Grave fears are held for the husband of the woman whose badly decomposed body was found dumped near Sydney Airport.
The body of Zhuojun ‘Sally’ Li, 33, was discovered by a jogger badly decomposed and wrapped in plastic in Sir Joseph Banks Park off Foreshore Road, in Botany in Sydney’s south-east on Monday.
Police fear Ms Li’s husband, Jai-Bao ‘Rex’ Chen, 33, may have also been murdered.
A silver Toyota Avensis, which does not belong to either of them, was seized by Homicide Squad officers as they believe it was used to transport Ms Li’s body.
On Saturday Homicide Squad commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said police are ‘trying to identify the third party’.
‘A strong focus for us is mainly on Rex at the moment but we have to keep an open mind, we are looking at a strong possibility of a third party as well,’ Detective Superintendent Doherty said.
Police said there was no link between the car and Ms Li or Mr Chen and have launched a massive hunt underway for a ‘third person’.
‘We are looking at associations and friends of Sally and Rex who may have been in a position to transport a body to Botany and then also to cover up the actual body at the crime scene,’ Detective Superintendent Doherty said.
Grave fears are held for the husband of the woman whose badly decomposed body was found dumped near Sydney Airport
The body of Zhuojun ‘Sally’ Li, 33, was discovered wrapped in plastic in Sir Joseph Banks Park (pictured) off Foreshore Road, in Botany in Sydney’s south-east on Monday
‘There’s a question mark as to whether Rex is a person of interest or a victim. We still don’t know.’
Detective Superintendent Doherty said Mr Chen was last seen alive in November and there was a ‘strong investigative theory’ that a third party could be involved.
‘Not only in the suspected murder of Sally, but we also have to look at a third party being involved in the disappearance of Rex as well,’ Mr Doherty said.
He added: ‘At this stage we believe he (Rex) is in Australia but whether he is alive or dead we don’t know.’
Mr Doherty said they were a ‘normal couple’ who had no known links to organised crime.
The concerns for Mr Chen’s safety come as The Australian revealed Mr Chen has a string of drug related convictions.
Mr Chen was convicted in 2022 and sentenced to an 18-month Community Corrections Order for supplying a prohibited drug.
The order expired in January this year.
A silver Toyota Avensis (pictured) was seized by Homicide Squad officer they believe was used to transport Ms Li’s body
He was subject to additional conditions that he was required to be supervised by a Community Corrections officer and to continue treatment for his ‘alcohol and drug issues’.
Mr Chen was also convicted of possessing stolen goods, however there was no further penalty.
Mr Chen was also found guilty in August 2020 of possessing a prohibited drug but entered into a Conditional Release Order and was not convicted.
His Conditional Release Order was revoked in November 2020 when he broke his conditions by committing further offences.
He was convicted of four charges of supplying a ‘small quantity’ of prohibited drugs and sentenced to a 12 month Community Corrections Order.
Mr Chen was also convicted of two charges of possessing a prohibited drug and received a further six-month Community Corrections Order.
