BURNED ALIVE

Michigan Man Gets Life for Setting Pro Poker Player Susie “Susie Q” Zhao on Fire

“I cannot get over the brutality of this murder and the needlessness of it all,” the presiding judge said.

A convicted Michigan sex offender has been sentenced to life in prison for the brutal rape and murder of a former professional poker player, Susie “Susie Q” Zhao. Zhao, who was suffering from schizophrenia, was found dead in a remote wooded location in south-eastern Michigan in July 202o. Jeffrey Morris, who has a criminal history dating back to the 1980s, had savagely raped and mutilated her, before setting her on fire and killing her, according to prosecutors. A jury took less than an hour to find Morris guilty of one count of pre-mediated murder and another of felony murder. Judge Martha Anderson said the trial was one of the most “agonizing” she had ever presided over. Zhao began playing poker in middle school and went on to have a series of deep runs on The World Series of Poker Main Events. Morris told the court he plans to appeal the verdict.