6 days ago
Bizarre reason brother cut off his dead sibling's ear and stored it in a freezer - as he takes his nephew to court for the inheritance
A man who cut off his dead brother's ear has lost a court bid to have the samples returned to him by cops in a bizarre inheritance battle.
Sydney man Jian Zhong Li removed part of his sibling Jian Ming Li's ear with pliers before his cremation in March 2022.
He did so because he claimed he was trying to prove his brother didn't have a biological child.
Jian Ming died of complications from Covid-19 and did not leave a will.
His only son, Cheng Zhang Li, stood to inherit his father's entire estate under NSW succession laws that apply when a person dies without a will or a spouse.
However, if the deceased did not have any biological children, the brothers' mother, Quin, would have inherited the estate.
The deceased's contested estate included a million-dollar property in Petersham, in Sydney's Inner West.
NSW Supreme Court Justice Michael Slattery explained, in a decision on Tuesday, how Mr Li cut off his brother's ear without anyone, including the funeral director, knowing.
The coffin was shut, the funeral ceremony then took place, and the deceased's body was cremated the following day.
Mr Li, who kept the samples of his brother's ear in two glass jars in his freezer, was subsequently charged with improperly interfering with a corpse.
He pleaded guilty, was convicted in late 2023, and fined $1,500.
The sample was obtained illegally because he did not obtain permission from Cheng as senior next of kin.
In May, the deceased's brother and mother applied to the Supreme Court for an order to release the samples to Mr Li by NSW Police for the purpose of DNA testing.
However, Slattery refused the request citing the the court 'had already dealt with the issue of Cheng's paternity', and DNA testing had proven he was the deceased's son.
In August 2023, the court ordered Cheng and Mr Li to undertake DNA testing.
The results 'returned a 99.9 per cent probability that Cheng was related to the applicants', the judge said.
Cheng was declared the child of the deceased by the court in October 2023 and was made orders to allow him to administer his father's estate.
Slattery said the deceased's brother and mother 'did not challenge the results of the DNA testing at the time', the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The judge added the samples would 'most likely not be admissible... as it was obtained illegally'.
