'Human or devil?': Disturbing CCTV of balcony murder shown to court
Disturbing video footage showing a 23-year-old being stabbed repeatedly by her ex-girlfriend after she plunged five floors down from a balcony has been played before a Sydney court.
Zixi Wang, 30, has pleaded guilty to murdering Shuyu Zhou after she was found with critical injuries on a footpath at the back of an 11-storey unit block in Zetland in June, 2019.
On Monday Ms Zhou was seen on CCTV footage rolling around on the ground, defenceless and unable to stand up.
Soon after Wang catches an elevator down to the lobby and walks around the front of the building, crouching down and pulling at Ms Zhou's arms and clothes.
Wang retreats inside while a pedestrian stumbles across Ms Zhou and immediately telephones emergency services detailing her location and condition.
As he is calling triple-zero Wang returns and pulls a knife out from her jacket and repeatedly stabs Ms Zhou who tries in vain to roll away.
"Quickly….right now she's being attacked," the witness says.
"I'm going upstairs. I'm a bit worried myself."
Crown prosecutor Christopher Taylor says Wang's murderous intention was evident in her slashing motion and by drawing the knife across Ms Zhou's throat multiple times.
"This attack was no less than savage, no less than cowardly, and it was undertaken without any hesitation," he said.
He pointed to Wang intermittently stabbing her victim and standing back to assess the effectiveness of her continual attack, saying this was no frenzied attack or loss of self control.
Ms Zhou was found with 58 separate knife wounds, 40 of which were inflicted while she was lying on the ground.
Her mother sobbed throughout her victim impact statement, saying her heart feels like it has been stabbed "40 times", the pain so severe her life now feels unbearable.
"I just want to ask the murderer how could you be so merciless? What on earth are you, a human being or a devil?" she says.
"I'm hoping to see the day the murderer gets the justice she deserves."
Defence lawyer Tony Bellanto QC said Wang had been unable to accept their relationship ending and had slipped into a deep depression in the months leading up to the attack.
"The deceased had cut off all contact from the offender... and these matters were exacerbated... when the deceased commenced a relationship with a mutual friend," he said.
Ms Zhou's blood was later found in her kitchen, living room and sliding door frame, before she tried to escape by climbing over the balcony railing.
Wang was found with one minor injury from a bite mark to her cheek.
The Supreme Court sentence hearing continues before Justice Robert Beech-Jones.
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