Robert Xie found guilty of murdering five members of extended family

Sydney man Robert Xie has been found guilty of murdering five members of his extended family, including his two young nephews.

After three years of court hearings, including four separate trials, a Supreme Court jury found Xie bludgeoned his five victims to death inside their North Epping home in July 2009.

The family was attacked with an “improvised hammer-like implement” in the middle of the night and the power was cut to the home, with no signs of forced entry, police said during the trial.

The jury came to a majority decision after earlier indicating to the court that it had been unable to reach a unanimous decision.

Xie stood up in the dock and rejected the verdict as the jury left the courtroom.

“I did not murder the Lin family,” he said. “I am innocent.”

Parents of victims shed tears of relief

The victims included Xie’s brother in-law, newsagent Min Lin, Min Lin’s wife Lily Lin, and Lily Lin’s sister Irene Lin.

Min and Lily Lin’s sons Henry, 12, and Terry, 9, were also killed.

Min Lin’s parents wept in relief in the Supreme Court’s public gallery following the verdicts.

On the other side of court not far from where her husband sat in the dock, Robert Xie’s wife Kathy also wept, declaring “he’s innocent” as the jury left the courtroom.

Xie fuelled by ‘resentment and bitterness’

Xie and his wife were put under electronic surveillance for six months before Xie was arrested in May 2011.

During the trial the crown argued Xie had resented the way his wife’s parents treated him compared to how they treated their son, Min Lin.

Prosecutor Tanya Smith said Xie had become bitter after getting into a dispute with the adults in the Lin family over the management of their North Epping newsagency which left him feeling “subordinate”.

Xie snuck away at night to murder Lin family: prosecutors

Prosecutors said Xie secretly drugged his wife so he could leave their house in Beck Street, Epping, after 2:00am on July 18 and walk the 300 metres to the Lin family’s house.

Police said the killer knew his way around the property due to the power being cut to the home and no signs of forced entry.

The jury was also told that the adults were in their beds when they were bludgeoned to death.

“Min and Lily not only were attacked with a hammer to their head, but their faces were disfigured,” prosecutors said.

He said the bodies were left in humiliating circumstances.

The jury heard the two boys were outside of their beds when they were killed during what Prosecutor Tanya Smith described as a “furious struggle.”

Henry had defensive injuries on his forearms which the prosecution said showed he had been moving around the room during the attack.

The jury in his third trial, which lasted almost 10 months, failed to reach a verdict.

The fourth trial, which led to today’s verdict, began in June last year.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.