November 12, 2022
OAKLAND COUNTY, MI—A convicted sex offender was sentenced to life in prison for savagely raping and killing professional poker player Susie Zhao—burning her alive.
Jeffery Morris, 62, was given a mandatory life term without the possibility of parole on Thursday, November 10, a little more than a month after he was convicted of first-degree murder and felony murder in the commission of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, according to The Oakland Press.
Jurors in the murder trial deliberated for less than an hour before finding Morris guilty.
“There’s a lot I’d like to say,” Morris told the judge. “This time I’m not gonna say anything. I’ll wait till I come back for an appeal and begin again.”
Judge Martha Anderson said the case was “one of the most agonizing trials” of her career.
“I cannot get over the brutality of this murder and the needlessness of it all,” she stated.
Zhao was a rising star in the world of professional poker, however, she moved to Michigan from Los Angeles to live with her mother and stepfather back in June 2020. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia as an adult.
She was last seen alive by her mother on July 12, 2020. Zhao’s charred remains were discovered the next day in a wooded area at the Pontiac Lake Recreation Area in Oakland County.
Morris was a homeless man who was convicted of a sex crime back in 1989. He met Zhao at a Waterford Township motel where she often stayed and carried out “depraved sexual fantasy involving bondage,” according to prosecutors.
Evidence showed Zhao was brutally raped, causing damage to her genitals, zip tied, doused with gasoline, and set on fire while she was still alive, reports the New York Post.
When Zhao’s body was discovered by two men, it was so badly burned, they initially thought it was a prank or a scorched mannequin.
Morris was arrested in August 2020 after police tied him to the location where Zhao’s body was found through phone records.
Feature Images via Facebook & Oakland County Jail