NSW: Police deny lawyer passed on letter naming Lin killers

AAP General News (Australia)
08-20-2009
NSW: Police deny lawyer passed on letter naming Lin killers

By Andrew Drummond

SYDNEY, Aug 20 AAP - Investigators deny the lawyer for Sydney's murdered Lin family
has passed on an anonymous letter naming the killers, but have not ruled out the existence
of such a document.

A media report on Thursday said a two-page letter, written in English, was received
by Lin family lawyer Daniel Sheen at his Sydney office, allegedly naming two people as
the killers of the family of five.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper said Mr Sheen immediately handed the letter, which details
how the family died, to investigators.

However, homicide squad boss Detective Superintendent Geoff Beresford on Thursday denied
police had received such a letter from the lawyer.

"I know there is an enormous amount of interest in the letter that was referred to
in recent media articles," Supt Beresford told reporters.

"All I can say about that is: investigators have not received any letter from the solicitor
as indicated in the media reports."

He said he spoke to Mr Sheen earlier on Thursday but declined to comment on the nature
of the conversation.

When asked if such a letter existed, Supt Beresford referred to the need for confidentiality.

"It's important to stress that any information that we receive is always held in the
strictest of confidence and those confidences will never be betrayed by the investigators
in possession of that information," he said.

"Our greatest priority, of course, is to ensure that confidentiality, so I certainly
won't be commenting in any way, shape or form about the information that investigators
have received."

However, he confirmed police had received various forms of information during their inquiries.

Police still have no suspects in the murders of Epping newsagent Min "Norman" Lin,
his wife Yun Li "Lily" Lin, their sons Han "Henry", 12, and Tian "Terry", nine, and Mrs
Lin's sister Yun Bin "Irene" Yin, 39, who were bashed beyond recognition on July 18.

Supt Beresford said he was "satisfied" by the progress of the investigation, but said
the frustration that must be felt by the family was shared by police.

Eighteen detectives are working full-time on the case, plus numerous forensic specialists.

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KEYWORD: HOUSE LETTER 2ND UPDATE

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