Comments on: Murder in the Hood

By: sam

sam — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:27:12 +0000

hi, this is tragic, my condolences

_ probably not very related
I was in Suzhou in ‘06
really close to the Pagoda
with a small group of american students

there was a man wandering about,
quietly and menacingly with a sling of cleavers (like 10+) over his apron
who had followed us (or come in to our turned backs)
into a nearby noodlebar

the 6 of us were busy ordering clumsily
and noticed him one-by-one, and noticed local staring
he was promptly ousted from the establishment by employees
no big to-do was made
this situation just really haunts me

By: Jamieson

Jamieson — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:19:55 +0000

Shudder. Ryan & I live in Jia Yi Yuan, about 100~200 meters from the restuarant strip on Jin Ji Hu Lu, and 500 metres from 4 Seasons Resort.

But we have our own respective stable marital relationships, not likely to get slashed by a competitor.

I pity the young lady – I’ve witnessed enough premature death in my life, although I didn’t see her.

By: Tim Collins

Tim Collins — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:24:00 +0000

This is really shocking.

Can anyone give me any further details on this?

I lived in Suzhou up until February of this year, in Jiacheng Gardens, only a couple of hundred metres from La Rose Cafe.

I used to eat in La Rose frequently when I first arrived in Suzhou and would know many of the staff who work there, by name.

Does anyone have the (English) name of the girl who was killed?

By: riceagain

riceagain — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:21:03 +0000

Found myself telling my assistant to be careful today. Very very sad. Cool bunch of young guys and girls that work the singa strip..

By: SirSteven

SirSteven — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:21:18 +0000

This evening’s local news has a disturbing update: that the girl’s murderer actually raped her corpse after he’d killed her. Clearly more a psychopath than a mere jilted/unrequited lover.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:23:22 +0000

Hey Phillip. Something didn’t seem right about the description of police just watching the exits – your description makes much more sense. Cheers for the info – sounds like it was a crazy few days for you guys in Four Seasons.

By: Phillip

Phillip — Mon, 11 May 2009 07:39:41 +0000

I live in the building several floors from where he was hiding. Wednesday night and Thursday the police in full force – 8 – 10 of them in bullet proof vests inspected my apartment repeatedly. The owner of the vacant unit where he was hiding did not call the police. They escorted the individual upstairs. In all of the buildings within Four Seasons from Wednesday onward there were no less then 6-8 policemen in each building 24 hours a day in the lobby along with residents as well. The police would escort you to your apartment and wait for you to inspect the apartment to see if he was in the apartment, trying to move around. All of the electric utility closets were open so he could not hide in the closets. The police were highly organized, repeatedly checked my unit, were always in strong force including on motorcycles at all 3 gates with back-up cars. The first couple of days there were as many as 75-80 policeman within the complex. Once they knew where he was they shut down the electricity in the apartments and did their thing for 3 hours. I have lived in Suzhou for 3 years and feel safe having lived in New York City.

By: Jamieson

Jamieson — Mon, 11 May 2009 01:16:48 +0000

Hmmmm, I mentioned to Yukes that there were 2 cop cars in the car park the other day, a bit strange. Yesterday she announced (relayed from her sister who saw the story on Suzhou news TV) that there had been a murder, ooh about 100 metres from this apartment.

Cashier at La Rose eh ?

Strange how the killer could hang out in a “mass of {nearby} upper-income apartments”. Rent in 4 Seasons ain’t cheap, must have been sharing big time…. a vacant apartment ?

Well, one thing’s for sure. If convicted he’ll get the gravestone, the Saddam effect.

Interesting that the cops had so much intel and were able to corner him on suspicion and arrest so quickly.

Agreed, Suzhou is a very low crime environment. I feel a lot safer here than in Australia, but you have to be prudent with your belongings in public, as is the case everywhere.

Had the e-bike battery recently stolen from under the apartment, Mrs. Jamieson’s too, and several others, despite night vision CCTV cameras and patrolling guards. We won’t pay the compound management fee for 6~7 months in retaliation. 500 Kuai for a replacement and a lock on the new battery.

Pay for security and get fingered. Ummm, NOT this Laowai, won’t roll over and keep paying.

By: Expatriate Games

Expatriate Games — Sun, 10 May 2009 06:08:36 +0000

Yeah, that’s literally hitting a little close to home. I usually feel pretty safe down here. There have been a couple of times when someone has objected to my camera but so far those instances have been deflated pretty easily. I never feel “afraid” to walk around down here in Guangxi and I can’t say the same about a lot of cities back home.

By: John B

John B — Sun, 10 May 2009 05:44:40 +0000

When I was a little kid my family and I moved to a nice neighborhood in Orlando. Right after moving in a 20-something year old guy a few houses down murdered his parents (with whom he was living). Lurid stuff for the elementary school kids with whom I had just started hanging out. Good news was that, other than that, there wasn’t another incident for the next 15 or so years that I lived there.

Still, even now, that house seems a little creepy to me.