WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT: Jian Zhong Li sliced off his sibling Jian Ming Li’s ear just before his death in March 2022. The disturbing act all boiled down to one desire
A man cut off his dead brother’s ear with pliers and stored it in a freezer as part of a bizarre inheritance battle.
Jian Zhong Li, from Sydney, sliced off his sibling Jian Ming Li’s ear just before his cremation in March 2022 in a bid to prove his brother did not have a biological child. Ming, who died of Covid, did not have a will, and his only son, Cheng Zhang Li, was set to inherit his dad’s entire estate.
This is due to New South Wales succession laws, which apply when a person dies without a will or a spouse. But, if the deceased did not have any biological kids, the brothers’ mum, Quinn, would instead inherit the multi-million dollar estate in Petersham. It comes after a married couple “kept their lover’s corpse at home for a year” as “dogs chewed on the body.”
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However, following a lengthy legal battle, it was found that Mr Li cut off his brother’s ear without anyone knowing.
“The coffin lid was then shut. The funeral ceremony began later without others, including the funeral director, knowing what had happened,” NSW Supreme Court Justice Michael Slattery said in a decision on Tuesday. “The deceased’s body was cremated the following day.”
Mr Li admitted to keeping the disturbing samples of his brother’s ear in two glass jars in his freezer. The sample was taken illegally because he did not obtain permission from Cheng as his next of kin.
He was later charged with improperly interfering with a corpse. Mr Li pleaded guilty and was convicted in late 2023. He was fined £1,500.
However, in May, Mr Liui and his mum applied to the Supreme Court for an order to release the samples of his brother, which were taken by police for DNA testing.
The court refused the request, citing that the court “had already dealt with the issue of Cheng’s paternity”, and that DNA testing had proven he was the deceased’s son, which already “returned a 99.9 per cent probability that Cheng was related to the applicants”, the judge said.
Cheng was declared the child of the deceased by the court in October 2023. The court said the deceased’s brother and mum “did not challenge the results of the DNA testing at the time.”
They added that the samples would “most likely not be admissible… as it was obtained illegally”.