Woman chopped, cemented into wall

AUSTRALIA - Violet Cui had excitedly been planning her wedding before she was killed and found chopped into seven pieces and cemented into a wall, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Cui's fiancé, 'Mr Zhen' was due to arrive in Australia from Shanghai and the couple were going to have their marriage registered three days after that, the paper says.

But by the time Zhen, touched down at Brisbane Airport, police had already arrested her former husband Jiagen Pan (43), of Woodridge, south of Brisbane, and charged him with Cui's murder reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Police allege they caught Pan in the act of trying to hide the dismembered body in a brick wall he was building in his townhouse.

Officers had gone to his North Street home to ask if he had seen his former wife, whose parents had reported her missing to Australian police from China earlier that day after failing to reach her on the phone for two days.

Police later allegedly discovered blood-splattered walls in Cui's house in Waterview Crescent, Springfield, says Sydney Morning Herald.

A Sydney-based childhood friend 'Ms Wu' said, "I still hear the sound of her laughter echoing in my head. I cannot believe it," reported the Australian newspaper. "She was very happy. She was talking about the ring, the wedding gown and the food, when he was going to come."

Zhen identified Ms Cui's body, allegedly telling Wu that his fiancé had been cut into seven pieces says the Sydney Morning Herald.

Pan is in custody and will appear in court on September 23.

- NZ HERALD STAFF