A first-degree murder charge against a 25-year-old student in Richmond is linked to human remains found on Harwood Island at the end of July.
Yuan Xi Tang has been charged with one count of first-degree murder for killing his mother, 47-year-old Lianjie Guo.
Her remains were found on July 29 in a suitcase that had washed up on Harwood.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) held a news conference in Richmond on Friday, September 7 to announce the charges. Tang was also charged with counselling to commit an indictable offence, as the police alleged that he also attempted to kill his father.
IHIT spokeswoman Sergeant Jennifer Pound said Guo went missing from Richmond on June 7. She had been visiting from China with her husband. “Her disappearance was suspicious and Richmond investigators continued to follow the path of evidence which ultimately yielded enough evidence to meet the threshold for IHIT to take the file on July 20,” Pound said in a news release.
Richmond and IHIT investigators worked closely with Guo’s husband and Tang during the investigation while trying to locate any evidence of her whereabouts and the events that took place prior to her disappearance. “Evidence was gathered which suggested a family member may have been involved in the murder and IHIT continued to work with Richmond RCMP and the Chinese Liaison Officer to secure all of the available evidence,” Pound said.
Pound did not release the cause of death or what evidence they had against Tang, who has been living in Canada since 2006 on a student visa. He appeared briefly in court on Monday, September 10. Pound said he was there for less than a minute and was scheduled to appear again in October.
Pound also said that police had not released any information about the murder until Friday because of concerns it could compromise the investigation.
Police believe the suitcase with Guo’s body was put in the water in Richmond. It floated all the way to Harwood, where it was found by boaters who were on the island. Pound said the boaters did not open the suitcase and called police because of the strong odour coming from it.
Harwod is part of Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation’s reserve land and is uninhabited.
