May 23, 2025 • 31 mins
Five members of the Lin family are killed overnight—no forced entry, no warning. The only survivor is miles away when it happens, only to find out in the most unexpected way. In this episode, we unravel one of Australia’s most brutal family murders and follow the journey of the sole survivor, Brenda Lin, who transformed her trauma into advocacy by co-founding The Survivor Hub, a peer-led organization supporting sexual assault survivors through recovery and the justice system .
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
North Epping was the kind of suburb where doors were
left unlocked and families grewup knowing their neighbors.
The Lin family, respected andtight-knit, lived quietly at
Nine Boundary Road.
By all accounts their life wasordinary, stable, even peaceful.
(00:22):
But peace can be deceptive.
Some crimes are so brutal, socalculated, that they defy
reason.
They don't just leave a mark ona crime scene, they leave a
scar on the people left behind.
What went so terribly wronginside Nine Boundary Road, noir
(00:46):
Seekers.
Today we're unraveling a casethat shook Australia to its core
, one of the most hauntingfamily murders in recent history
.
This is the story of the Lynnfamily.
(01:07):
The Lenn home stood on BoundaryRoad in north Epping, sydney, a
peaceful, unassuming suburb, thekind of place where doors
weren't always locked.
Inside the two-story home,nothing seemed out of place.
The living room was just as ithad been the night before
(01:33):
Magazines on the coffee table,backpacks behind the laundry
door, a desk cluttered withpapers and a family computer.
It was basically a life inmotion, a home filled with
routine, comfort, safety and,hanging just inside the front
(01:55):
door, a wedding photograph ofMin and Lily Lin, a picture of
devotion, of love, of the lifethey had built together At some
point between 2 am and 5.30 amon July 18, 2009,.
Someone stepped over thethreshold of that house.
(02:17):
There was no forced entry.
Whoever it was, they moved withpurpose.
They knew the house, past thefront hallway, past the photo of
Min and Lily, they made theirway up to the carpeted staircase
, past the rooms where fivepeople lay, sleeping unaware of
(02:45):
what was coming, and then,without a word, without a sound,
to wake the neighbors, theslaughter began.
Men in Lilliland were the first,still asleep in their bed when
the attack started.
Experts would later say theviolence was savage and
relentless.
(03:05):
The injuries to their faces andskulls were so severe that
first responders thought ashotgun had been used.
In the next room, lily's sister, irene Lin.
She was found slumped againstthe wall, blood was smeared
across where she had tried toescape.
(03:28):
And then the youngest victims,henry Lin, just 12, and his
brother, terry Lin, only 9.
Forensic evidence would showthey had woken up and they tried
to run.
Blood patterns on the wallsmade that heartbreakingly clear.
(03:51):
Blood was everywhere On thewalls, door handles, even light
switches.
A chaotic scene in what hadonce been a quiet family home.
But the killer wasn't finished.
Men's body had been moved, hisduna pulled over him, folded
(04:18):
into a strange V-like shape.
A deliberate act right.
V-like shape A deliberate actright.
A final gesture before thekiller slipped back down the
stairs and vanished into thenight.
The next morning, north Eppingcarried on as usual.
9 am came.
(04:39):
The Epping news agency, run byMin Lin, should have been opened
.
Customers should have beenfilling in picking up their
morning newspapers, greeting thefamiliar faces behind the
counter, but the doors remainedlocked.
The phone calls went unanswered.
(04:59):
Concerned, min's sister, kathyLin, and her husband, robert Xie
, made their way to the house.
Kathy let herself in, callingout her brother's name Nothing.
As she moved through the house,she saw the blood, the walls,
(05:19):
the floor.
Then she saw them.
Kathy Lynn reached for herphone, dialed 000.
Her voice was shaking, barelyable to form any words.
What you're about to hear isthe actual emergency call made
(05:42):
by Kathy Lynn.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, I think my brother's friend.
Someone killed my brother'sfriend.
Why do you think that?
Yeah, because I went to hishouse and I knocked the door and
the door is just closed.
I opened it and I'm just therefinding my brother.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
I couldn't find him, I'm not sure Where's your
brother?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I could find him, my brother.
He's alive.
I think someone is dying.
Are they on the ground?
Where's your brother?
Are they on the ground?
Are they on the ground?
Are they in the house?
Is your brother in the house?
Because I just haven't beengiven a look at the body, I
(06:25):
can't see how to call you.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Have you found.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
We are driving there.
Answer my question please haveyou found a body?
I'm driving to home.
Have you found a body?
Because I went to his home andI've said to check because he's
dropped his opiator.
He's the agent and someone hascalled me and I just go to check
(06:53):
and I find it just quick.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
That was a brief portion of the actual emergency
call placed by Kathy Lynn.
The full call spends over 11minutes, but even in those few
moments the weight of what shewalked into is undeniable.
It's hard to listen withoutfeeling that weight.
Kathy walked into a nightmareand her voice captures a grief
(07:23):
that words can't fully hold.
Before that tragic night,before the headlines, before the
years of investigations andtrials, they were a family.
Men and Lily Lynn had built alife together a home, a business
, a future for their children.
(07:45):
Men Lin, known as Norman to hisfriends, was the kind of man
who never missed a morning atthe news agency he ran.
Customers recalled him as ahardworking, reliable, always
greeting people with a warmsmile as they picked up their
papers and magazines.
His small business was acornerstone of the community,
(08:12):
but above all he was a father, aman who wanted his children to
have every opportunity he neverhad.
Lily Lynn worked alongside herhusband at the news agency,
helping manage the dailyroutines that kept their
business running.
She was also deeply respectedin the Chinese-Australian
(08:36):
community, known for hergenerosity and warmth.
Described as a kind, patientand deeply family-oriented.
Lily was the heart of theirhome.
She loved spending time withher sons, making sure they
focused on their studies andtaking care of her younger
sister, irene.
(08:56):
Men in Lily's two sons, henryand Terry, were like any kids
their age, full of energy,curiosity and dreams.
Henry, the eldest, was 12 yearsold, a talented badminton
player.
He had just won a localcompetition and was already
(09:19):
showing promise in the sport.
Terry, nine years old, was fullof curiosity and energy.
He loved video games, runningaround with his older brother
and playing sports.
They were inseparable, two boyswith their whole lives ahead of
them.
(09:41):
Lily's sister, irene Lin, hadcome to Sydney from China to
help the family.
She was quiet but kind, someonewho put others before herself.
She had planned to return homesoon, but she never got the
chance.
The only immediate familymember to survive was Brenda
(10:06):
Lynn, 15 years old at the time.
She wasn't in the house thatnight.
She had been on a school tripto New Caledonia with her high
school when the murders happened.
She didn't find out through aphone call or a police officer.
She found out through Facebook.
(10:27):
A friend sent her a newsarticle, a story about a brutal
massacre in Sydney.
She clicked the link.
She saw a photo of her home.
Brenda had no idea how toprocess what she was reading.
Her world changed in that veryinstant.
(10:49):
With her parents and youngerbrothers gone, brenda was placed
under the guardianship of heruncle and aunt, robert Xie and
Kathy Lin, for the next twoyears.
She lived with them.
For the next two years shelived with them.
(11:19):
Now let's get into theinvestigation.
When police first entered NineBoundary Road, they were met
with horror.
Five people bludgeoned beyondrecognition.
Blood was everywhere.
Detectives quickly realized thiswasn't a robbery gone wrong.
Nothing had been stolen ordisturbed.
(11:40):
The more they studied the scene, the more they realized it was
controlled precise.
So here are some notes.
There was no forced entry,nothing had been stolen.
The murder weapon was missingand the attack was targeted,
(12:01):
deliberate and calculated.
This is what investigatorsnoticed.
Whoever committed the crime wasinside the house for one reason
To kill.
Days pass, then weeks, thenmonths.
Still there were no arrests, noclear leads.
(12:24):
Still there were no arrests, noclear leads.
But behind the scenes, policewere working to uncover a truth
that had been carefully hiddenEarly on.
Detectives questioned multiplepeople.
Was this a professional hit, arevenge killing, a business
(12:45):
rivalry gone wrong?
But no narrative fit.
The Lynn family had no knownenemies.
What investigators didn'trealize at the time was that the
killer was closer than anyoneexpected.
Was that the killer was closerthan anyone expected?
(13:08):
The sheer amount of blood madeit incredibly difficult to
isolate any individual traces offorensic evidence.
But months later, as forensictechnology advanced,
investigators re-examinedhigh-resolution crime scene
images.
That's when they saw it A faint, nearly invisible shoe print.
(13:37):
Once they enhanced the image,they confirmed the print matched
a specific model of Asicssneakers.
At the time, police still hadno suspect, but now they had one
critical clue a small lead, butone that would become important
(14:02):
later.
The problem wasn't just whatthe crime scene revealed.
One crucial detail especiallystood out.
The power had been cut beforethe murders, indicating the
killer knew exactly where thecircuit breaker was and, most
importantly, they had a key,which meant the murderer was
(14:23):
likely someone the familytrusted.
As months passed, investigatorsstarted looking closer to home.
By January 2010, six monthsafter the murders, police had
their first real suspect.
With no forensic evidencedirectly linking anyone to the
(14:44):
crime, detectives needed adifferent approach.
By May 2010, nearly 10 monthsafter the murders, police placed
their suspect under covertsurveillance.
They watched, waiting for anymistake, and then it happened
(15:08):
Detectives saw him cutting upand disposing a shoebox.
That alone wouldn't be enough,except for one detail the
shoebox matched the same brandand model as the ASIC sneakers
found in the Lynn family home.
Why get rid of a shoebox Unlessit held some evidence he didn't
(15:36):
want the police to find?
That was the moment detectivesdecided it was time to go back
to his house.
I know noir seekers.
You're probably wondering whoam I talking about?
And wait, hold your horses, Iwill get there.
(15:56):
Police had already searched hishome once, right, but now that
he was a primary suspect, theylooked closer.
This time they focused on hisgarage floor.
That's where they found it Atiny, nearly invisible stain.
(16:16):
They sent it for testing andthe results DNA from four of the
five Lin family victims.
This was the breakthrough theyneeded.
If he had nothing to do withthe murders, then why was his
garage floor stained with theblood of his dead relatives?
(16:38):
With DNA surveillance andforensic shoe print analysis,
police finally had enough toarrest him.
On May 5, 2011, almost two yearsafter the murders, police moved
in their suspect, the Linfamily's own brother-in-law,
(17:04):
robert Xie.
He was arrested at his home,charged with the brutal murder
of five members of his ownfamily.
Piece by piece, everythingconnected back to him.
The case against Robert Xe wasfinally strong enough, but what
(17:28):
followed would be one of thelongest and most complex legal
battles in Australian history.
Robert Shee's arrest was onlythe beginning, because what
followed would be four trials,seven years of delays.
What followed would be fourtrials, seven years of delays.
And for Brenda Lynn, the onlysurvivor, her nightmare was just
(17:51):
beginning.
She had been living under hisroof for two years with no idea
that the man she trusted, heruncle, had taken everything from
her.
Before the legal battle, therewas grief.
On August 8, 2009, nearly amonth after the murders,
(18:15):
hundreds gathered for the publicfuneral of Min Lily, irene
Henry and Terry Lin.
The service was heavy withsorrow, an entire community
mourning the loss of a familythat had once been so full of
life.
Five coffins stood at the front, a painful reminder of the
(18:38):
devastation left behind.
At just 15 years old, brendaLynn stood among them, the last
surviving member of herimmediate family.
She had returned home from herschool trip to find her world
completely shattered.
The people she loved most weregone, and standing beside her
(19:01):
that day, offering comfort, wasRobert Xie.
And standing beside her thatday, offering comfort, was
Robert Xie.
No one knew then what theywould later come to understand
that the man posing as agrieving relative was the very
person responsible for thehorror they were mourning.
(19:23):
The wheels of justice turnedslowly.
What should have been a swiftpath to justice became one of
the most protracted and complexlegal battles that I mentioned
before ever happening inAustralian history.
When Xie was arrested,investigators believed the case
(19:44):
against him was strong.
The DNA stain in his garage,the shoe print at the crime
scene, the surveillance footageof him destroying evidence it
all painted a damning picture.
But getting a conviction wasn'teasy.
It would take four trials toconvict him.
(20:06):
Here's what happened duringthose trials.
Trial one happened in 2013.
It was delayed due to judicialissues.
Trial three in 2015 lasted ninemonths, but the jury couldn't
(20:29):
reach a verdict.
Trial four between 2016 and2017.
Finally, after seven years,there was a conviction.
That was a conviction.
These trials revealed the truedeath of Xie's motives, and what
(20:52):
prosecutors revealed in courtwould be far more disturbing
than anyone imagined.
Well, the prosecution hadsimilar questions and they
(21:15):
presented a three-part motive,each one more unsettling than
the last.
At the heart of Robert Xie'sresentment was Min Lin's success
.
Xie had always been envious ofMin Lin.
Min was respected, well-likedand had built a thriving
(21:41):
business.
Robert Xie, by contrast, hadfailed.
His attempt at running arestaurant had collapsed and he
had no job, no steady income and, in his family, no status.
Prosecutors argued that Xie washumiliated by the comparison.
(22:03):
Xie was humiliated by thecomparison.
He felt disrespected and lookeddown upon by men in the Lin
family.
His pride was wounded and inhis twisted little mind there
was only one way to restore hisstanding by eliminating those
(22:25):
who had overshadowed him.
But resentment alone didn'texplain the brutality of the
crime, and that's where thesecond motive came in.
With men gone, rabakshet wouldgain control over the Lin
(22:47):
family's home, the Epping NewsAgency and investment properties
.
He would become the head of thefamily, in both personal and
financial sense.
(23:10):
Prosecutors argued that RobertXie saw an opportunity in the
tragedy.
If the Lens were gone, he thencould take over their assets and
rebuild his own failed life,basically.
But even financial gaincouldn't fully explain what
happened that night.
That night For that there wasone final twisted evil motive,
(23:35):
and it happens to be the darkestand most horrifying reason of
it all.
The court heard that after themurdersie had full control over
their daughter, brenda Lin.
She had nowhere else to go, noother family in Australia.
She moved in with her AuntKathy and Robert Xie.
(23:57):
But what Brenda didn't know atthe time was that Robert Xie had
been targeting her long beforethat night.
The court was told that RobicXie had sexually abused Brenda
Lin.
She later testified that he hadmolested her before the murders
(24:20):
.
After the murders, it only gotworse.
Prosecutors argued that thiswas Xie's true motive.
Brenda had become his obsession, so much so he had to wipe out
five members of an entire familyjust to gain control over one
(24:51):
entire family.
Just to gain control over one.
But Xie denied everything andhis defense team fought back.
The defense had one goal, andthat goal was to create doubt.
They argued that the case waspurely circumstantial.
There were no eyewitnesses, nodirect proof that placed Robert
Xie inside the Lin home thatnight.
They claimed the DNA evidencewas weak.
(25:15):
They said it could have beentransferred by another source.
The shoe print could havebelonged to someone else.
Lastly, they argued that RobertXie had no history of violence.
But during this fourth trial,the jury didn't believe it.
After years of delays and legalmaneuvers, the jury delivered
(25:42):
its verdict on January 12, 2017.
Robert Xie was found guilty ofall five counts of murders.
A month later, in February 2017, he was sentenced to life
(26:02):
without parole.
The judge didn't hold back,describing the crime as heinous,
calculated and beyond humancomprehension.
Even myself now thinking aboutit, I can't imagine what twisted
mind can possess someone to dothat to their own family members
(26:28):
Not one, but five and then toalso victimize the only survivor
.
That's beyond evil.
That's vindictive andcalculated.
That just shows the type ofperson that Robert Sheeit was.
He was a failure in life and,instead of working hard like his
(26:55):
brother-in-law and his family,he decided to take it by taking
their lives.
He deserves to rot in prison bytaking their lives.
He deserves to rot in prison,but with the conviction justice
had been served.
(27:16):
But for Brenda Lynn, I can onlyimagine the horror wasn't over.
She had survived, but she hadlost everything, and now she had
to find a way to rebuild herlife.
For two years, brenda Lynnlived in the home of the man who
had murdered her parents, herbrothers, her aunt, and for two
(27:42):
years she had no idea.
However, she refuses to letRobert's actions define her
future.
This is her story.
Brenda did more than survive.
She refused to let her traumasilence her.
(28:02):
Instead, she dedicated herselfto helping others.
She pursued a career incriminology.
She pursued a career incriminology and youth
rehabilitation, determined tounderstand why people commit the
crimes they do and howsurvivors can move forward.
(28:26):
But she didn't stop there.
In 2021, brenda co-founded theSurvivor Hub, a nonprofit
organization that providessupport and advocacy for sexual
assault survivors.
What was taken from her thepower, the safety, the trust she
(28:51):
vowed to help others reclaim.
Brenda Lynn will always be asurvivor, but more than that,
she is a fighter, a woman whoturned her deepest tragedy into
a mission to ensure that no oneelse suffers in silence.
(29:15):
The Lynn family should be heretoday.
Men and Lily should be runningtheir news agency.
Henry and Terry should havegrown into men with lives of
their own.
Irene should have returned hometo China carrying memories, but
instead their lives were stolenin the dead of night by someone
(29:41):
who was kin.
Robert Xie thought he hadcommitted the perfect crime, but
I will remind my listeners nocrime is perfect.
The truth has a way of breakingthrough, no matter how
carefully it's buried, and forBrenda, the truth did more than
(30:04):
bring justice.
It gave her purpose and, thanksto her, many other survivors
now have a platform.
Thank you.
North Epping was the kind of suburb where doors were
left unlocked and families grewup knowing their neighbors.
The Lin family, respected andtight-knit, lived quietly at
Nine Boundary Road.
By all accounts their life wasordinary, stable, even peaceful.
(00:22):
But peace can be deceptive.
Some crimes are so brutal, socalculated, that they defy
reason.
They don't just leave a mark ona crime scene, they leave a
scar on the people left behind.
What went so terribly wronginside Nine Boundary Road, noir
(00:46):
Seekers.
Today we're unraveling a casethat shook Australia to its core
, one of the most hauntingfamily murders in recent history
.
This is the story of the Lynnfamily.
(01:07):
The Lenn home stood on BoundaryRoad in north Epping, sydney, a
peaceful, unassuming suburb, thekind of place where doors
weren't always locked.
Inside the two-story home,nothing seemed out of place.
The living room was just as ithad been the night before
(01:33):
Magazines on the coffee table,backpacks behind the laundry
door, a desk cluttered withpapers and a family computer.
It was basically a life inmotion, a home filled with
routine, comfort, safety and,hanging just inside the front
(01:55):
door, a wedding photograph ofMin and Lily Lin, a picture of
devotion, of love, of the lifethey had built together At some
point between 2 am and 5.30 amon July 18, 2009,.
Someone stepped over thethreshold of that house.
(02:17):
There was no forced entry.
Whoever it was, they moved withpurpose.
They knew the house, past thefront hallway, past the photo of
Min and Lily, they made theirway up to the carpeted staircase
, past the rooms where fivepeople lay, sleeping unaware of
(02:45):
what was coming, and then,without a word, without a sound,
to wake the neighbors, theslaughter began.
Men in Lilliland were the first,still asleep in their bed when
the attack started.
Experts would later say theviolence was savage and
relentless.
(03:05):
The injuries to their faces andskulls were so severe that
first responders thought ashotgun had been used.
In the next room, lily's sister, irene Lin.
She was found slumped againstthe wall, blood was smeared
across where she had tried toescape.
(03:28):
And then the youngest victims,henry Lin, just 12, and his
brother, terry Lin, only 9.
Forensic evidence would showthey had woken up and they tried
to run.
Blood patterns on the wallsmade that heartbreakingly clear.
(03:51):
Blood was everywhere On thewalls, door handles, even light
switches.
A chaotic scene in what hadonce been a quiet family home.
But the killer wasn't finished.
Men's body had been moved, hisduna pulled over him, folded
(04:18):
into a strange V-like shape.
A deliberate act right.
V-like shape A deliberate actright.
A final gesture before thekiller slipped back down the
stairs and vanished into thenight.
The next morning, north Eppingcarried on as usual.
9 am came.
(04:39):
The Epping news agency, run byMin Lin, should have been opened
.
Customers should have beenfilling in picking up their
morning newspapers, greeting thefamiliar faces behind the
counter, but the doors remainedlocked.
The phone calls went unanswered.
(04:59):
Concerned, min's sister, kathyLin, and her husband, robert Xie
, made their way to the house.
Kathy let herself in, callingout her brother's name Nothing.
As she moved through the house,she saw the blood, the walls,
(05:19):
the floor.
Then she saw them.
Kathy Lynn reached for herphone, dialed 000.
Her voice was shaking, barelyable to form any words.
What you're about to hear isthe actual emergency call made
(05:42):
by Kathy Lynn.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, I think my brother's friend.
Someone killed my brother'sfriend.
Why do you think that?
Yeah, because I went to hishouse and I knocked the door and
the door is just closed.
I opened it and I'm just therefinding my brother.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
I couldn't find him, I'm not sure Where's your
brother?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I could find him, my brother.
He's alive.
I think someone is dying.
Are they on the ground?
Where's your brother?
Are they on the ground?
Are they on the ground?
Are they in the house?
Is your brother in the house?
Because I just haven't beengiven a look at the body, I
(06:25):
can't see how to call you.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Have you found.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
We are driving there.
Answer my question please haveyou found a body?
I'm driving to home.
Have you found a body?
Because I went to his home andI've said to check because he's
dropped his opiator.
He's the agent and someone hascalled me and I just go to check
(06:53):
and I find it just quick.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
That was a brief portion of the actual emergency
call placed by Kathy Lynn.
The full call spends over 11minutes, but even in those few
moments the weight of what shewalked into is undeniable.
It's hard to listen withoutfeeling that weight.
Kathy walked into a nightmareand her voice captures a grief
(07:23):
that words can't fully hold.
Before that tragic night,before the headlines, before the
years of investigations andtrials, they were a family.
Men and Lily Lynn had built alife together a home, a business
, a future for their children.
(07:45):
Men Lin, known as Norman to hisfriends, was the kind of man
who never missed a morning atthe news agency he ran.
Customers recalled him as ahardworking, reliable, always
greeting people with a warmsmile as they picked up their
papers and magazines.
His small business was acornerstone of the community,
(08:12):
but above all he was a father, aman who wanted his children to
have every opportunity he neverhad.
Lily Lynn worked alongside herhusband at the news agency,
helping manage the dailyroutines that kept their
business running.
She was also deeply respectedin the Chinese-Australian
(08:36):
community, known for hergenerosity and warmth.
Described as a kind, patientand deeply family-oriented.
Lily was the heart of theirhome.
She loved spending time withher sons, making sure they
focused on their studies andtaking care of her younger
sister, irene.
(08:56):
Men in Lily's two sons, henryand Terry, were like any kids
their age, full of energy,curiosity and dreams.
Henry, the eldest, was 12 yearsold, a talented badminton
player.
He had just won a localcompetition and was already
(09:19):
showing promise in the sport.
Terry, nine years old, was fullof curiosity and energy.
He loved video games, runningaround with his older brother
and playing sports.
They were inseparable, two boyswith their whole lives ahead of
them.
(09:41):
Lily's sister, irene Lin, hadcome to Sydney from China to
help the family.
She was quiet but kind, someonewho put others before herself.
She had planned to return homesoon, but she never got the
chance.
The only immediate familymember to survive was Brenda
(10:06):
Lynn, 15 years old at the time.
She wasn't in the house thatnight.
She had been on a school tripto New Caledonia with her high
school when the murders happened.
She didn't find out through aphone call or a police officer.
She found out through Facebook.
(10:27):
A friend sent her a newsarticle, a story about a brutal
massacre in Sydney.
She clicked the link.
She saw a photo of her home.
Brenda had no idea how toprocess what she was reading.
Her world changed in that veryinstant.
(10:49):
With her parents and youngerbrothers gone, brenda was placed
under the guardianship of heruncle and aunt, robert Xie and
Kathy Lin, for the next twoyears.
She lived with them.
For the next two years shelived with them.
(11:19):
Now let's get into theinvestigation.
When police first entered NineBoundary Road, they were met
with horror.
Five people bludgeoned beyondrecognition.
Blood was everywhere.
Detectives quickly realized thiswasn't a robbery gone wrong.
Nothing had been stolen ordisturbed.
(11:40):
The more they studied the scene, the more they realized it was
controlled precise.
So here are some notes.
There was no forced entry,nothing had been stolen.
The murder weapon was missingand the attack was targeted,
(12:01):
deliberate and calculated.
This is what investigatorsnoticed.
Whoever committed the crime wasinside the house for one reason
To kill.
Days pass, then weeks, thenmonths.
Still there were no arrests, noclear leads.
(12:24):
Still there were no arrests, noclear leads.
But behind the scenes, policewere working to uncover a truth
that had been carefully hiddenEarly on.
Detectives questioned multiplepeople.
Was this a professional hit, arevenge killing, a business
(12:45):
rivalry gone wrong?
But no narrative fit.
The Lynn family had no knownenemies.
What investigators didn'trealize at the time was that the
killer was closer than anyoneexpected.
Was that the killer was closerthan anyone expected?
(13:08):
The sheer amount of blood madeit incredibly difficult to
isolate any individual traces offorensic evidence.
But months later, as forensictechnology advanced,
investigators re-examinedhigh-resolution crime scene
images.
That's when they saw it A faint, nearly invisible shoe print.
(13:37):
Once they enhanced the image,they confirmed the print matched
a specific model of Asicssneakers.
At the time, police still hadno suspect, but now they had one
critical clue a small lead, butone that would become important
(14:02):
later.
The problem wasn't just whatthe crime scene revealed.
One crucial detail especiallystood out.
The power had been cut beforethe murders, indicating the
killer knew exactly where thecircuit breaker was and, most
importantly, they had a key,which meant the murderer was
(14:23):
likely someone the familytrusted.
As months passed, investigatorsstarted looking closer to home.
By January 2010, six monthsafter the murders, police had
their first real suspect.
With no forensic evidencedirectly linking anyone to the
(14:44):
crime, detectives needed adifferent approach.
By May 2010, nearly 10 monthsafter the murders, police placed
their suspect under covertsurveillance.
They watched, waiting for anymistake, and then it happened
(15:08):
Detectives saw him cutting upand disposing a shoebox.
That alone wouldn't be enough,except for one detail the
shoebox matched the same brandand model as the ASIC sneakers
found in the Lynn family home.
Why get rid of a shoebox Unlessit held some evidence he didn't
(15:36):
want the police to find?
That was the moment detectivesdecided it was time to go back
to his house.
I know noir seekers.
You're probably wondering whoam I talking about?
And wait, hold your horses, Iwill get there.
(15:56):
Police had already searched hishome once, right, but now that
he was a primary suspect, theylooked closer.
This time they focused on hisgarage floor.
That's where they found it Atiny, nearly invisible stain.
(16:16):
They sent it for testing andthe results DNA from four of the
five Lin family victims.
This was the breakthrough theyneeded.
If he had nothing to do withthe murders, then why was his
garage floor stained with theblood of his dead relatives?
(16:38):
With DNA surveillance andforensic shoe print analysis,
police finally had enough toarrest him.
On May 5, 2011, almost two yearsafter the murders, police moved
in their suspect, the Linfamily's own brother-in-law,
(17:04):
robert Xie.
He was arrested at his home,charged with the brutal murder
of five members of his ownfamily.
Piece by piece, everythingconnected back to him.
The case against Robert Xe wasfinally strong enough, but what
(17:28):
followed would be one of thelongest and most complex legal
battles in Australian history.
Robert Shee's arrest was onlythe beginning, because what
followed would be four trials,seven years of delays.
What followed would be fourtrials, seven years of delays.
And for Brenda Lynn, the onlysurvivor, her nightmare was just
(17:51):
beginning.
She had been living under hisroof for two years with no idea
that the man she trusted, heruncle, had taken everything from
her.
Before the legal battle, therewas grief.
On August 8, 2009, nearly amonth after the murders,
(18:15):
hundreds gathered for the publicfuneral of Min Lily, irene
Henry and Terry Lin.
The service was heavy withsorrow, an entire community
mourning the loss of a familythat had once been so full of
life.
Five coffins stood at the front, a painful reminder of the
(18:38):
devastation left behind.
At just 15 years old, brendaLynn stood among them, the last
surviving member of herimmediate family.
She had returned home from herschool trip to find her world
completely shattered.
The people she loved most weregone, and standing beside her
(19:01):
that day, offering comfort, wasRobert Xie.
And standing beside her thatday, offering comfort, was
Robert Xie.
No one knew then what theywould later come to understand
that the man posing as agrieving relative was the very
person responsible for thehorror they were mourning.
(19:23):
The wheels of justice turnedslowly.
What should have been a swiftpath to justice became one of
the most protracted and complexlegal battles that I mentioned
before ever happening inAustralian history.
When Xie was arrested,investigators believed the case
(19:44):
against him was strong.
The DNA stain in his garage,the shoe print at the crime
scene, the surveillance footageof him destroying evidence it
all painted a damning picture.
But getting a conviction wasn'teasy.
It would take four trials toconvict him.
(20:06):
Here's what happened duringthose trials.
Trial one happened in 2013.
It was delayed due to judicialissues.
Trial three in 2015 lasted ninemonths, but the jury couldn't
(20:29):
reach a verdict.
Trial four between 2016 and2017.
Finally, after seven years,there was a conviction.
That was a conviction.
These trials revealed the truedeath of Xie's motives, and what
(20:52):
prosecutors revealed in courtwould be far more disturbing
than anyone imagined.
Well, the prosecution hadsimilar questions and they
(21:15):
presented a three-part motive,each one more unsettling than
the last.
At the heart of Robert Xie'sresentment was Min Lin's success
.
Xie had always been envious ofMin Lin.
Min was respected, well-likedand had built a thriving
(21:41):
business.
Robert Xie, by contrast, hadfailed.
His attempt at running arestaurant had collapsed and he
had no job, no steady income and, in his family, no status.
Prosecutors argued that Xie washumiliated by the comparison.
(22:03):
Xie was humiliated by thecomparison.
He felt disrespected and lookeddown upon by men in the Lin
family.
His pride was wounded and inhis twisted little mind there
was only one way to restore hisstanding by eliminating those
(22:25):
who had overshadowed him.
But resentment alone didn'texplain the brutality of the
crime, and that's where thesecond motive came in.
With men gone, rabakshet wouldgain control over the Lin
(22:47):
family's home, the Epping NewsAgency and investment properties
.
He would become the head of thefamily, in both personal and
financial sense.
(23:10):
Prosecutors argued that RobertXie saw an opportunity in the
tragedy.
If the Lens were gone, he thencould take over their assets and
rebuild his own failed life,basically.
But even financial gaincouldn't fully explain what
happened that night.
That night For that there wasone final twisted evil motive,
(23:35):
and it happens to be the darkestand most horrifying reason of
it all.
The court heard that after themurdersie had full control over
their daughter, brenda Lin.
She had nowhere else to go, noother family in Australia.
She moved in with her AuntKathy and Robert Xie.
(23:57):
But what Brenda didn't know atthe time was that Robert Xie had
been targeting her long beforethat night.
The court was told that RobicXie had sexually abused Brenda
Lin.
She later testified that he hadmolested her before the murders
(24:20):
.
After the murders, it only gotworse.
Prosecutors argued that thiswas Xie's true motive.
Brenda had become his obsession, so much so he had to wipe out
five members of an entire familyjust to gain control over one
(24:51):
entire family.
Just to gain control over one.
But Xie denied everything andhis defense team fought back.
The defense had one goal, andthat goal was to create doubt.
They argued that the case waspurely circumstantial.
There were no eyewitnesses, nodirect proof that placed Robert
Xie inside the Lin home thatnight.
They claimed the DNA evidencewas weak.
(25:15):
They said it could have beentransferred by another source.
The shoe print could havebelonged to someone else.
Lastly, they argued that RobertXie had no history of violence.
But during this fourth trial,the jury didn't believe it.
After years of delays and legalmaneuvers, the jury delivered
(25:42):
its verdict on January 12, 2017.
Robert Xie was found guilty ofall five counts of murders.
A month later, in February 2017, he was sentenced to life
(26:02):
without parole.
The judge didn't hold back,describing the crime as heinous,
calculated and beyond humancomprehension.
Even myself now thinking aboutit, I can't imagine what twisted
mind can possess someone to dothat to their own family members
(26:28):
Not one, but five and then toalso victimize the only survivor
.
That's beyond evil.
That's vindictive andcalculated.
That just shows the type ofperson that Robert Sheeit was.
He was a failure in life and,instead of working hard like his
(26:55):
brother-in-law and his family,he decided to take it by taking
their lives.
He deserves to rot in prison bytaking their lives.
He deserves to rot in prison,but with the conviction justice
had been served.
(27:16):
But for Brenda Lynn, I can onlyimagine the horror wasn't over.
She had survived, but she hadlost everything, and now she had
to find a way to rebuild herlife.
For two years, brenda Lynnlived in the home of the man who
had murdered her parents, herbrothers, her aunt, and for two
(27:42):
years she had no idea.
However, she refuses to letRobert's actions define her
future.
This is her story.
Brenda did more than survive.
She refused to let her traumasilence her.
(28:02):
Instead, she dedicated herselfto helping others.
She pursued a career incriminology.
She pursued a career incriminology and youth
rehabilitation, determined tounderstand why people commit the
crimes they do and howsurvivors can move forward.
(28:26):
But she didn't stop there.
In 2021, brenda co-founded theSurvivor Hub, a nonprofit
organization that providessupport and advocacy for sexual
assault survivors.
What was taken from her thepower, the safety, the trust she
(28:51):
vowed to help others reclaim.
Brenda Lynn will always be asurvivor, but more than that,
she is a fighter, a woman whoturned her deepest tragedy into
a mission to ensure that no oneelse suffers in silence.
(29:15):
The Lynn family should be heretoday.
Men and Lily should be runningtheir news agency.
Henry and Terry should havegrown into men with lives of
their own.
Irene should have returned hometo China carrying memories, but
instead their lives were stolenin the dead of night by someone
(29:41):
who was kin.
Robert Xie thought he hadcommitted the perfect crime, but
I will remind my listeners nocrime is perfect.
The truth has a way of breakingthrough, no matter how
carefully it's buried, and forBrenda, the truth did more than
(30:04):
bring justice.
It gave her purpose and, thanksto her, many other survivors
now have a platform.
Thank you.
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