Chinese Man Accused Of Murdering Adelaide Sex Worker On New Year Applies For Release

Allenby Gardens man Chungaung Piao, the man who was arrested after being accused of killing a 25-year-old woman in Sydney, said that he was not the right man to be arrested. Ting Fang's body was discovered in a hotel room in Adelaide.

Fang, who was reportedly murdered on the New Year's Day, turned out to be a sex worker. Piao allegedly slashed her throat in a room on the 12th floor of the Grand Chancellor Hotel in the early hours of Jan 1. He appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court and formally applied for release on home detention bail. Piao has been in Australia for the last four years. He is married with an 8-month-old baby. His lawyer Julian Kelly said that Piao denied having any involvement in the murder as he had had co-operated with police.

Kelly said that his client had "voluntarily attended the police station on Saturday night." However, there was no compelling evidence that Piao was involved in the murder. He said that he was sceptical about the prosecution's submissions in regard to the strength of the Crown case. "The fingerprint as I understand was found on a shoe, which is not inconsistent with his version of events to police," Adelaide Now quotes Kelly. He said that his client is willing to surrender his passport and contest the murder charge.

According to prosecutor Lucy Boord, on the other hand, such an appeal is opposed under any circumstances. She told magistrate Luke Davis that evidence found at the crime scene indicated that Piao was involved in the murder. She said that Piao's fingerprints were found on a weapon at the crime scene that had probably been used for the murder. Boord said that both the internal and external jugular veins of the victim were cut as Fang had suffered "an extremely serious injury."

Boord referred to Piao as a Chinese national who was on a bridging visa. She said that there was a significant risk that he might leave Australia if he was granted bail. When the magistrate asked Boord to give more details about the weapon which, she claimed, had Piao's fingerprints; Boord said that she was not at liberty to do so because of the on-going investigations.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au