Anxiang Du’s Early Life
Born in 1958 in China, little is known about Anxiang Du’s upbringing, but he showed a strong interest in business and traditional Chinese medicine from a young age. Over time, he specialized in this field and eventually met his future wife through his work. Together, they had a son, though details about their family life remain private. Seeking better opportunities, Anxiang Du moved his family to the United Kingdom in 1998. Soon after their relocation, Du crossed paths with the Ding family, with whom he shared a similar cultural background and a mutual interest in traditional Chinese medicine.
The Ding family, consisting of Jifeng, known as Jeff, his wife Helen Chui, and their daughters Nancy and Alice, had also moved from China to the UK in the early 1990s. They worked hard to build a successful life. Both Jeff and Helen were highly educated, holding degrees in chemistry, and their daughters were born in Northampton in 1993 and 1999. Jeff worked as an engineering professor at the University of Manchester, while Helen was a Mandarin teacher at their daughters’ school and also worked as a translator.
Known for her dedication to both her family and career, Helen was a well-respected member of the community. Their daughters, Nancy and Alice, were exceptional students and talented violinists who performed with the Northamptonshire Youth Orchestra. Nancy had recently received an offer to study medicine at the University of Nottingham.
Business Partnership and Growing Tensions
In 1999, Anxiang Du and the Ding family, along with a man named Paul, decided to open a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Birmingham. Initially, the business partnership seemed successful, with both families working hard to grow the clinic. However, financial disagreements soon arose, leading to tensions. Jeff accused Du of mismanaging the clinic’s funds, which eventually led to Anxiang Du’s brief arrest, though no formal charges were brought against him. Du was ousted from the business, but he refused to let the matter go and initiated a legal battle against the Ding family over ownership of the clinic.
The legal dispute between Anxiang Du and the Ding family stretched on for nearly a decade, with constant appeals and complex legal procedures. Finally, on April 28, 2011, Anxiang Du lost his last appeal. The court ordered him to refrain from liquidating his assets and to pay approximately $116,000 in legal fees to the Ding family.
The court’s decision left Du in a desperate financial situation, and to make matters worse, he was forced to cancel the sale of a property he had been negotiating due to the legal restrictions placed on him. In the wake of these mounting pressures, Anxiang Du’s wife reported him missing to the police on April 30, explaining that he had left a farewell note and expressing concerns about his well-being.
Anxiang Du’s wife contacted the police, explaining that her husband had written a note in Mandarin asking their son to take care of her and expressing his best wishes. She feared that Du, driven by his financial and legal problems, might be heading to confront the Ding family. The West Midlands police reached out to their colleagues in Northamptonshire, requesting a welfare check on the Ding family. On the morning of May 1, officers arrived at the Ding residence, but when no one answered the door and the family car was missing, they assumed the family wasn’t home and left a card in the mailbox.
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The Gruesome Discovery
Later that day, a concerned neighbor called the police, reporting that something seemed off at the Ding residence. He had not seen the family in two days, which was unusual. After knocking on the door and receiving no response, the neighbor peered through the kitchen window and saw what appeared to be a leg lying in a pool of blood. When officers returned to the scene, they discovered the horrific truth: Jeff, Helen, Nancy, and Alice had been brutally stabbed to death.
In their investigation, the police realized they had visited the Ding home earlier in the day following Anxiang Du’s disappearance. To add to the tragedy, investigators discovered that a call had been made to emergency services from the Ding residence days before the murders. Due to a miscommunication regarding the call’s location, officers had been dispatched to the wrong address. After confirming the residents at that property were safe, the police had closed the case, unaware that the Ding family was in imminent danger.
As investigators combed through the crime scene, they found a sharp object near the kitchen sink that didn’t match the utensils in the home. Believing it to be the murder weapon, they sent it for forensic analysis. The investigation revealed a series of missed opportunities, but the evidence left behind, including fingerprints and the discovered weapon, would ultimately help build the case against Anxiang Du.
Forensic investigators scoured the crime scene and found numerous fingerprints throughout the house. The bodies of the four victims were transported to the forensic department, where the medical examiner confirmed that all four had died from stab wounds. Jeff had sustained the most injuries, with 23 stab wounds. Helen had 13, Nancy suffered 11, and Alice had 4. The medical examiner concluded that the time of death was between 3 and 4 PM on April 29.
A Grieving Community
The Ding family, beloved by their community, left a deep void with their tragic deaths. In the wake of the murders, friends, relatives, and community members gathered at the local church to pay their respects. Among the mourners were Jeff’s work colleagues, alongside the daughters’ school friends and teachers. During the service, Jeff’s colleagues spoke about his commitment to his engineering career, while Nancy and Alice were remembered for their kindness, intelligence, and dedication to their studies.
In addition to the funeral, several memorials were organized to honor the Ding family. At Alice’s school, daffodils were planted in her memory. A plaque and a tree were also installed as permanent reminders of her presence in the community. As those closest to the family attempted to process their grief, investigators were already deep into an intense manhunt.
The Prime Suspect: Anxiang Du
Anxiang Du quickly became the primary suspect due to his long-standing legal dispute with the Ding family. Fingerprints found at the scene matched his, confirming his involvement. Initially, authorities speculated that he might have taken his own life after committing the crime, based on a farewell note he left for his wife. However, evidence from surveillance footage revealed his movements across the UK, showing that he was still alive.
Unaware of the extensive surveillance network, Anxiang Du made no attempt to hide his movements. On the morning of April 29, he left his home at around 10 AM, heading to his Chinese medicine practice. He wrote a farewell note to his wife at his shop before retrieving a bag containing a knife and embarking on his journey. Du traveled by train to Birmingham, where he switched to a bus to Northampton. Upon arriving at 12:37 PM, he boarded another bus to the Ding family’s town. Despite receiving incorrect directions from the bus driver, Du finally reached the Ding residence around 3 PM and carried out the brutal murders soon after.
After the killings, Anxiang Du fled to London, where he abandoned his car and boarded a bus bound for Paris early on April 30. From there, he managed to travel undetected to Spain, eventually reaching the ferry port of Algeciras. Despite exhaustive searches at airports and the involvement of Interpol, Du remained elusive for months. Northamptonshire police launched the region’s largest manhunt, deploying over 240 officers and spending 5,000 hours reviewing surveillance footage. They released security images in hopes that more witnesses might come forward, but the investigation dragged on.
Du’s Arrest in Morocco
After 14 months of searching, a construction worker in Morocco recognized Anxiang Du from a newspaper photograph and reported him to authorities. The man and his co-workers had offered food and assistance to Du, unaware of his fugitive status. Upon receiving this crucial tip, UK police traveled to Spain and requested assistance from Moroccan authorities. Anxiang Du was arrested on July 7, 2012, in a partially constructed building in Tangier, where he had been living in squalid conditions. Confronted with the overwhelming evidence, Du admitted to the murders.
Although the UK and Morocco had no formal extradition agreement, British authorities submitted an official request to Morocco’s Ministry of the Interior. On February 20, 2013, Anxiang Du was flown to Heathrow Airport to face trial for his crimes. The following day, he appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court, where he was formally charged with four counts of murder related to the Ding family killings. Anxiang Du was remanded in custody, awaiting trial. His capture was seen as a major victory for British law enforcement, but the success was clouded by the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s (IPCC) report on the handling of an emergency call on the day of the murders.
The IPCC’s investigation revealed that police mishandled an emergency call from Alice Ding during the murders. According to the report, had more detailed controls and a subscriber verification system been used, the police could have identified the correct address, potentially arriving within minutes. While the police admitted their mistake, forensic experts stated that given the severity of the injuries, it was unlikely the family could have been saved. However, they acknowledged that a faster response could have resulted in Anxiang Du being caught at the scene, as he remained in the house for nearly five hours after the murders, even taking a nap before fleeing.
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Trial Begins
Anxiang Du’s trial, at age 55, began on November 12, 2013, at Northampton Crown Court. While he did not deny committing the murders, his defense team argued that he was suffering from severe depression due to a decade-long legal battle with his former business partners. They contended that his mental state had been significantly impaired, and therefore, he should be convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, rather than murder.
The defense called a forensic psychiatrist who had interviewed Anxiang Du. According to the psychiatrist, Du admitted to buying a sharp object months before the murders, intending to use it to end his own life due to his financial struggles. He claimed that he brought the weapon with him from Birmingham to Northampton, hoping to use it to force Jeff Ding to pay what he believed was owed from their legal dispute.
In his confession, Anxiang Du recounted the events of that tragic day. He claimed that when he entered the Ding household, he asked Jeff for money. Jeff, according to Du, insulted him and threatened to call the police. At that moment, Du claimed to have blacked out, seeing Jeff’s image distorted and hearing his voice become harsh. In a fit of rage, he attacked Jeff. As he did, Helen intervened, and Du stabbed her as well, though he could not remember how many times.
Anxiang Du then recalled hearing a noise upstairs, which led him to Nancy and Alice’s room, where he attacked the girls. During the recounting of this part of his confession, Du broke down, stating that he didn’t know why he had done it and described his actions as a “great sin.” After the murders, Du claimed he fell asleep in the house and only woke up after dark. He then took a wallet and car keys from the scene and decided to flee. Although he considered harming his other former business partner, he eventually chose to escape instead.
The Prosecution’s Argument
For the prosecution, the murders were seen as deliberate and calculated acts of revenge after Du had exhausted his legal options. Prosecutors presented evidence showing that Du had premeditated the killings, including the fingerprints found at the crime scene, the weapon he had brought from his shop, and the farewell note he left for his wife. They argued that financial ruin had driven Du to exact cold-blooded vengeance on the Ding family.
The prosecution also presented documents related to the legal dispute and the debt Du owed the Dings, establishing a motive for the murders. Autopsy reports revealed the brutality of the attacks, and surveillance footage showed Du calmly walking through the bus station, asking for directions to the Ding family’s neighborhood while carrying a backpack containing the murder weapon. One of the most emotional moments of the trial came when jurors listened to Alice’s brief, heartbreaking 20-second emergency call, which left several jurors in tears.
In addition to forensic evidence, key testimonies from a school friend of Alice and a neighbor provided critical insight into the events on the day of the murders. Alice’s school friend testified that she had seen a man she didn’t recognize near the Ding family’s house that afternoon. The girl informed her father, who went to check but assumed the man was a family acquaintance and instructed his daughter to play elsewhere.
Neither the girl nor her father noticed anything unusual about the man’s appearance, though they recalled that his beige jacket was buttoned up to the neck. Days later, after the crime had been discovered, the girl mentioned hearing a scream that day but hadn’t realized it could have been a cry for help. At the time, she thought it was someone playing.
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Verdict and Sentencing
After a two-week trial, on November 27, the jury took just over three hours to reach a unanimous verdict: Anxiang Du was found guilty on all four counts of murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, with the judge imposing a minimum term of 40 years before he could be considered for parole. In delivering the sentence, the judge described the murders as cold-blooded and premeditated, motivated by revenge over a long-standing legal dispute. Addressing Anxiang Du, the judge remarked that by killing Jeff, Du had sought to destroy the man he despised.
The judge also took a moment to acknowledge the presence of Helen’s father and brother, who had traveled from China to attend the trial. Both men expressed relief at the verdict, though they admitted that no court ruling could ever fill the void left by the deaths of their loved ones. The Ding family, once a picture of success and happiness, was forever shattered by Anxiang Du’s actions.
In 2014, Anxiang Du appealed his conviction, hoping for a reduction in his sentence. However, on June 4 of that year, the court rejected the appeal, citing the extreme brutality and premeditated nature of the murders. The life sentence, with a minimum of 40 years, was upheld.
Today, Anxiang Du remains incarcerated in a high-security facility, alongside some of the most dangerous criminals in the UK. His conviction and the details of his horrific crime serve as a somber reminder of the devastation caused by one man’s thirst for revenge.
