A man who murdered his girlfriend in a violent, frenzied attack while allegedly suffering from a drug-induced psychosis has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Weijie He, 24, attacked Liqun Pan, his 23-year-old girlfriend, in their Sydney apartment before jumping from a balcony, resulting in severe injuries. The attack, which took place in June 2020, left Pan stabbed over 75 times with a hammer and two knives, while He surrounded her with empty nitrous oxide canisters.
He pleaded guilty to the murder but was given a 25% sentence reduction for his early plea. Despite his defense citing a drug-induced psychosis, the NSW Supreme Court concluded that his actions were still egregiously violent and merciless. Justice Julia Lonergan acknowledged that He was experiencing a temporary psychosis, brought on by heavy nitrous oxide use, but stated that the brutality of the attack only marginally reduced the seriousness of the crime.
The court was informed that He had been heavily using nitrous oxide, which led to a self-inflicted psychosis at the time of the murder. Despite his claims of impaired mental state, the judge emphasized He’s “appallingly self-indulgent” behavior in using the gas as a means to escape responsibility for his actions. The use of narcotics did little to lessen his moral culpability.
Further, the court found signs of coercive control in He’s relationship with Pan, including a “contract” for her trip to China in 2019, which prohibited her from socializing with the opposite sex or going to bars. He was reportedly struggling in his personal life, including having failed a semester in a pre-university course, and had shown increasingly erratic behavior in the days leading to Pan’s death.
He is now set to serve a non-parole period of 13 years, with his first opportunity for parole in January 2034. The case highlights the devastating consequences of domestic violence and drug abuse, and the court’s ruling aims to send a strong message about the severity of such crimes, regardless of the offender’s mental state at the time of the attack.
