Cecilia Zhang

Case background and investigation

Cecilia Zhang, a nine-year-old Grade 4 student, lived with her parents, Raymond Zhang and Sherry Xu, in the North York area of Toronto. According to Wikipedia, she was taken from the house in the early hours of October 20, 2003. Her disappearance drew national attention, and her parents made public appeals for her return and, according to CBC News, mortgaged their home so they would be able to pay a ransom. No ransom demand was ever made. Toronto's Chinese community raised a reward, and the case was featured on America's Most Wanted.

On March 27, 2004, three days before she would have turned 10, her remains were found in a wooded area near the Credit River in Mississauga, CBC News reported.

In July 2004, police arrested Min Chen, a 21-year-old student from Shanghai who had come to Canada on a student visa in 2001, at his home in Scarborough and charged him with first-degree murder. According to CBC, police said Chen knew a woman who had boarded at the Zhang home between September 2002 and March 2003 and had visited the house at least four times. That woman was initially arrested but was later cleared and was not charged.

On May 9, 2006, the day his first-degree murder trial was due to begin in Brampton, Chen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The agreed statement of facts, as reported by CBC News and The Globe and Mail, said he had planned to kidnap Cecilia and demand money to pay for a marriage of convenience so he could remain in Canada. When he approached her during the night, he feared she would scream, covered her head with a towel and pressed on her face as he carried her to a car. She was not breathing when he later checked on her, and he left her body in the Mississauga ravine. Chen's lawyer said he pleaded guilty partly to spare her parents a trial.

Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Canada. In May 2006, Justice Bruce Durno set Chen's parole ineligibility at 15 years; the Crown had sought 17 to 20 years and the defence 12. The judge noted that Chen had planned to keep the girl in his car trunk while awaiting a ransom. CBC reported that Chen would likely be deported to China upon eventual release.