For over a year now, the murders of Zhen Xing Yang and his girlfriend Xi Zhou continue to be a mystery, though the alleged murderer has since been taken into custody.  You might recall the gruesome details as reported here on Gambling911.com.

Police said Mr Zhen,25, was "assaulted for more than an hour" before being stabbed. They believe passers-by may have heard his screams.

A post-mortem examination revealed he suffered extensive bruising to his arms before he died.

Examinations also showed Miss Xi may have been asphyxiated as well as stabbed during the attack.

A drowned cat, believed to have been a family pet, was also found at the scene in a washing bowl underneath a sink.

All of this, investigators now believe, points to a soccer betting ring.

According to the New York Times, Detectives unearthed evidence that the victims were both involved with an Asian gambling ring that was relying on advance tips to bet on English soccer matches.

The convicted murderer, an illegal immigrant named Guang Hui Cao, refuses to this day to give a motive for his crime.

Germany last month arrested several individuals in connection with a match-fixing investigation and, as a result, new lines of inquiry have opened up.

All roads seem to lead to China, where 16 former soccer players and club officials were arrested a week ago.

Some have suggested that sports betting is not a victimless crime and the murder of these two young people seems to prove this point.

"This was an execution," the judge, Alan Wilkie, said at the trial in May after the jury had ruled. "In some way, two young people had crossed a large criminal gang and were punished by them. They were murdered in a cruel and savage way. Miss Zhou had suffered horrifying and unimaginable suffering, and in this way a clear message had been sent."

Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com