Two people have been charged in connection with the disappearance and death of a Markham real estate agent whose remains were found in Parry Sound over the summer.
On Tuesday, York Regional Police (YRP) provided an update into their investigation into the murder of Yuk-Ying Anita Mui.
The 56-year-old was first reported missing by her family on Aug. 9.
Police said Mui’s white 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE450 SUV was found later that day in Scarborough, near Finch Avenue East and Warden Avenue.
Three days later, officers with the Ontario Provincial Police discovered burned human remains in the area of Avro Arrow Road and Highway 400 in Parry Sound. The coroner later identified them as belonging to Mui.
“Our investigators have been working very diligently over the last several months, and they’ve anticipated being able to get to this point for quite some time,” Const. James Dickson told CP24 on Tuesday afternoon.
“Fortunately, now we can say that we have arrested two more parties and that this investigation is another step at getting closer to some level of closure.”
The two new suspects are 24-year-old Abid Khugiani of Oshawa and 19-year-old Oscar Peidi Liang, of Toronto. They were arrested on Nov. 27 and Dec. 4, respectively.
Khugiani is facing 13 charges, including indignity to human body, two counts of unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon, and six counts of traffic in credit card.
Liang, meanwhile, has been charged with manslaughter, accessory after the fact to murder, kidnapping, forcible confinement, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence—kidnapping, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence—forcible confinement, and possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000.
“We have been putting boots to the ground every day. Investigators have been going out and have been conducting all the interviews, completing all the search warrants that they had done previously, going through electronic devices, and it’s really been a lot of man hours that have been put in that has led to us being able to identify additional suspects,” Dickson said.
In August, police laid fraud charges against three minors in connection with this case after they were found to be in possession of Mui’s property.
First-degree murder suspect still out of the country: YRP
Police are continuing to search for 47-year-old ZhixiongMarko Hu.
They believe Hu, who is wanted in a Canada-wide warrant for first-degree murder, has fled to Hong Kong.
Police have not determined a motive for Mui’s murder.
“Motive is always one of those things that we are constantly working to find out all the details for. It’s generally the primary thing that anybody that’s following a murder inquiry or any crime really is most interested in. But for investigators really, they just go where the facts lead them,” Dickson said.
“They tie everything together. They look at the connection between any of the suspects as well as any to our victim, and they try to determine it that way. I anticipate over the next several months when they continue to be going through the evidence and processing it, they’ll be much closer to determining entire motive.”
When asked if the suspects are part of a crime group, Dickson said so far, investigators have determined that those who’ve been apprehended are “aware and has a connection to at least one other person.”
“Looking at the whole group of it as an organized crime network would be oversimplifying any levels of relationships. Again, investigators are still trying to determine exactly how everyone knows each other and who was aware of what information at the time,” he added.
Dickson noted that the charges laid could still be upgraded or changed depending on the evidence.
Anyone with information about Hu’s whereabouts or this case is asked to contact YRP at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7865 or homicide@yrp.ca, or Crime Stoppers anonymously.