Update as reported below.
Today, a murder that has been going on for months is back in the spotlight - the murder of a 42-year-old sex worker from China in a hotel in February.
The suspects, Ruihongnie and Qian Liu, were tried in court today (December 11).
The dead woman is understood to be a 42-year-old woman from China who had at least one child and had been working as a sex worker in Perth for a long time. She was found dead in a hotel room in Ascot.
The woman was reportedly found by cleaners working at the hotel. Staff desperately tried to perform CPR on her before police and paramedics arrived, but to no avail, she did not revive.
A friend of the woman, who asked not to be named, said earlier in an interview that the woman had spoken about feeling scared before her death.
"She often feared for her life," the friend said.
A major breakthrough in the case came just weeks after the woman's tragic death was first reported on May 2.
WA Police confirmed they had charged a 28-year-old Joondalup man, Qian Liu, and another 24-year-old Baldivis man, Nie Ruihong, with one count of murder.
During today's court hearing, the 24-year-old defendant spoke only to confirm that he understood the charges against him and pleaded not guilty
Another defendant, Nie Ruihong, is also accused of drugging another woman in West Perth between March 16 and 17 this year, causing her to bleed inside her skull, then raping her and stealing $50,000 from her.
Nie's lawyers have asked for the case to be adjourned until March next year. Nie is expected to appear in district court on March 14 on rape, drugging and theft charges and in the Supreme Court on March 17 on murder charges.
Liu Qian also appeared in court, but the court refused to accept his confession because it believed he did not fully understand the case. The case was adjourned until next week