Allison Langdon is left speechless after man reveals why he opened his dead brother's coffin, pulled out a set of pliers and cut off his EAR: 'I'm not sure what to say'
- Jian Zhong Li, 69, cut off dead brother's ear
- Had suspicions about nephew's paternity
- READ MORE: The real reason Van Gogh cut off his ear
A suspicious uncle cut off his dead brother's ear in a bungled bid to prove his nephew was the illegitimate heir to a million-dollar fortune.
Jian Zhong Li, 69, had long suspected that his nephew, Cheng Zhang Li, was not the biological son of his brother Jiang Ming Li.
His suspicions apparently stemmed from his nephew's thick beard - a trait no one else in the family shared.
Li's attempts to have his nephew take a paternity test were rebuffed so when his brother died in March 2022, he hatched a plan with another relative to obtain his DNA to prove his suspicions once and for all.
On the day of the funeral, Li and his accomplice snuck inside the South Chapel at Rookwood Cemetery where they unlocked the coffin, unzipped the body bag and used a set of pliers to snip part of Jiang Ming's ear off.
He kept it inside a glass jar in his freezer while he launched legal action against his nephew in the NSW Supreme Court.
Jian Zhong Li, 69, had long suspected that his nephew, Cheng Zhang Li, was not the biological son of his brother Jiang Ming Li so he cut part of his brother's ear off in a bungled attempt to confirm his paternity (pictured: Li posing with the sharp pliers he used in the grisly act)
Li attempted to justify his actions in a interview with A Current Affair which left host Allison Langdon temporarily speechless.
'Wow, I'm not sure what to say about that one... And it was all over a beard,' she said.
Li's macabre act remained a secret for over a year before Li let slip to the funeral director who informed the police.
Last week, Li lost an appeal against a $1,500 fine for improperly interfering with a corpse.
But he defended his actions in the bizarre interview on Monday.
A Current Affair host Allison Langdon (pictured) was left temporarily speechless by the report
'How did you feel about cutting your dead brother's ear off? It's pretty gross,' reporter Hannah Sinclair asked him.
'I also very worry to do these things. I don't like to do it,' Li said.
The reporter then asked if Li knew that what he had done was wrong.
'No other way to settle this problem,' Li replied.
However, a subsequent biological test revealed that Cheng Zhang Li is the biological son of Jian Ming Li.
But Li refused to believe it and hopes the ear can be used to verify the claim.
'I test. Double check,' he told the program.
Li claimed his 91-year-old mother was owed some of the money from her dead son's estate.
'Mother has to get some maintenance... because living place is very poor condition,' he said.
He previously wrote a letter of apology to the court, claiming he was only trying to protect his family.
'I am sorry to the court for doing this, I didn't mean to break the law, I did not think properly at the time, I am sorry to the community,' he wrote.
The family's court battle over the million-dollar property in Petersham in Sydney's inner-west is ongoing.
