Blood, Wealth, and Silence: Is Lin Gengxin's Family Hiding a Serial Killer?

As the investigation into Yu Menglong's case deepens, more and more hidden corners are being uncovered, even reopening old cases from years ago. The death of Chao Renliang is suspected to be connected to the billionaire's son, Wang Sikong. Meanwhile, Wang Sikong's cousin, Lin Gengxin, is also on the list of suspects said to have been present at the scene. The suspicions are not without reason. Lin Gengxin's father, Lin Yu, who is Wang Sikong's uncle, was rumored years ago to have been responsible for the deaths of his two wives. What really happened in that case, and what does it reveal about the Lin and Wang families? Let's find out today. On a late night in January 2014, the gossip section of Tianya Forum was as lively as ever. A few bored netizens were chatting about the latest celebrity news, when suddenly, a mysterious post appeared, one that immediately drew everyone's attention. Its title read, Revenge Among the Rich. My sister-in-law's younger sister died on Koh Samui Island, Thailand. The title alone was shocking, but what stunned readers even more was the author's claim. They said they were a relative of a Chinese billionaire, someone with a powerful background, possibly tied to one of the wealthiest families in China. The post described in detail how the brother-in-law of a Chinese tycoon allegedly murdered his wife while on vacation in Thailand. Although no names were mentioned, sharp-eyed netizens quickly pieced together clues and deduced that the man in question was Lin Yu, the brother-in-law of China's former richest man, Wang Jianlin. Tianya was already famous for its deep-dive investigations, and this time was no exception. Users launched a collective sleuthing effort worthy of Sherlock Holmes, layer by layer, uncovering what appeared to be a bizarre cross-border murder case. One that involved the deaths of two wives. In the post Revenge Among the Rich, My Sister-in-Law's Younger Sister Died on Koh Samui Island, the author claimed that the victim was a beautiful woman who had married the brother-in-law of one of China's richest men. It wasn't hard to guess who those richest men might be. According to the post, during a holiday trip to Koh Samui, the husband strangled his wife and threw her into a swimming pool, later claiming she had drowned. Her body showed clear signs of strangulation. The Thai police arrested the husband, referred to only as L, but he paid one million baht for bail, then claimed his wife had been drunk and accidentally fallen into the pool. Not only did he escape formal investigation, but he also fled back to China that very night. The victim's family repeatedly urged Thai authorities to pursue justice, but each time the case was delayed and quietly shelved. At first, netizens were skeptical, but soon someone unearthed a Thai news report confirming that the story wasn't fabricated. The article, titled Suspicious Death of a Chinese Businessman's Wife on Koh Samui Island, named the victim as Lin Lin and her husband as Lin Yu. Another user pointed out that Wong Jan Lin's wife is Lin Ning and her younger brother is Lin Yu, whose wife was indeed named Lin Lin. A popular Weibo personality, Shibu Gui, also posted about the case. The wife of a Chinese tycoon had drowned under suspicious circumstances in their Koh Samui villa after supposedly drinking wine and swimming. Local police discovered strangulation marks and detained the tycoon, notifying the victim's family in China. The family flew to Thailand demanding a thorough investigation, but the tycoon, surnamed Lin from Dalian, allegedly posted 1 million baht bail and managed to evade prosecution. The incident quickly went viral, and Wong Sikong, known for flaunting his wealth, suddenly became one of the hottest search topics on Weibo. The tag associated with the case read Wong Sikong's Uncle. As expected, the ever-curious internet detectives continued digging and soon discovered that this same Mr. Lin was allegedly involved in another suspicious death, this time in Sweden. In 2021, Swedish television, at the request of a man named Marcus, produced a documentary titled Veronica and the Chinese Tycoon, which told the story of Marcus's mother, Veronica, and a Chinese man surnamed Lin, Marcus's father, Lin Yu. According to Marcus, his father was born in 1963 in China, where he became a successful businessman coming from a powerful family with extensive connections. In 1996, seeking to expand into the European market and improve his English, Lin met Veronica, a Swedish student at Dalian University of Technology, and hired her as an English tutor. The two quickly fell in love and married in Sweden, where Veronica was already pregnant, but the marriage didn't last. After Marcus was born, Veronica discovered her husband's frequent affairs, leading to constant quarrels. Eventually, Lin abandoned his wife and son, returning to China, their marriage existing only on paper after that. Lin refused to return to Sweden and repeatedly demanded that Veronica bring their son to live in China. When she refused, he stopped sending financial support. In 2003, Veronica filed for divorce in Sweden, seeking a share of joint assets and custody of Marcus. Lin resisted, unwilling to lose his wealth, and even more upset that his plan to obtain Swedish citizenship through marriage had failed due to insufficient residency time. He reportedly threatened Veronica over the phone, saying she would regret it in Sweden. At the height of their bitter divorce battle, Veronica suddenly disappeared. On March 18, 2003, Veronica's parents reported her missing after she went out and never came home. The investigation revealed that Mr. Lin had returned to Sweden just two days earlier, but had not contacted Veronica, making him the prime suspect. During questioning, Lin admitted their relationship had deteriorated, but claimed he had traveled to the UK for business and only stopped by Sweden briefly to visit his wife and son. He presented hotel surveillance footage from March 16, showing him drinking and chatting with a friend as proof of innocence. Police traced Veronica's phone signal and found it in the apartment of a Chinese neighbor named Tang Qingzhong, who lived downstairs. There, in Tang's bathroom, they discovered Veronica's body. Forensic analysis determined that she had died of mechanical asphyxiation and had fiercely resisted before death. Did Veronica have any connection with her neighbor, Tang? Coincidentally, Tang had also gone missing. His phone signal showed rapid movement northward, suggesting he might have been fleeing after committing murder. Veronica's parents firmly denied any relationship between their daughter and Tang. Then the case took a dramatic turn. Suspicion shifted back to Mr. Lin. While Swedish police were focused on tracking Tang, a neighbor reported that her dog kept barking furiously at a patch of ground beneath her balcony. When officers dug there, they found Forensics confirmed that Tang had died at least half a day before Veronica. At Tang's apartment, investigators found blood belonging to both Tang and Veronica, as well as traces from a third East Asian male. Piecing the clues together, police theorized that Lin, enraged over the divorce and custody dispute, had hired a killer to murder Veronica. The hitman likely killed Tang first, used his apartment as a hiding place, ambushed Veronica there, and murdered her, leaving evidence that would frame Tang. Later, blood matching the mysterious third man was also found on the sofa in Lin's hotel room. DNA tests showed it was not Lin's, but matched the same East Asian profile from the crime scene, reinforcing the theory that Lin had hired a contract killer who later visited Lin to collect payment, accidentally leaving blood traces behind. Unfortunately, by the time police pieced together the full story, Lin had already fled to China. Even so, Swedish authorities refused to give up. In 2005, after long negotiations, they were allowed to travel to China to question Lin in Dalian. But gathering evidence was nearly impossible. Everyone around him, including Lin Lin, his secretary, who later became his second wife, kept silent. Swedish police eventually placed Lin on Interpol's wanted list, waiting for another chance. Meanwhile, Marcus, who had lost his mother, grew up under his grandparents' care, completely unaware of the tragedy, until years later, when the viral Tiana post The Bluebeard's Nephew surfaced online, revealing the horrifying details of his mother's death. In December 2014, Lin, using the fake name Lin Yu, entered the UK on transit. Facial recognition technology flagged and he was arrested on the spot, then extradited to Sweden for trial. At court, prosecutors presented email exchanges between Lin and Veronica that established motive. They also proved he had not flown from the UK to Gothenburg for business, as he claimed, but directly from Dalian, meaning he had lied. A hotel employee testified to seeing a tall Asian man entering and leaving Lin's room twice. These findings led to charges of conspiracy to commit murder. Lin hired a top-tier legal defense team, which argued that the supposed hitman was merely a friend visiting him at the hotel, that there was no financial transaction and thus no proof of a murder-for-hire plot. The trial lasted three weeks. In the end, the jury found Lin guilty of soliciting murder, sentencing him to life imprisonment since Sweden has no death penalty. It seemed justice had finally been served, until a week later, a shocking twist occurred. For undisclosed reasons, one of the 12 jurors was disqualified, invalidating the verdict. Lin was acquitted and released immediately. Before flying out of Sweden, he requested to meet his son, Marcus, but Marcus refused. Years later, the family of Lin's second wife, Lin Lin, who died mysteriously in Thailand, continued to seek justice. In 2017, they once again petitioned Thai authorities to Two suspicious wife deaths spanning more than a decade, full of cover-ups and reversals, became known as the case of the century. The killer remained untouchable. Why was Lin so untouchable, able to get away with two alleged murders? Everyone knows Wang Jianlin, founder of the Wanda Group, once China's richest man. But few realize that behind his success stood a powerful woman, Lin Ning, Wang's wife, mother of Wang Sikong, and elder sister of Lin Yu. Lin Ning came from a distinguished military family, a true second-generation military aristocrat. Her father, Lin Lianzhang, had a brilliant military career and held a high rank. Wang Jianlin himself was also from a military family. His father was a veteran of the Red Army. After Wang was reassigned to Dalian, Lin Lianzhang took a liking to him and arranged for Wang to marry his daughter. With her beauty, intelligence, and family influence, Lin Ning was already a formidable figure long before Wang's business empire took off. In 1994, Lin Ning founded the Lin Group, which operated businesses in restaurants, interior design, and logistics. The company became a major partner and strategic ally of Wanda Group in developing shopping centers across China. Under its umbrella were Tiantai Jewelry, the big-star KTV chain, Tongda Trading, and China's most exclusive club, Ulande. Among its members were prominent entrepreneurs such as Liu Chuanji, Liu Yonghao, Wang Jianlin, Guo Guangcheng, Ma Weihua, and Jack Ma. Even foreign dignitaries including Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Albert II of Monaco were on the guest list. Executives from Gulfstream, Hainan Rendezvous, as well as celebrities like Karina Lau and Lang Lang also frequented the club. Lin Ning was personally acquainted with the three of the world's top luxury jewelry and watch brands, Chopard, Piaget, and Cartier. In China, every successful business empire has a powerful network behind it. The New York Times journalist Michael Forsyth once wrote about the complex ties between Wang Jianlin and China's elite. Wanda's early investors included figures close to the political establishment such as former Politburo Standing Committee member Jia Qinglin and vice chairman of the National People's Congress Wang Zhaoguo. In 2008, as the global financial crisis hit and China's real estate market wavered, Wanda somehow continued to thrive. The following year, new investors appeared, among them Qi Chaoqiao, sister of Xi Jinping and her husband Deng Xiaogui. Perhaps due to the later anti-corruption campaign, they gradually divested their holdings, withdrawing hundreds of millions of US dollars after 2012. By 2016, Wang Jianlin's now-famous quote, let's set a small goal first, earn one billion, became a viral meme across China. His broader ambition, however, was to align with the Belt and Road Initiative, building cultural tourism cities along the route and shifting Wanda's focus from real estate to tourism and sports. But in 2017, Wanda was hit hard by government restrictions on overseas investments in real estate, hotels, cinemas, entertainment and sports clubs, precisely the sectors Wang had heavily invested in. The company's debt ballooned to 600 billion yuan, forcing a massive sell-off of assets. At Wanda's most desperate moment, Lin Ning stepped in, selling her jewelry, antique and fashion companies, as well as several long-established subsidiaries she had built herself. Her actions reportedly covered a shortfall of nearly 200 billion yuan, saving Wanda from collapse. Someone once said to Lin Ning, You married China's richest man. You must be a noblewoman. Lin Ning replied firmly, Whether I marry him or not, I'm already a noblewoman. Though there is no concrete evidence linking Lin Ning or her husband to Lin Yu's criminal case, questions remain. What exactly happened just a week after the trial? Why was a juror suddenly disqualified? Everything about that reversal raises suspicion. Given the reach and influence of Lin Ning and Wang Jianlin, intervening in a Swedish court case might not have been impossible. Though of course, all of this remains speculation. Lin Yu's decision to hire a hitman destroyed his family and claimed innocent lives. One day, he will face the justice he deserves. Veronica's father later revealed that the hired killer was a 37-year-old tall Asian man named Jang Song. His DNA was found both at the crime scene and in Lin's hotel room, and he remains a wanted fugitive. Veronica's father continues to seek information from anyone who may have encountered him. He also maintains contact with the families of Lin Lin and Tan All of them united in their desire for the truth. Marcus, the son of Lin Yu and Veronica, said that making this Swedish documentary about his mother's case was not about putting Lin Yu in prison. I just want to know the truth, he said. Thank you for watching. See you again in the next episode.