Gulf Harbour body trial: 'This is not a burial; it's a dumping', Crown says

Warning: This story contains content some may find disturbing.

The Crown says suffocation is the most likely cause of death for Shulai Wang, whose hands and feet were tied and mouth taped and stuffed with a towel.

The body of the 70-year-old Chinese national was found wrapped in plastic bags in Auckland's Gulf Harbour by a fisherman in March 2024.

Four family members - Kaixiao Liu, a self-proclaimed leader of a religious group, his wife Lanyue Xiao, his mother Xiuyun Li and father Jingui Liu - are on trial for Wang's kidnapping and manslaughter.

The Crown's case is that Wang came to seek religious instructions from Liu and later died after an unsuccessful escape from the defendants' house in Ōrewa.

Liu, Xiao and Liu's father have also been charged with offering an indignity to a dead human body. Liu and Xiao were charged with wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice by coaching Wang's son Chunhong Wu to give false evidence regarding his mother.

Liu is also charged with failing to carry out obligations in relation to a computer system search.

The Crown's case

In his closing statement, Crown prosecutor Henry Steele said Wang arrived in August 2023 as one of the newest members to join Liu's household.

Liu, his family members, Wang and five other women lived in the house, referred to as the "Ark", in conditions described by Steele as "hierarchical", "highly controlled" and "isolated".

While Liu was at the top of the hierarchy, referred to as the "lord" or "master" and Xiao as the "queen", Wang was towards the bottom and "out of favour", Steele said.

Steele referred to notes found in the household that said Wang was struggling to keep up with the rest of the group and had points deducted for things such as eating too slowly or sitting on the ground.

The household apparently kept a system to award or deduct points to each person based on their behaviour.

"She was having a hard time to the extent that she was living or sleeping in a tent," Steele said, adding that the tent was locked at some stage as ordered by Liu before her escape on 6 March.

Notes likely written by Xiao, as her fingerprint was found on them, mentioned multiple instances of denying Wang food or punishing her by reducing the amount of food given to her.

Steele said that after jumping over to a neighbour's yard, Wang was brought back to the defendants' house and tied up. Her mouth was taped to stop her from screaming and she was placed in a box or a suitcase.

"A towel at some point is stuffed in her mouth, obviously and unavoidably limiting the airflow, the amount of air that she has available to her, and limiting, if not preventing entirely, her ability to breathe," Steele said, adding that Wang could be kept in that way for 24-30 hours before her death.

"The manner of her detention in this way, together with the denial to her of the necessities, ultimately resulted in her death, [which] apparently occurred on the afternoon of 7 March."

Steele also pointed to recordings found on a laptop seized from Liu and Xiao when they were arrested at the airport on 30 June, 2024, that showed how the whole household was having a conference to discuss how to dispose of Wang's body.

He said everyone was asked to give their opinion and there was not a single mention of it being Wang's wish for a sea burial.

"If they all knew Shulai came to New Zealand because she wanted to be buried at sea - that was her desire, that was her wish, her final wish - then you'd see reference to it here," Steele said.

"The fact you don't tells you it's a lie."

Following recorded discussion of the use of rice bags and garden stones and rubbish bags to weigh down and wrap the body, the group's white van was captured by CCTV at Gulf Harbour on 8 March when they dumped Wang's body into the sea, Steele said.

"This is not a burial; it's a dumping," he said.

After that, people in the household were warned to be careful when going out, including avoiding driving the white van.

Steele said none of the narrative provided by the defendants - that Wang had chronic health issues, fell to her death and came here for sea burial - was true.

"None of those things are true, not a single one," Steele said.

He said these were features of a narrative that was "concocted" and "perpetuated", principally by Liu but also by other defendants, in particular Lanyue Xiao to coach what Wang's son Wu should say to the police.

Steele also said Liu emphasised that everyone in the household was equally responsible for what happened, just like a "drug gang", and they should not think about reporting the case.

Liu's analogy was a good one and it did not matter who held Wang down or who did other things as the household acted as one, Steele said.

Steele encouraged the jury to spend time with the evidence, especially some recordings found on a laptop when Liu and Xiao were arrested at the airport.

"They give you the what. They give you the why. They give you the when. They give you the who," Steele said.

"It's all four defendants. It's all four from the beginning."

The defence evidence

Earlier in court on Monday, defendants called two witnesses - one a cultural expert and one an interpreter. They did not appear in person but had their statements read out in court by the defendants' standby lawyers.

Cultural expert Leo Liao's evidence was likely intended to provide context.

He mentioned China's strict control of religious beliefs and activities; its ageing population and the phenomenon of so-called "mutual-aid" elderly care; and its patriarchal society, where elderly male members could be regarded as the leader of the house and might have to discipline others for the well-being of the whole family.

In her statement, interpreter Jessica Sui Harborne explained that the "secret" in "secret LIU family of the tribe of Judah" was better to be translated as "hidden".

She also pointed out that a translation saying that one of the five women wrote she was grateful to" be converted to" the "LIU family", it's better to say "naturalised" or "assimilated" to this family.

The defence is expected to give closing statements on Tuesday.

The trial continues at the High Court in Auckland.