Advertisement

Tragedy too terrible to live with

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Eugene Henderson

When tormented teenager Natasha Warnes committed suicide in July last year, it created few headlines around the world.

But to those close to the 16-year-old it was a sudden and catastrophic act borne out of a personal heartbreak she found too hard to bear.

Tasha, as she was known to her friends, had fallen victim to a brutal act of face saving that until this week had been all but forgotten for almost a year.

Advertisement

A happy girl before her life was touched by an act of extreme violence, the talented musician missed her best friend Xing Ding, 18, who had died just two months before.

Ding's death did make headlines. She was found stabbed alongside her parents, university lecturer Jifeng, 46, and Ge Chui, 47 - known as Helen - and 12-year-old sister Alice at their home in the village of Wootton, near Northampton, central England.

Advertisement

The Ding family's bodies were not discovered until two days after the slayings. Only then was a worldwide hunt launched for prime suspect Anxiang Du.

By that time it seems the embittered 52-year-old former business partner of Helen had slipped out of the country and possibly returned to his native China.

Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x