Autopsy reveals Mengmei Leng was 'stabbed 20 times' before body dumped into ocean: reports
Mengmei Leng was stabbed at least 20 times before she was put into a car, driven more than 100km away and dumped into the ocean, police will allege.
On Saturday her accused killer, uncle Derek Barrett, 27, was formally refused bail in Parramatta court.
The unemployed IT worker will reappear in Burwood Local Court on Wednesday, charged with Ms Leng’s murder.
Barrett was arrested by NSW homicide detectives on Friday afternoon after Ms Leng went missing on Thursday April 21.
After Mengmei, also known as Michelle, went missing it was speculated that she had been communicating with an online love interest, which ended in a fatal encounter.
However police now believe Ms Leng, 25, returned to her Campsie home on Thursday afternoon after spending the day in Sydney’s CBD.
She had lived there with her uncle, aunt and cousin.
Police believe she was murdered inside the family home.
It’s alleged Ms Leng tried to fight off her attacker and suffered a number of defensive wounds.
However she was allegedly overpowered and killed with at least 20 stab wounds, an autopsy revealed.
Fairfax reports CCTV footage captured a car entering the Lake Munmorah national park about 7am last Sunday morning.
Police will allege Ms Leng’s body was inside the car.
Her body was later spotted by a tourist floating naked, face down in the Snapper Point blowhole close to 10.30am that morning.
It took three days for police to identify her, after they matched a computer generated photo of her with a missing person’s report lodged by her family on Anzac Day.
Ms Leng was filmed on CCTV shopping at Pitt Street in Sydney’s CBD about 3pm Thursday.
She was last seen catching a train from St James Railway Station, arriving at Campsie Railway Station about 4.30pm.
It’s believed her last contact with friends was online late on Thursday.
Police said friends and family felt her disappearance was ‘very unusual’ however she was not formally reported missing until Monday.
The Snapper Point area is popular with tourists and rock fishermen.
Ms Leng appears to have visited the site of her alleged murder in the past, as she posted a photo to her Instagram account of the exact same blowhole almost three years ago on June 13, 2013.
Police searched the area since her body was found and located undisclosed items in the water.
Ms Leng had lived in Australia with relatives for five years.
She often visited the Sydney CBD.
Police had spoken with her brother, who lives in China with her mother who was devastated by news of the death.
Friends and acquaintances paid tribute to Ms Leng on Chinese and Australian social media sites.
'Devastated. Hope there is no pain in Heaven,' one friend said.
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