According to court records, a Michigan judge on Thursday sentenced a sex offender to life in prison without the chance of parole for the savage 2020 murder of a professional poker player.
Susie Zhao, a 33-year-old professional poker player from Waterford Township, Michigan, was killed in July 2020, and judge Martha Anderson sentenced Jeffery Morris for her slaying in Oakland County Circuit Court, according to NBC affiliate WDIV of Detroit.
According to court documents, Morris was sentenced a month after a jury convicted him guilty of first-degree murder and felony murder in the commission of second-degree criminal sexual behaviour.
A week before investigators were able to identify Zhao, her body was discovered charred on July 13, 2020, close to the Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area, roughly 40 miles northwest of Detroit, according to WDIV.
Morris and Zhao first connected at the Sherwood Motel in Waterford Township, two miles from Zhao’s mother’s house, according to WDIV.
Zhao came in on July 9, checked out on July 11, and Morris checked into the same room on July 12, the motel owner reportedly told the local network. According to the owner, they were never seen together.
Morris was apprehended by police on July 31, 2020, according to WDIV, which added that they discovered him thanks to Zhao’s cell phone records.
According to court documents, Morris has a lengthy criminal past, which includes a third-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction from 1989.
According to the World Series of Poker website, Zhao, also known as “Susie Q,” earned at least $187,441 from poker, including $73,805 at a 2012 world series tournament.
She was born in China, moved to the United States with her mother when she was about eight years old and was reared in Michigan, according to the Oakland Press, which also stated that she was later given a schizophrenia diagnosis.
Evidence presented at trial, according to the Oakland Press, showed Morris shackled Zhao’s wrists with zip ties before dousing her in gasoline and igniting her while she was still alive. There was also proof that sexual assault had seriously harmed people.
The local newspaper reported that the prosecution provided evidence from Morris’ cell phone records and web search histories demonstrating searches for violence against Asian women and slaves, as well as sex encounters in isolated, forested regions like those where Zhao’s body was discovered.
According to the Oakland Press, Anderson, the judge, described the trial as “one of the most excruciating” of her career during the sentencing.
