Kathy Lin, the wife of Robert Xie, leaves court on Friday. Credit:Peter Rae Justice Elizabeth Fullerton said life sentences were reserved for the most heinous of crimes and this case was "heinous in the extreme". Outside the court, Detective Chief Inspector Chris Olen​ said: "The five sentences of life handed down in the Supreme Court of NSW represents justice for Min, Lily, Irene, Henry and Terry Lin." Xie was charged in May 2011 after a painstaking investigation across the family's adopted home of Australia and their native China. Prosecutors said Xie was motivated to kill his wife's brother and his family because he was enraged by his perceived lowly status within the family.

Min Lin's parents, Feng Qing Zhu (left) and Yang Fei Lin, outside the Supreme Court with photos of their murdered family members on Friday. Credit:Peter Rae There was also an alleged illicit sexual motive, the details of which cannot be reported due to statutory non-publication orders. After four trials - two were aborted and a third hung - Xie was found guilty by a majority 11 to one last month. Robert Xie is escorted to a prison truck after being found guilty of the murder of the Lin family. Credit:Michele Mossop Xie, a former ear, nose and throat specialist, maintains his innocence. He continues to be supported by his wife Kathy Lin, the sister of Min Lin.

Justice Elizabeth Fullerton has found that each of the five Lin family murders was in the worst category of offending. "The commission of a series of intentional and brutal killings of five members of a family, including two children, in their family home in the early hours of the morning whilst they were sleeping or on being roused from sleep, in a single episode of brutal and calculated murderous violence, is a course of offending that can only be described as heinous in the extreme," Justice Fullerton said. The judge said she was satisfied Xie remained a danger to the community. "The meticulous planning involved in the timing and styling of the murders, coupled with the offender's resolve to execute that plan and then to persist with the infliction of extreme violence with the intention that all occupants of the house should die, despite the active resistance offered by Terry Lin, the youngest victim, as he struggled for his life, is an ample basis upon which to make that finding." Further, she said, life imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence because of the "far reaching and immeasurable harm done to Miss AB".

Miss AB was 15 years old and away on a school trip when the murders took place. Justice Fullerton acknowledged the devastating impact the crimes have had on every aspect of Miss AB's life. "I acknowledge the profound grief she has suffered and continues to suffer. I also commend her for her strength and dignity, and her courage as she faces the future without parents, siblings or a loving aunt." Xie did not react as the sentence was handed down. Outside the court Kathy Lin said of her husband: "He is a loving and caring family man. Every Friday night my brother's family and my family went to my parent's house for Friday dinner. Robert has a good relationship with my extended families.

"He was wrongly charged with a crime he did not commit. He is a scapegoat". "We need people to support us to correct this miscarriage of justice... to bring him home." She said her husband intends to appeal his conviction. Loading DCI Olen said: "I'd particularly like to thank and congratulate the jury in this case for their careful deliberations which culminated in today's outcome."

Xie will not be eligible for parole.