Lin family murders (Australia)

Lin family murders
LocationNorth Epping, New South Wales, Australia
Date18 July 2009
Attack type
Mass murder
WeaponsHammer-like object
Deaths5 (Min Lin, Yun Lin, Irene Lin, Henry Lin, Terry Lin)
PerpetratorLian Bin "Robert" Xie

The Lin family murders occurred in North Epping in the northwestern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on 18 July 2009. The victims were newsagency proprietor Min Lin; his wife, Yun Lin; their sons, Henry and Terry; and Yun Lin's sister, Irene Lin. The family was bludgeoned to death. Min Lin's sister, Kathy, discovered the bodies. Jun "Brenda" Lin, 15, was the only surviving immediate family member after the incident; she was on a school trip in New Caledonia with Cheltenham Girls High School at the time.

On 5 May 2011, Lian Bin "Robert" Xie – Kathy's husband – was arrested and charged with the murders. After several abandoned trials, a third trial ended in December 2015 with a hung jury. Xie was later granted bail. A retrial was held in 2016, with a jury finding Xie guilty of the murders by a majority verdict on 12 January 2017.