While nothing can lessen the pain felt by Mr. Wu’s family and friends, I hope that this significant sentence will bring them some semblance of peace, knowing that justice has finally been served.”

Attorney General Peter F. Neronha

PORTSMOUTH — Nearly three years after a landlord disappeared while checking on a rental property on West Main Road, the Portsmouth tenant who admitted killing him has been sentenced to life in prison.

Jacob Morrill, 27, received the mandatory life sentence Monday in Newport County Superior Court for the 2023 murder of 50-year-old Xuefeng Wu, a killing that stunned Portsmouth residents and marked the town’s first homicide in seven years.

Superior Court Justice William E. Carnes imposed the sentence following Morrill’s conviction earlier this year on charges of first-degree murder, driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent and fraudulent use of a credit card.

“This defendant murdered Mr. Wu in a senseless act of violence, and he will now serve life in prison for his brutal crime,” Attorney General Peter F. Neronha said in a statement released Monday. “While nothing can lessen the pain felt by Mr. Wu’s family and friends, I hope that this significant sentence will bring them some semblance of peace, knowing that justice has finally been served.”

The case began unfolding on May 22, 2023, when Wu’s family reported him missing after he failed to return home to Tiverton. Wu had left earlier that day to check on his rental property at 1722 West Main Road in Portsmouth, where Morrill rented a two-bedroom home.

According to trial testimony and court records, Portsmouth police initially responded to the property after receiving a request from Tiverton police to conduct a well-being check. Morrill told officers Wu had stopped by earlier but later left for a court appearance in Providence. With no obvious signs of trouble, police left the scene.

Roughly 90 minutes later, events took a dramatic turn. Police received another call reporting possible information about a crime at the property. Soon after, Morrill contacted authorities himself.

At approximately 6:10 p.m., Morrill told a desk officer he had killed Wu. He arranged to meet officers behind a Mobil gas station on West Main Road, where he surrendered without incident.

Investigators said Morrill then directed officers to a wooded area behind the property, where they discovered Wu’s body wrapped in a tarp and weighed down with fencing and debris. Authorities said Wu had suffered severe head injuries inflicted during an altercation inside a garage on the property. Prosecutors later alleged Morrill struck Wu with a small handheld axe.

Court records indicated Morrill and Wu had been scheduled to appear at an eviction hearing around the time of the killing.

Investigators also determined Morrill used Wu’s debit card later that same day to pay his utility bill and drove Wu’s vehicle without permission.

Police chief comments

“The Portsmouth Police Department works tirelessly to hold accountable those who perpetrate violence and endanger our community,” Portsmouth Police Chief Brian Peters said Monday. “I hope that this life sentence will bring a sense of closure to Mr. Wu’s loved ones.”

Morrill, who was 24 at the time of his arrest, had no known history of violent crime in Portsmouth.

The homicide sent shockwaves through the community in 2023, not only because of its brutality but because serious violent crime is rare in Portsmouth. The killing marked the town’s first homicide since 2016 and unfolded on the same evening as an unrelated fatal crash on Indian Avenue, stretching local emergency resources.

Following a four-day bench trial earlier this year, Carnes found Morrill guilty on all charges. Assistant Attorney General Eric Batista prosecuted the case alongside Portsmouth Police Detective Inspector Austin Szczepaniak.