He Called It a Suicide Pact. Only His Partner Died

The notice posted Friday by the University of Utah was one brought with "heavy hearts," relaying news on the death of a 19-year-old international student in what appeared to be a "domestic violence situation." Now, the Salt Lake City Police Department is offering more context, announcing that a suspect has been arrested, and that he claims to have killed his girlfriend in what was supposed to be a suicide pact, reports the Deseret News. Per a statement from the SLCPD, authorities say they headed to the Quality Inn Downtown in Salt Lake City around 6am Friday to do a welfare check after they received info from university police that a man had threatened to kill his partner.

That warning, per a police affidavit, was sent via email to a university staffer by 26-year-old student Haoyu Wang, claiming that he'd "injected his girlfriend, the victim, with heroin to relieve her from suffering" and that by the time cops arrived, they'd both be dead. Police tracked Wang's cellphone and discovered him in the motel room with the woman's body, though he was very much alive, per an SLCPD statement, which added that the two were romantically involved and had been living together. After being examined at a local hospital, Wang told police of the alleged suicide pact, noting he'd killed his partner and tried to kill himself as well after ordering heroin and fentanyl "on the darknet," per the affidavit.

It adds that Wang told cops they'd both snorted the heroin, and that after his girlfriend became unresponsive, he'd injected her with more heroin to finish the job, then injected himself. The Washington Post reports Wang was charged with assault against his girlfriend just last month, though he was released from jail pretrial, as he was deemed a low risk to commit violence, per court documents. This time, Wang, who was taken into custody and charged with "knowing and intentional" murder, is being held without bail. The Salt Lake Tribune notes the deceased was also a student from China, and that she's the second Chinese student to be killed within a five-year span. (More University of Utah stories.)