About midway through the desecration of his 25-year-old niece, Derek Barrett was interrupted by the twist of a key in the door.
His stepdaughter had arrived home.
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Mother grieves for murdered daughter
Mei Zhang, the mother of murdered student Michelle Leng says words cannot describe the pain she feels over the loss of her only child. Courtesy Network 10 News.
A day earlier Barrett, 27, had detained Mengmei Leng, who had been living with the family since she moved from China the previous year, bound her naked with her hands behind her back and strapped her mouth with duct tape, police allege.
He photographed her genitalia while she was still alive and killed her with a stab wound to the throat.
Barrett pleaded guilty to the murder of Ms Leng, also known as Michelle Leng, in Burwood Local Court on Wednesday, and to taking photographs of her while bound and naked.
It is not known how far Barrett had advanced in the process of murdering his niece when his adult stepdaughter entered the unit on the afternoon of April 22, 2016, but the two cousins did not clap eyes on one another.
The stepdaughter was home for a little over three hours, during which she told police Barrett remained in the bathroom with the shower running the entire time, apart from one quick trip to the bedroom.
She knocked on the door at one stage to ask for some shampoo and he opened the door a crack to pass it out, warning her that she should use the other bathroom because that one smelled.
Two days later a couple spotted the body of Ms Leng floating face up in the water off Snapper Point on the Central Coast.
Barrett was caught on CCTV footage entering the Munmorah State Conservation area that includes Snapper Point on the morning that Ms Leng's body was found, and he is alleged to have wrapped it in black plastic and thrown it over the cliff.
Investigators who examined the body after it was winched from the water found stab wounds to the torso and a large laceration at the back of her head.
Ms Leng had been living with her aunt, cousin and Barrett while she completed her studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, and police have alleged it was not the first indication that he was sexually interested in her.
He had allegedly walked into her bedroom unannounced on several occasions, had confessed to his wife that he wanted to have a sexual relationship with his niece, and filmed her in the bathroom without her knowledge.
He has also been charged with filming his stepdaughter for sexual gratification.
He has pleaded guilty to filming another person's private parts without consent for sexual gratification, committing acts of indecency towards Ms Leng and his stepdaughter, detaining Ms Leng without consent for sexual gratification and murder.