Cops: Man shot 34 times in head with nail gun

updated 12:17 p.m. ET April 24, 2009

SYDNEY - Australian police appealed for help Friday in solving the gruesome killing of a Chinese man who was shot 34 times in the head and neck with a nail gun before being dumped in a river.

Chen Liu's badly decomposed body was found in Sydney on Nov. 1, about two weeks after a friend reported him missing, but police have yet to say whether they've identified any suspects.

New South Wales state police on Friday asked the public to provide any information they may have about the case, releasing graphic X-ray images of the 27-year-old's skull to highlight the brutality of the crime.

"In 36 years, I've never seen a murder of this nature," Homicide Squad Superintendent Geoff Beresford told reporters. "It's a particularly brutal and vicious murder and hence the reason we are seeking information from the public."

The 34 nails were found during a post-mortem examination of Liu's body, and were located mainly in his skull. They were fired from an 85 mm nail gun at close range, Beresford said. Police have not recovered the weapon.

"We certainly believe the nail gun is responsible for the death — there's no doubt about that," he said.

Police believe he was killed 12 days before his corpse was discovered.

Police are investigating associates of Liu, who also went by the name Anthony Liu, but said they have no evidence to suggest he was linked to any criminal group. They refused to say whether they've identified any suspects or persons of interest.

Liu arrived in the city of Melbourne on a student visa from China in early 2000 and moved to Sydney, where he married for a short time and separated, police said. They declined to release any additional information about him, including whether any of his family members are living in Australia.

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