Exponent Online: Campus


Friday 8/10/2001	5 day quick link 8/1 \| 7/30 \| 7/27 \| 7/25 \| 7/23

Zhan Yin

Authorities file preliminary murder charges

From Staff Reports
Two preliminary counts of murder were filed in Tippecanoe County Court II on Friday in connection with the deaths of sisters at Purdue the week before.

Zhan Yin, 27, a graduate student, is accused of murdering Yeunkyung Woo, 31, and her sister Hyo Kyung Woo, 29, during the evening hours of Aug. 2. The victims were found dead the morning of Aug. 3 at 151 Arnold Drive Apt. 9. Yin and Yeunkyung Woo were fellow graduate students in biology. Hyo Woo, of Chicago, was visiting her sister at the time of her death. The victims are both South Korean nationals. The suspect is from the People’s Republic of China.

"Certainly he will be charged in two counts of murder formally (Monday)," said Jerry Bean, Tippecanoe County Prosecutor.

A preliminary plea of not guilty was entered on Yin’s behalf on Thursday at his initial hearing. He is being held without bond in the Tippecanoe County Jail.

According to court documents filed Friday, Yin spoke with Purdue Police Chief Linda Stump and Capt. Steve Dietrich and admitted murdering the two women. According to a court affidavit, Yin "used a hammer in his bookbag to beat both women."

Yin, who lives at 118 Marshall Drive Apt. 12, told police he left the murder scene on a blue bike and returned to his apartment.

At 12:33 a.m. and 12:39 a.m. on Aug. 3, Yeunkyung Woo’s student identification had been used to log onto two computers at the Math Sciences building. The coroner estimated the time of death of the sisters to be before midnight on Aug. 2. Court records filed Friday indicate that the password was changed during each log-in period. Meanwhile, from 12:40 to 12:57 a.m., Yin was logged onto one of the same computers used for Woo’s log-in.

According to court records, Yin’s wife, Jun Ke, said that the couple skipped an exam the morning of Aug. 3 and drove to Chicago. Upon the couple’s return from Chicago the same evening, Yin was interviewed by Purdue Police about the deaths. Then on Sunday, the couple left campus to travel to Oklahoma to visit a friend at Oklahoma State University.

Court records indicate that while traveling with his wife, Yin told his wife that he had killed the sisters. Ke asked her husband to turn himself in to the police. "But, he indicated he did not want to spend the rest of his life in prison," according the affidavit filed on Friday.

"She asked him why he did it," the affidavit said, "and he said he did not know. When she asked him if he hated them, he said no, he did not hate them."

Upon their arrival at Oklahoma State, Ke contacted the university police about what her husband had told her. At that point, Yin left Oklahoma and was found in New York attempting to cross into Canada Tuesday. Police arrested Yin Tuesday in Amherst, N.Y.

Police have been searching for evidence in many locations. Search warrants have been issued for his apartment, a storage shed at his apartment, a blue bike, a 1989 Chysler vehicle and his office in Lilly Hall. They have also searched the Wabash River. They found a pair of shorts, though it's unknown of those shorts belong to Yin.

Court records indicate that Yin was in a Lafayette Department store at 6:46 p.m. on Aug. 2. He told police he was buying new clothes to replace blood-soaked ones he was wearing. A security camera in the store indicated that he was wearing a new shirt and had a bookbag as well as a plastic bag with him when he entered the store. Apparently he then went to another department store to purchase a toolbelt to replace the hammer he may have used in the murders. Yin told police he "threw his bloody clothes into the Wabash River as well as the hammer and the rest of the tools from his toolbelt."

Authorities and divers combed the river on Thursday. They also used police dogs to track Yin’s movements to find additional evidence.

The case is set for a status conference at 9 a.m. Monday when formal charges should be presented. Yin was assigned a public defender.

Related Coverage

Headlines

Developing News:

Murder suspect may face death penalty