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Two people charged over Perth's body in suitcase murder

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Two people have been charged over Perth's "body in the suitcase" murder.

Police released a statement on Wednesday afternoon saying a 68-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman have been charged with Mosman Park woman Annabelle Chen's death.

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Woman found in suitcase identified

Detectives have made a major break-through in the investigation of a mystery woman found dumped inside a suitcase- they've identified her as 57 year old Annabelle Chen. Vision: Ten Eyewitness News.

The pair have been refused bail and were due to appear in the Perth Magistrates court on Thursday.

Nearly three months after the suitcase was discovered by two Perth fisherman on July 2, police had struggled to come up with any new leads on the woman's identity.

A post-mortem conducted on the woman's body, coupled with the discovery of tiles matching those found inside the suitcase, led police to believe she was likely dumped into the water on the eastern side of the Fremantle Traffic Bridge, sometime between Monday, June 27 and Friday, July 1.

The distinctive tiles were later reported to match those from a house in Wellington Street in Mosman Park which Ms Chen previously owned and once lived in. She had been living in another house in Heath Mews in Mosman Park at the time of her death.

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Forensic imaging specialists put together a variety of images in August in the hope someone would come forward with information.

"These variations on the original image may trigger someone's memory and help us to identify this woman," Major Crime Squad Detective Senior Sergeant Tom Mills said.

Two people have been charged over the Annabelle Chen murder.
Two people have been charged over the Annabelle Chen murder. 

The identity of the body was not confirmed until two months after Ms Chen's death, when her daughter, based in Melbourne, reported her missing to police. 

Ms Chen had been described as a private and deeply religious person. 

But WAtoday revealed earlier this month the 57-year-old was a big-time gambler at Crown Casino in Burswood.

Staff at the casino say it wasn't unusual to see her there six and seven nights a week.

They say she was part of a regular group of gamblers who could win or lose tens of thousands of dollars in a night - but asked staff to record only their winnings, not their losses.

"She used to come in all the time," a former casino worker said.