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Utah

Utah college student arrested in girlfriend’s murder in motel, claims they had suicide pact, police say

Suspect and victim were both international students from China, officials say

By Stephen Sorace Fox News
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A University of Utah international student from China has been arrested in connection to his girlfriend’s death after allegedly injecting her with narcotics in what he claimed was part of their suicide pact, authorities said.

Haoyu Wang, 26, was found at the Quality Inn in Salt Lake City just before 6 a.m. Friday after police responded to a call for a welfare check, the Salt Lake Police Department said. A 19-year-old female, later identified as Zhifan Dong, also an international student from China, was found dead.

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Officers had been told that Wang sent an email saying that he had injected his girlfriend "with heroin to relieve her from suffering" and that they both would be dead by the time they were found, police said.

The victim, Zhifan Dong, was a 19-year-old first-year undergraduate student from Anyang, Henan, China, university President Taylor R. Randall said in a statement. 

The victim, Zhifan Dong, was a 19-year-old first-year undergraduate student from Anyang, Henan, China, university President Taylor R. Randall said in a statement.  (iStock)

Wang claimed during a police interview that he and Dong were in a "romantic relationship" and intended to commit suicide together, FOX13 Salt Lake City reported, citing police. 

Wang was arrested and charged with murder. He was being held in the Salt Lake County Jail. 

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Dong was a first-year undergraduate student from Anyang, Henan, China, university President Taylor R. Randall said in a statement. Randall said that Dong was part of the university’s Utah Global program, which helps immerse first-year international students in the academic and cultural life of the university.

Dong’s family was traveling to Salt Lake City and would speak with university officials to discuss the most appropriate way to remember and honor Zhifan, Randall said.