A twisted businessman who massacred the family of a Manchester Metropolitan lecturer in a revenge attack has been jailed for 40 years.
Anxiang Du, 54, stabbed Jifeng Ding, his wife Ge Chui, and their two daughters Xing, 18, and Alice, 12, on April 29 2011 after a business deal had turned sour.
The killer then fled the country for 14 months but was arrested in Tangier, Morocco, and was extradited back to the UK.
He claimed manslaughter under diminished responsibility or loss of control and said that he had suffered depression at the time of the attack however it took only three hours to find him guilty of four counts of murder at Northampton Crown Court.
Judge Justice Flaux said: “What is clear from the evidence and the verdicts is that these were cold-blooded murders which, in my view, were pre-meditated and were considered acts of revenge in which you wiped out an entire family.
“I’m quite satisfied that hatred and anger and your desire for revenge was what motivated you to act as you did not the moderate depression you suffered.
“You did not lose your self-control in killing Ding, in effect you executed the man you hated.”
Du carried out the murders after he lost a 10-year legal battle with Mr and Mrs Ding and ended up owing £88,000 in court costs
Mr and Mrs Ding were both found dead in the kitchen having been stabbed 23 times and 13 times respectively with their daughter Nancy stabbed 11 times and Alice four times.
The court head how Nancy had made a frantic call to police just before she was killed.
After their deaths Du drove to London in the Dings’ car and took a coach to Paris.
He was found 14-months later working on a building site in Tangier.
Mr Justice Flaux added: “The psychological and emotional impact of the destruction of the entire Ding family upon Jifeng and Helen Ding’s parents and the rest of their families has been truly devastating.
“In a very real sense you have destroyed their lives as well. At a time of their lives when they might have expected to enjoy the success of their granddaughters and nieces, both of whom were talented young people with a bright future, their lives have been senselessly cut short by your murderous attack.”
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