Jury to decide if Mississauga man murdered his roommate or found her dead and hid her body out of fear of police

A Brampton jury heard compelling evidence that a Mississauga man covered up the murder of his roommate in December 2017, now they’re about to decide if he stabbed her to death.

The Crown claims that Shaofeng Han, 55, killed Yunying Pan, 40, and buried her body because he was upset that she was loud and rebuffed his advances, while the defense argues that Han covered up the murder scene he found inside. from the Mississauga house out of fear. of being wrongly accused.

Two weeks after Han met Pan, “he was burying her in a shallow grave,” Crown Prosecutor David D’Iorio said in his final appearances before the jury on Tuesday. “He did that in the hope that her body would never be found and the truth about her murder would never come out.”

D’Iorio said that instead of calling an ambulance, Han went to great lengths to cover up Pan’s murder and tried to fabricate evidence that she had left the house, then lied to police when her mother reported her missing. a few days after she was last seen alive on December 5, 2017.

It almost worked, D’Iorio said, but surveillance footage at the Strathaven Drive townhome complex captured Han moving Pan’s Lexus SUV to a nearby Mississauga shopping mall.

Han called Pan a “disobedient woman” to police, D’Iorio argued, describing Han as a serial liar who denied any involvement until he testified a week ago.

The prosecutor focused on a frustrated Han repeatedly complaining to the owner between November 25 and 27, 2017, about Pan making noise and leaving the lights on. Han at one point warned that “there would be bigger conflicts ahead” and said that “this girl is too much,” D’Iorio told the jury.

Days later, Pan turned down Han’s offer to take her to the gym. She mentioned this to her cousin on social media and called Han “old and dirty,” D’Iorio said.

Pan expressed concern for her safety to the landlord and mentioned that she was looking for another place to live, D’Iorio said.

Han was not charged with second-degree murder until Jan. 26, 2018, weeks after Pan’s disappearance prompted police to surveil Han’s daily routine, the jury heard.

Pan’s body was found in March 2019 in a wooded area near Matheson Boulevard East and Kennedy Road in Mississauga.

“Most of her skin and vital organs had rotted away in the grave, permanently erasing evidence of what was done to her and by whom,” D’Iorio said, adding that she was repeatedly stabbed in the middle of the back. .

Han’s defense attorney, Lydia Riva, told the jury in her closing statement that given the “lack of a motive and the fact that there was blood from an unknown male at the scene, you must have a reasonable doubt that Mr. Han was responsible for the murder of Ms. Pan.”

A forensic scientist testified that it was inconclusive whether blood splatters containing male DNA found in areas near the body belonged only to Han, Riva told the jury.

Riva said Han, a lonely Chinese immigrant who immigrated to Canada in 2006 and did not speak English, was driven mad by his discovery of Pan’s bloodied body.

Pan had moved into the row house as a tenant just 10 days before Han discovered her lifeless body on the stairs, Riva said, adding that Han was the only other person in the house as the other male tenant was in China. .

Riva said that Han believed that, like China, Canada had the death penalty.

“He thought about wrongful convictions in China,” he said. “Shaofeng believed that if the police suspected him, he would automatically be convicted and executed.”

Pan’s murder weapon and cell phone were never found. Han told police that he found the back door wide open.

Han testified that he complained to the landlord about Pan being noisy, but said things got better. Han also admitted jokingly suggesting to Pan that he wanted to be her boyfriend.

“If Mr. Han was so obsessed with Ms. Pan, how could he control himself and not call or send her messages with any frequency?” Riva said.

D’Iorio will conclude his final presentations on Wednesday, after which Superior Court Judge Kofi Barnes will instruct the jury on how to apply the law to the case.

Jason Miller is a reporter for the Star based in Toronto, covering crime and justice in the Peel region. Contact him at email: [email protected] or follow him on Twitter: @millermotionpic

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