A student couple whose badly charred bodies were found in an apartment in Dublin in March 2001 were strangled before their apartment was set on fire, the deputy state pathologist has told the Central Criminal Court.
Mr Yu Jie (25), McKee Avenue, Finglas, denies the murder of 19-year-olds Mr Yue Feng and Ms Liu Qing at Blackhall Square, North King Street, Dublin, between March 12th and March 14th, 2001.
The prosecution alleges that Yu Jie strangled the couple on March 12th and returned in the early hours of March 14th to set fire to the bedroom in which their bodies lay to try to hide what he had done. The bodies were discovered when the fire brigade was called to a reported explosion and fire at the apartment at around 1 a.m. that morning.
On the 49th day of the trial yesterday, Dr Marie Cassidy, the deputy state pathologist, told the trial that a post-mortem showed the cause of death of Ms Liu Qing was strangulation and that the cause of death of her boyfriend Yue Feng was asphyxia due to ligature strangulation.
The pathologist found ligature marks on both of the deceaseds' necks and she said a pink cotton cord found at the scene could have been the ligature used to strangle Yue Feng.
The pathologist told Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, prosecuting, that there was no evidence of soot inhalation in either of the deceased. The presence of ligature marks on the necks and the evidence of asphyxial signs led to her conclusion that both the deceased were strangled.
The trial continues.