When he died in hospital after falling ill in his prison cell , body-in-suitcase killer Ming Jiang took his grisly secret to the grave. In 2016 Jiang brutally murdered his friend Yang Liu then dumped his dismembered and decapitated body in a suitcase in a lay-by off the Woodhead Pass. In an gruesome attempt to disguise the victim's identity Jiang, who an inquest heard this week died after suffering a 'catastrophic brain bleed', had chopped off his friend's arms, lower legs and head. Tragically those remains have never been found. Jiang, a debt-ridden gambling addict, refused to reveal where he had disposed of the rest of Mr Liu's body. His death means the chances of police ever finding the missing body parts now appear remote. And it likely brings a tragic end to one of Manchester's most high-profile murder investigations. On the night of October 9, 2016, Jiang took a seat at one of the tables at Manchester's 235 Casino and began placing bets. There was nothing unusual in that - the obsessive gambler was a regular face at the casino and liked to give the impression he was something of a 'high roller'. But just an hour earlier he had stuffed the torso of his friend Yang Liu into a suitcase, drove to a remote lay-by outside the village of Tintwistle and set fire to it. The charred remains were found by hikers the following day. As news of the discovery broke, Jiang sent a message on WeChat purporting to be from Mr Liu, assuring his parents: "I OK." Forensic officers discovered a small, postage stamp-sized piece of skin on the body which hadn't been burnt, but that didn't provide any clues to the victim's identity. The first breakthrough came following a public appeal for information. A passing driver came forward to say they had captured dash-cam footage of a fire in the lay-by, which meant detectives now knew when the body was dumped and set alight. Then came a remarkable stroke of luck which allowed detectives to crack the case wide open. CCTV cameras on Woodhead Pass were few and far between. But police found an automatic number plate recognition camera which had been put up in the remote area as part of the 2012 Olympics cycle race that was still in use. The footage showed more than 100 vehicles had driven past the spot on the night in question. But only one, a B-Class Mercedes, was seen going there and back. And it belonged to Jiang. The Mercedes was stopped driving through Manchester with Jiang at the wheel. He was released but the car was seized. A forensic search found a 10p-sized spot of blood in the rear, which matched that found at the lay-by. And they also found a document containing the name Yang Liu. Some 10 days after the body was discovered police raided Jiang's home in Beswick. Jiang wasn't home, but was later found at the casino. As he was arrested on suspicion of murder he was found to be carrying 36-year-old Mr Liu's passport and mobile phone. A search of Jiang's flat revealed he had gone to great lengths to cover something up. A thorough clean-up had taken place and the walls and ceiling had been redecorated. But crime scene investigators discovered blood which had seeped between the cracks in the laminate flooring, and despite being painted over they also discovered blood splatters on the ceiling and walls. Underneath the covers, the cushions of the settee were also 'absolutely soaked in blood'. Despite the wealth of evidence, at this stage detectives still weren't 100 per cent sure who the victim was. Officers attended Yang Liu's flat in Salford Quays and found it empty. A toothbrush was taken from the flat and sent away for DNA testing. It matched a sample taken from the torso. Meanwhile on the underside of a table at the Beswick flat CSI officers discovered Jiang's fingerprint in blood belonging to Mr Liu. Police now knew who the victim was and where he was killed. Like Jiang, Mr Liu, a naturalised British citizen, was originally from Beijing. The two were acquaintances who would occasionally go out for dinner together or gamble at the casino. But unlike Mr Liu, who came from a wealthy family and made his living from trading on the stock exchanges, Jiang was a down-at-heel gambling addict who had wracked up losses of more than £270,000. So Jiang hatched a plan to solve his money woes in the most brutal fashion imaginable. Mr Liu was last seen alive on CCTV leaving Velopark Metrolink stop in Beswick before meeting up with a man who matched Jang's description on Ashton New Road. Police believe Jiang probably killed his victim with a blow to the head on October 5, 2016. He then used a blade to remove Mr Liu's lower legs and arms at the joints and also his head, leaving his home covered in blood. After being arrested the callous killer tried to bluff his way out of it. Jiang claimed he was innocent and tried to pin the blame on a man called 'John Wong'. Then Jiang, who was gay, lied to police that he was in a relationship with Mr Liu who he claimed he had 'not seen for a few days'. He alleged Mr Liu, a divorced father-of-two, was an escort who was paid to have sex with older Chinese men. But it was all a cruel lie. Jiang had previously worked as cabin crew for Lufthansa in Germany where he was convicted of credit card fraud. He used this expertise to assume Mr Liu's identity, even taking some of his clothes, before draining his former friend's bank accounts. He blew £178,000 on chips at the 235 Casino in the fortnight after the murder and bought himself a designer bag from Selfridge's. He also put the Salford Quays apartment up for sale - hoping to make a quick £150,000. But detectives saw through his lies, as did a jury at Manchester Crown Court . On April 28, 2017 Jiang was jailed for life and told he must serve a minimum of 33 years after being found guilty of murder. In an unusual step he refused to come to court for sentencing. Addressing the killer in his absence, Judge John Potter said: "Your actions ended the life of a gentle and kind young man. "They demonstrate that you are a highly dangerous, cunning and ruthless killer prepared to stop at nothing to fulfil your own selfish desire to feed your gambling habit. Your high spending, high rolling behaviour was in fact a selfish and self-centred veneer behind which you hid a life of increasing dependency on debt which was rapidly spinning out of control." In a tribute released after the case from their home in Beijing, Mr Liu's father, Li Ping Liu, and mother, Ning Sheng Ouyeung, said: "The most unbearable and devastating pain was that our son died in such a cruel way. Parts of his body are missing. "We were not able to see his face and it is not possible for us to see him again. Whenever we think about it, we are so pained that we don’t want to live. Our son has lost a happy life and we have lost our only child. The family bloodline has been cut off." An inquest held at Maidstone coroner's court on Tuesday, March 18, heard Jiang was an inmate at HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. In July last year he was taken by ambulance to Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham after falling ill. Tests revealed he was suffering from 'undiagnosed leukemia', covid and sepsis and had suffered a 'catastrophic brain bleed'. Jiang, 50, was taken to intensive care and pronounced dead at 10.28pm on July 21, 2024. Area coroner Bina Patel recorded a conclusion of death by natural causes. A fatal incident report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman concluded the care Jiang received was 'equivalent to that which he could have expected to receive in the community'. But the ombudsman Adrian Usher raised concerns about 'tensions between prison and healthcare staff' on the day he was sent to hospital. Mr Usher wrote: "When prison staff became concerned that Mr Jiang's condition was deteriorating, they struggled to get a nurse to review him as nurses were busy with other duties. "Prison staff called a medical emergency code to summon the emergency response nurse. However, she left to deal with another emergency and no one from healthcare stayed with Mr Jiang while staff waited for an ambulance to arrive." The ombudsman made a number of recommendations including a review of the system for prison staff to request a healthcare check of a prisoner with deteriorating health.