A brutal killer who stabbed a man to death in Birmingham may have struck before at a city 'brothel', an investigation has revealed.
Jinmang Zhang, 41, was knifed to death at a flat on February 9 in a chilling incident in which a woman was also threatened, Birmingham Live reported.
His masked killer has not been caught, but police have released CCTV footage of a man they describe as a suspect walking casually away from the scene.
Community sources have said Chinese national Mr Zhang was running a brothel when he was killed and had links to a Chinese crime gang.
It has also been discovered that a strikingly similar attack took place months earlier in nearby Edgbaston, at a city centre flat on Pershore Road which locals claim was also being run as a brothel.
Like Mr Zhang, the victim of the Edgbaston incident on October 23 was stabbed multiple times, according to community sources - but survived. He was also a Chinese national like Mr Zhang.
The October attacker is also described as black, like the prime suspect in Mr Zhang's murder.
Locals have claimed that the Edgbaston flat was being used as a brothel for the past year and a half.
One said: "It was known in the area that it was being used as a brothel. Customers were coming and going and would wait outside to be let in."
West Midlands Police confirmed that a man had been taken to hospital with stab wounds from flats on Pershore Road on October 23 last year. His attacker remains at large.
"Fortunately, his injuries were not life threatening, although serious. No arrests have been made to date.," said a police spokeswoman.
Just like the suspect being sought in connection with Mr Zhang's murder, the attacker in the October incident in Edgbaston is described as black, in his 30s. He was also wearing dark clothing, police confirmed.
Detective Inspector Jim Mahon from the Homicide Unit, confirmed: “We have considered similarities in this incident to the attack on 41-year-old Jinming Zhang, who was murdered in a flat on Moseley Road, Digbeth on 9 February and we cannot rule out the possibility that they could be linked.
“Our quest to find Mr Zhang’s killer is very much on-going and a Crimestoppers reward of up to £20,000 is offered for information leading his arrest.”
Police say they have recovered DNA from the scene of the Digbeth murder. But unusually for such a serious crime, there has been no match on the DNA database.
Police were called to the victim's flat on Moseley Street at about 7pm on February 9. Detectives investigating the murder have released CCTV of a suspect seen nonchalantly walking away from the scene.
Most of the man's face is hidden in the footage by a mask whilst he is wearing a dark hat and clothing and has a distinctive skip-like walk which police have highlighted. Few details have been released about Mr Zhang except that he was a Chinese national and his family has been told of his murder.
Officers have said that a woman present at the flat at the time of the killing was threatened by the killer.
A £20,000 reward has been offered for information that helps find the killer of Mr Zhang in what police described as a "highly unusual" case. Detectives have said it is not clear why he was attacked but that robbery was a likely motive although it is uncertain if any money was taken.
"It's clear the person who killed Mr Zhang is a violent man and we want to catch him as soon as we can," said Det Insp Mahon previously.
Mr Zhang had been stabbed "numerous times" and it was "quite clear he'd tried to defend himself," the officer added. The killer is thought to have sustained a hand injury during the attack.
Police have said analysis suggested the recovered samples were almost certainly those of a black person. The force described the suspect as being in his 20s and between 5ft 4in and ft 5in tall with an average build.
Det Insp Mahon had said: "We're still trying to establish a motive for this violent crime and are exploring a number of reasons why Mr Zhang was killed in such awful circumstances.
"The strongest motive is robbery - some demands were made for cash - but with this level of violence we are keeping an open mind to other motives at play."
