Woman killed after death threat

Ms Xie's corpse was found in this bag in the River Thames

A Chinese student received a death threat days before her dismembered body was found, the Old Bailey has heard.

The decapitated and handless body of Xing Xing Xie, 23, was found in a laundry bag in the Thames marina at Rotherhithe, south London, last April.

Noor Azura Mohd-Yusoff, 22, of Ealing, west London, and Lon Gian, 26, from Deptford, south London, deny murder.

The victim received a call from Ms Mohd-Yusoff threatening to kill her, Ms Xie's flatmate told the jury.

Ms Xie, also known as Evelyn, was killed two weeks after attending a party at Ms Mohd-Yusoff and her boyfriend Mr Gian's home. Ms Mohd-Yusoff was not present there.

The prosecution alleged the victim was killed at their home in Knoyle Street, New Cross, south-east London.

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Speaking through a Mandarin interpreter Rui Li said: "She [Ms Mohd-Yusoff] was asking about the relationship between Evelyn and her boyfriend and also if Evelyn had any relationship with her boyfriend she would not have treated it kindly.

"Later on, Evelyn told me that she had threatened her and said she would kill her."

Miss Li she herself also received a text from Ms Mohd-Yusoff which read: "Leave my boyfriend alone, stay away from him."

Miss Li, who worked with the victim in a karaoke bar, said the party began at a hotel in Greenwich but she left when the party moved to Mr Gian's home.

She said he told her he did not "love her [Ms Mohd-Yusoff] as much as he used to but he will still be responsible for her".

She said Chanh Ngo, also believed to be involved in the murder but who has since fled the country, was present at the party.

Ms Xie's body was found by a couple who lived on a boat in South Dock Marina and two months later her head wrapped in plastic bags was found in a nearby dock.

Her hands have never been recovered.

Earlier the court heard Ms Mohd-Yusoff's "possessiveness" and "jealousy" about her boyfriend could be "one possible motive" for the murder.

The case continues.