The Only survivor of her family: Brenda Lin

It was only this year that I learnt about this story, as I was watching the news, which not only shocked me, just from learning about the story, but because the crime happened in the country I am living in – Australia. Mind you, Australia is a big country, but it surprised me that I did not even know about this story. This story is set back in 2009 where a young girl named Brenda who, at the time would have been 15 years old. Was on a school trip to New Caledonia with Cheltenham Girls High School, when the murdered killed all of Brenda’s family members, which included her parents, two brothers and aunt (sister of her mother). That murdered was charged in 2011 and that person happened to be the uncle of Brenda (the brother in law of the family), known as Robert Xie. It wasn’t until 2017, that Robert was found guilty of murdering all five family members. I learnt about this story this year because, it was until February of 2021, that Chief Justice Tom Bathurst and Justices Robert Allan Hulme and Robert Beech-Jones rejected Xie’s appeal to be released from jail. Which I cannot understand why this guy, Xie would even think he would be allowed out on parole or bail. But then, it wouldn’t surprise me because, no matter where in the world you live, the justice system isn’t really fair. Sometimes it will let those who have done hideous crimes out on parole or bail. Yes, some of these people may turn their lives around or they may decide to repeat the offence again, which could be worse than the first crime they committed.

They say that Robert Xie was greedy but also had some obsession with this niece and that he did this intentionally, so that Brenda would live with his family. It wasn’t until Brenda’s interview with channel 7 that she stated, her uncle had been sexually abusing her and, this was the motive for him to kill her family, so they he could continue sexually harassing her without the aunt’s knowledge. Her aunt Kathy had also been close to Brenda but unfortunately, believe that her husband Robert was innocent and this caused a rift in the relationship between Brenda and her aunt. Brenda’s family was a well-known for their local newsagency in North Epping, New South Wales, Australia. It was Robert and his wife Kathy, who stated he discovered the bodies of the family members when we arrived to the house, saying that he entered via the unlocked front door. They went upstairs and saw the bloodied rooms and battered bodies and immediately Kathy called 000. Investigations had begun and Robert Xie became a suspect, Robert and his wife Kathy, had even made a media release asking for the public for assistance to help them find out who the murdered was.

Despite all this chaos going on, Brenda had huge support from her grandparents, friends, teachers and the wider community of Epping, especially those from the Cheltenham Girls High School. Especially her principal, who after the funeral discussed with her husband that there was something not right about the situation and she had a gut feeling about Robert Xie. It was then, it clicked that Robert Xie might be the perpetrator and might be harming Brenda, which was quickly brought to the attention of investigators. Today, Brenda continues to go on with life and has graduated from Cheltenham Girls High School, she continues to receive the support from teachers, especially her principal and stayed connected with a well-loved community. Brenda, continues to grieve for the longing of her family members but, she states, she must go on and continue life even though she is hurting.