Professional poker player Susie Zhao was bound and sexually assaulted before her body was set afire, court documents in the White Lake Township murder case reveal.
Susie Zhao (File photo)
Fox 2 Detroit reports Zhao, whose body was found last month, apparently met suspect Jeffery Morris, 60, at a motel in Waterford on July 12.
After his arrest, Morris told police Zhao left around midnight. But records show her cell phone was still at the motel until five the next morning.
Surveillance video shows Morris leaving at that time and driving to a secluded park in White Lake Township where Zhao's burned body was found.
Investigators later found a baseball bat and sheets with bloodstains in Morris' car. So far, police have not revealed how they knew each other - or a possible motive for the killing.
Zhao, who had been living in California, recently moved back to Michigan, where her parents live.
