Alleged mom killer appears in court, faces father

Yuan Xi “Will” Tang has been charged with the first-degree murder of his mother who went missing from Richmond, B.C. in June. Sept. 7, 2012. (CTV)

A Richmond man charged with first-degree murder for the death of his mother and the intent to kill his father made his first court appearance Monday.

The father of the accused, 25-year-old Yuan Xi Tang, flew from China and attended the court proceeding, according to police.

Sgt. Jennifer Pound said the accused met with his father prior to his appearance.

“I can tell you it was an emotional meeting between father and son, but I can't go into a lot of details surrounding that,” Pound said.

During court proceedings, Tang glanced back at his father once, who was seated in the front row.

Tang, who was living in Richmond on a student visa, was charged Friday with first-degree murder and counselling to commit an indictable offence. Tang’s father was notified the same day, as police had kept the investigation private while they gathered evidence.

“[Tang’s father is] going through a terrible time, and a lot of information that he needs to process right now, so we're going to ask for the media to respect his privacy,” Pound said.

Forty-seven-year-old Lianjie Guo and her husband were visiting Tang when she went missing on June 7.

Her badly decomposed body was discovered stuffed in a suitcase on Harwood Island off the Sunshine Coast on July 29.

Police said they believe the suitcase was dumped off the coast of Richmond and floated to the island, near Powell River.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said it took weeks to gather sufficient evidence to charge Guo’s son.

Criminologist Rob Gordon said police will likely look at the family's financials for a possible motive.

"There are no typical cases, but one of the possible motives for doing it [is] follow the money, that's the rule," Gordon said.

With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Bhinder Sajan