Wade found guilty of stabbing

A 27-year-old Dublin man was convicted of the murder of a Chinese student by a jury in the Central Criminal Court tonight.

The jury of six men and five women took more than two and a half hours find Derek Wade of Church Avenue, Rialto, guilty of stabbing Zhi Song (aged 23) with a chef's carving knife at the house Mr Song was living in Reuben Avenue, South Circular Road, in the early hours of June 29, 2005.

The jury also found Wade guilty of attempting to rob Xiau Wen Zhou of her purse on the same occasion.

The jury heard that on the night of the murder Zhi Song had held a barbeque for some friends with his new girlfriend Xiau Wen Zhou, also known as Tracy. The two had been sharing the house on Reuben Avenue for nine months but had only recently started going out.

Their guests left at around 9pm and the pair watched a film together before going to bed in their separate rooms. Ms Zhou fell asleep quickly but was woken at around 5am to find someone in her room.

Wade had entered the house through a window. The first room he came to was occupied so he went through to the kitchen at the back of the house and armed himself with a chef's carving knife and a meat cleaver.

He did not find anything in the living room so, holding the knives in one hand he climbed the stairs. The first room he tried had another sleeping occupant and Wade decided he could not search the room without being caught.

He moved on to the larger bedroom at the front of the house. It was Xiau Wen Zhou's room.

Ms Zhou thought at first it was her friend, Mr Song, but quickly realised it was an intruder.

On the summer morning the room was fairly well-lit and she could see the intruder was a man and that he was armed.

He was rummaging through some shelves. As she watched, he picked up an ornate knife from the shelf and put it in his pocket. She was half awake and initially spoke to him in Chinese, only switching to English when she realised he was Irish.

Wade said to her: "Shh, I don't want to hurt you. I only want your purse."

Ms Zhou told the court she was scared and realised she was not wearing much. She asked him to leave the room so she could get dressed.

He turned away from her and moved to the other side of the room. They both heard a noise outside as Zhi Song came out of his room and moved towards the bedroom.

Wade ran out of the room leaving Ms Zhou sitting on the bed. She heard a grunt "like someone pushing or lifting something with full force".

Seconds later Mr Song staggered into her room bleeding from an open stab wound. He collapsed on the floor beside her bed.

Wade had stabbed him as he ran out of the house, the knife blade going through his heart and into his lung.

Ms Zhou woke her housemates, screaming hysterically for help. She ran back to Mr Song and pressed her hands to his chest to try to stop the bleeding.

The ambulance and police arrived quickly but Zhi Song could not be revived and was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived in hospital.

Early the next evening Wade went to see his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his child.

He had dyed his hair and eyebrows since the burglary. He showed her that day's Evening Herald which contained a description and told her he was going to England to get away.

He gave her a SIM card and a phone number to contact him and asked her to bring the child to visit him. She became very upset and asked him: "Why are you putting this on me?"

Wade said to her: "I keep seeing his face."

A couple of days later he was asked to take part in an identity parade by Gardaí. Ms Zhou picked him but noted that his hair colour was different.

Gardaí had found Wade's fingerprints on the window of the house in Reuben Avenue, on a biscuit tin he had taken from Ms Zhou's room and on the meat cleaver found blood spattered near the place Zhi Song had collapsed.

The carving knife was found by one of the housemates by the front door, covered in Mr Song's blood. Fearful that the intruder was still in the house, the housemate picked it up and moved it to the kitchen.

Mr Justice Barry White thanked the jury for their attention in their deliberations and excused them from jury service for 10 years.

He adjourned sentencing until next Monday to facilitate the dead man's family, who must return to China.