A student who killed two sex workers within 24 hours has been jailed for at least nine years after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Lin Xiaozheng, 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in July and was sentenced on Thursday to at least nine years in prison.
He faces a murder trial over the deaths of Yuqi Luo, 31, and Hyun Sook Jeon, 51, but prosecutors accepted his plea to the downgraded charge.
Both women were sex workers and ran their businesses out of their apartments.
On Boxing Day 2022, Lam visited a brothel in Oakley South, Melbourne, before a friend drove him to Rowe’s Latrobe Street apartment.
In the early morning of December 27, after having sex, he asked Luo for further services, and Luo told him that he needed to pay an additional $100.
Angered by her demands, Lin pushed Luo onto the bed and strangled her.
He left her breathless and stole $7,000 in cash and other personal items.
That night he visited Declan Quan at her apartment and had sex before assaulting her.
It is unclear how Jeon died because by the time of the autopsy on December 31, her body was so badly decomposed that the cause of death could not be determined.
Judge Stephen Kay said Lam killed two “vulnerable and defenseless” women in their homes.
He said a factor that made him even more irritated was that he was not intimidated during the first attack and killed Jeon within 24 hours.
“You attacked Ms. Luo, leaving her in agony and breathless… You obviously did not suffer severe pain of consciousness.”
Lin lowered his head and remained silent. He was sentenced to a maximum of 14 years in prison with a non-parole period of 9 years.
He has served nearly two years and will be eligible for release in seven years, at which time he will likely be deported to China.
