Cecilia Zhang (also known as Dong-Yue Zhang; March 30, 1994 – October 20, 2003) was a nine-year-old child from

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

, a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

located in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada who went missing on October 20, 2003. After being missing for six months, her body was discovered by the

Credit River The Credit River is a river in southern Ontario, which flows from headwaters above the Niagara Escarpment near Orangeville and Caledon East to empty into Lake Ontario at Port Credit, Mississauga. It drains an area of approximately . The total le ...

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

on March 27, 2004. Min Chen, a Chinese citizen from

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

who was in Canada on a visa, was arrested. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on May 9, 2006. Chen confessed that he was

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

for

ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...

and her death was accidental.

Background

Zhang was nine years old at the time of her abduction and murder. She was born on March 30, 1994 to her parents, Raymond Zhang and Sherry Xu, who came from

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

and arrived in Canada in 1998. She was in

grade 4 Fourth grade (also called grade four, equivalent to Year 5 in England and Wales, and Year 4 in Australia) is a year of Elementary education in some countries. In North America, the fourth grade is the fifth school year of elementary school. Stud ...

and enrolled at the Seneca Hill Public School and in a gifted program. Her parents reportedly did not let her play alone without supervision on the front lawn of their house. Min Chen (; born January 30, 1983) is a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

native from

who had been living in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on a

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

since 2001. His father is an airline executive and his mother is a police officer in Shanghai. They were giving him money in the course of the kidnapping. At the time of Zhang's kidnapping, Chen had stopped his studying English at

Seneca College Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology is a multiple-campus public college in the Greater Toronto Area, and Peterborough, Ontario, Canada regions. It offers full-time and part-time programs at the baccalaureate, diploma, certificate and ...

Newnham Campus, which is near Zhang's home in

. Chen also had not completed his grade 12 courses at a local private academy. According to police, Min Chen knew a female boarder who had lived at the Zhang home between September 2002 and March 2003 and had visited the Zhang home at least four times. Police said that Cecilia would have been comfortable in Chen's company under normal social circumstances.

Abduction

According to an

agreed statement An agreed statement, in US law, is an agreement between two parties to a lawsuit or an appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. A ...

of facts read out in a

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...

courthouse, Chen was failing in his college studies and feared deportation back to his native China. Being a broke visa student, he desperately needed $25,000 to enter into a

marriage of convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. There are ...

as a means of becoming a

permanent resident Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such ...

in Canada. Chen entered Zhang's home through a kitchen window and removed her from her home between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM, leaving by a side door. When Cecilia tried to scream, Chen covered her face with a towel and held his hand over her mouth. Cecilia had stopped struggling by the time Chen placed her inside the trunk of his car. When Chen checked on Cecilia later on, he discovered that she had stopped breathing. According to Chen, Cecilia's death was the result of Chen's poorly planned kidnapping and not deliberate. The highly decomposed remains of Cecilia Zhang were subsequently found in a wooded area of

by the Credit River at

Eglinton Avenue Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Highway 407 (but does not interchange with the tollway) at the western limits of Mississauga, as a ...

on Saturday, March 27, 2004. Investigators were unable to determine the cause of death and were unable to determine if she had been

sexually assaulted Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

due to the advanced decomposition.

Trial

Peel Regional Police had received a complaint about potential

illegal fishing Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries. Illegal fishing takes pl ...

in the area on Sept. 18, 2003 near where the body was discovered. His fingerprints were also found on a window screen of Zhang's house. Min Chen was arrested and charged with first degree murder. Chen was represented by criminal lawyer

John Rosen John Rosen is a Canadian criminal defence lawyer, who has defended murder trials in Ontario, and perhaps in Canadian history. He has defended some notorious criminals in Canadian history, including Paul Bernardo, Pat and Angelo Musitano, Min Chen ...

, who had previously defended

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

and

serial rapist A serial rapist is someone who commits multiple rapes, whether with multiple victims or a single victim repeatedly over a period of time. Some serial rapists target children. The terms ''sexual predator'', ''repeat rape'' and ''multiple offending ...

Paul Bernardo Paul Kenneth Bernardo (born August 27, 1964), also known as The Scarborough Rapist and The Schoolgirl Killer, is a Canadian serial killer and serial rapist. He is known for initially committing a series of rapes in Scarborough, Ontario, a subu ...

. Min Chen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on May 9, 2006. He was sentenced to life imprisonment; under the

faint hope clause The "faint hope clause" is the popular name for s.745.6 of the Canadian Criminal Code (Canada), Criminal Code, a statutory provision that allows prisoners who have been sentenced to life imprisonment with a parole eligibility period of greater than ...

then in effect, he was given the right to apply for

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

after 15 years. During sentencing, Justice Bruce Durno, who presided over the case, questioned Chen's explanation of the events. He stated: “This was not an accidental killing in the course of a bungled kidnapping”. Lacking an

extradition treaty Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

between the governments of Canada and the People’s Republic of China,

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

lawyers have noted that under Chinese law, when Chen completes his sentence and is

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

back to China, he will likely face a second trial and sentence in China. Canadian law forbids this practice, known as

double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare case ...

, while Chinese law permits it if a Chinese resident commits a crime on foreign soil. Trial and punishment in the other country is seen as a

mitigating factor In criminal law, a mitigating factor, also known as an extenuating circumstance, is any information or evidence presented to the court regarding the defendant or the circumstances of the crime that might result in reduced charges or a lesser sente ...

, but does not preclude further imprisonment or

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...

in the People's Republic of China."Is child killer here to stay?"
, ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', 14 May 2006.

References

External links

CBC News In Depth - The Cecilia Zhang case
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Cecilia 2000s missing person cases 2003 in Ontario 2003 murders in Canada Canada–China relations Child abduction in Canada Crime in Ontario Formerly missing people History of Mississauga Incidents of violence against girls Kidnappings in Canada Murder in Ontario Missing person cases in Canada October 2003 events in Canada Burials at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto

Background

Abduction

Trial

See also

References

External links