SYDNEY (AFP) - A former surgeon was on Thursday (Jan 12) found guilty of murdering five members of a Chinese-Australian family in Sydney, including two children, in a gruesome case that shocked the country. Xie used a hammer-like object to inflict horrific head injuries on his newsagent brother-in-law Min "Norman" Lin, 45; his wife Yun "Lily" Lin, 43; her sister Yun Bin "Irene" Lin, 39; and the Lins' two sons, Henry, 12, and Terry, 9. After three years of court hearings, including four separate trials, a Supreme Court jury found Xie bludgeoned his five victims to death inside their North Epping home in July 2009. After two aborted trials and another resulting in a hung jury, the latest jury took eight days to deliberate and informed Justice Elizabeth Fullerton on Thursday they could not reach a unanimous verdict. Two were aborted, one ended in a hung jury and the most recent retrial lasted six months.Xie was found guilty by the majority of a New South Wales Supreme Court jury, and will be sentenced on February 10, a court official told AFP. More than seven years and four trials later, Xie continues to maintain his innocence, telling the jury that convicted him by majority verdict on Thursday, "I did not murder the Lin Family." The crown said Xie had been motivated by anger and resentment over his perceived “subordinate status” within the extended family and the uncritical regard given to his brother-in-law Min Lin. Back in July, 2009, Xie was joined by his wife in an emotional public plea for information to help solve the terrible crimes., saying he couldn't imagine why anyone would want to harm the family

But Xie was found to have left his bed in the early hours of July 18, hours after attending a "normal" Friday night dinner with his extended family.
Robert Xie is found guilty of the Lin family murders seven years after their bodies were found in the Australian city of Sydney.