend's movements, but believe his last known contact was a phone call with a female friend on Wednesday. Ms Xi unexpectedly failed to turn up for her Friday lunchtime shift, leading to speculation the double killing had already happened. The two bodies were discovered on Saturday afternoon. Police investigating the murders have said they are also probing a possible link to a man arrested for aggravated burglary in the Shieldfield area of the city. At a news conference, Detective Superintendent Steve Wade said: "There has been a man arrested for burglary this morning at an address in Shieldfield. "That man is currently detained at Pilgrim Street police station. He was not arrested in connection with the murder investigation." He added: "Officers from the Major Investigation team are looking into the circumstances of that burglary and his arrest. "At this stage there is no evidence to link it to the murder, but you never say never in this business." On Tuesday it was revealed that the couple's black and white cat was found dead and hidden in a bowl in their bathroom by forensic officers who were sifting through their home for clues. The bowl was covered with a towel and kitchen gloves. Northumbria Police will consult the Chinese community to find if there was any cultural significance to the murder victims' pet being killed.
ITN | August 13, 2008
