A man who murdered a Chinese woman in Australia was yesterday given a life sentence for the brutal attack which the judge described as a premeditated “thrill” killing of a complete stranger.
Stavros Papadopoulos, 22, pleaded guilty to murdering 26-year-old University of Tasmania accounting student Zhang “Tina” Yu (張鈺) in his Hobart apartment in June last year, reports said.
His accomplice, 22-year-old Daniel Jo Williams, was sentenced to 10 years in jail on a charge of manslaughter.
Tasmania’s Supreme Court heard that the men met Yu at a takeaway pizza shop in the early hours of the morning and had driven her to Papadopoulos’ apartment, the Mercury newspaper in Hobart said.
Over the next three hours, she was subjected to such terrible violence and sexual abuse by Papadopoulos that she pleaded to be killed quickly, it said.
After being repeatedly punched, thrown against walls and dragged around by her hair, Papadopoulos suddenly smashed a large concrete brick onto Yu’s head before undressing her, placing her in a bathtub and drowning her.
Williams, who had spent most of this time smoking cannabis, then helped Papadopoulos choke Yu in the bath before they placed her body in the boot of their car and dumped it in a river.
In sentencing, Justice David Porter said “little, if anything” had been put forward to explain Papadopoulos’ depraved behavior.
“This was a brutal and terrible killing of a complete stranger,” Porter said.
“It was done with forethought and for the sake or thrill of doing it,” he said.
The court heard that earlier on the night of the murder, Papadopoulos had told Williams he wanted to “kill and rape a bitch.”
Papadopoulos will have to serve at least 25 years before he is eligible for parole.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
RSS