Xie jailed for life over family murders

Robert Xie will die in jail after judge sentences him to life for murdering five relatives of his wife in their Sydney bedrooms in 2009

Convicted murderer Robert Xie. Source: AAP

Mass murderer Robert Xie will spend the rest of his life in jail for bludgeoning to death five relatives in their Sydney home.

On Monday in the NSW Supreme Court, Justice Elizabeth Fullerton imposed five life sentences without the possibility of parole on the 53-year-old, who still maintains his innocence.

After four trials, a jury last month found him guilty of murdering the three adults and two children in the bedrooms of their Sydney home in the early hours of July 18, 2009.

Xie's newsagent brother-in-law Min Lin, 45, his wife Lily Lin, 43, the couple's son Henry, 12, and Terry, 9, and Lily's 39-year-old sister, Irene, all suffered horrific head injuries when they were attacked with a hammer-like object.

Justice Fullerton described the murders as "heinous in the extreme" and said the killings were brutal, calculated and involved meticulous planning.

In contrast to his declaration of innocence after the jury found him guilty on January 12, Xie gave no reaction on Monday to his life sentences, and neither did his supportive wife Kathy, who was sitting in the packed public gallery.