Gulf Harbour body trial: Action after death of woman a ‘panic’ decision, says defendant

Warning: This story contains content some may find disturbing.

A defendant says the passing of Shulai Wang is a "profound" family tragedy and a "panic" decision made after a tragedy does not amount to kidnapping and manslaughter.

The body of the 70-year-old Chinese national was found wrapped in plastic bags in Auckland's Gulf Harbour by a fisherman on 12 March 2024.

Four family members - Kaixiao Liu, a self-claimed leader of a religious group, and 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 died on 7 March, after an unsuccessful escape from the defendants' house in Ōrewa a day prior.

Liu's family members, Wang and five other women devoted to Liu's religious teachings also stayed in the house, and these women were deported after overstaying their visas.

Crown prosecutor Henry Steele said Wang was tied up, with her mouth taped and a towel stuffed in her mouth and was possibly placed in a suitcase after the escape.

The suffocation - as well as the denial of necessaries of food, water and medical help - resulted in her death, Steele said.

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 religious lens'

Speaking on behalf of Liu at the closing statement, Liu's standby lawyer Nick Leader said Liu denied all five charges.

He urged the jury to be careful about interpreting the translated notes and recordings.

"One simple phrase can have two totally different meanings that can change the context of what's being said from the more sinister or imposing to the more caring," he said.

Leader gave the example "watch duty" can also be interpreted as "look after", with one more sinister and the other indicating care.

"You can't guess, you need to be sure," he said.

He also urged the jury to be mindful not to let their sympathy and prejudice get in the way, and not judge the defendants based on their unconventional life.

He said Liu was trying to help Wang stay quiet by fixing her in place and not letting her move around to "foster her healing".

Leader said when Liu told his children that they must get rid of evil thoughts, which showed Liu's thoughts on violence and evil.

A pushchair and black bed were kept as a warning that could mean Liu wanted to warn followers that they needed to be mindful of their evil thoughts.

He also pointed out a lot of the words in the notes said "if" or "in case" which did not mean what was really done to Wang.

And a note said: "As long as you scream again, you will be tied even tighter, If you scream at night again, you will be put into the suitcase".

"It is all 'if' or 'in case'. The defence submits that you cannot conclude that she had her mouth taped," Leader said.

"At its highest, the defence submits that the hands were tied with a soft rope."

He also said the family looked at things through a religious lens.

"She was continuing to do evil and so wasn't repenting and therefore not healing," he said.

"They're not doctors. They can't tell what's happening internally, so they try to explain it or understand it through the notions of good and evil."

Earlier, the jury heard evidence that Liu's mother Li was a doctor of 37 years.

Liu said earlier in court that he "almost" had no contact with Wang, and his mother Li claimed she didn't know Wang.

"Is it really plausible of if the defendants thought that they had done something wrong that they would keep that recording?" said Leader.

"And on the evidence that you have heard in this trial, you cannot be sure of Kaixiao Liu's guilt, and therefore, you ought to acquit."

'A panic decision'

Conducting the closing statement herself, Xiao said no innocent family can ever be convicted based on "speculation, guesswork or pieced-together narrative devoid of objective physical evidence".

"The sudden passing of Ms Wang is (a) profound and irreversible family tragedy. I stand here openly and with deep remorse," Xiao said.

"But members of the jury, it's my submission to you - a panic decision made after a tragedy does not absolute equal to kidnapping and manslaughter."

Xiao did not explain what she meant by "a panic decision".

The Crown had no conclusive cause of death, no evidence of violent injury prior to passing to support their proposition of kidnapping and manslaughter, she said.

Xiao said Crown witness pathologist Dr Kilak Kesha did not have a cause of Wang's death, or the time or place of her death.

Earlier in court, Kesha said that there was "no anatomical cause of death", meaning there weren't any physical injuries or illness that caused Wang's death.

Kesha also said there were bruises found on Wang's body, including on her face, wrist and arm, although these injuries could have resulted from a fall.

Kesha also did not rule out the possibility of suffocation or asphyxiation causing Wang's death.

Xiao also mentioned that there was food in the house, and there was no evidence of prolonged weight loss as indicated by Kesha.

The court heard earlier notes found in the defendants' house as well as audio recordings found on the defendants' laptop mentioned Wang's escape on the 6 March, jumping over the fence to the neighbour's yard and being brought back before her death.

Liu was heard saying that "the injury she got from falling by herself, which led to the resentment and curse, really killed her".

Xiao mentioned that instead of coaching, Liu could just be summarising what happened after hearing about Wang's escape or defection from another woman in the house, who has name suppression.

"None of other people know whether Ms Wang was in a clear mind or really want to run away or whether she is wanting suicide. We don't know," Xiao said.

It was also untrue that Wang's mouth was stuffed as Kesha's report didn't mention "oral acceleration or tear around the mouth", Xiao said.

"The narrative Crown has relied on heavily about the box, the suitcase, the wire, the chain is never mentioned [in] any forensic report; they didn't produce that. The everything is [relied] on the audio [recordings]."

Xiao also said that there was no evidence that Wang was held against her will, and recordings of Liu talking to Wang's son Chunhong Wu could just be summarising what Liu heard from the other woman.

There was no so-called "servitude" or hierarchy in the house as everyone in the house, apart from Liu and including herself, would be deducted points, Xiao said.

She said the Crown was just "cherry-picking" evidence to fit their narrative and urged the jury to find she and her family not guilty of kidnapping, manslaughter, or perverting the course of justice.

As of the charge of interference of human remains, Xiao urged the jury to think if the defendants did this as "a sea burial with well-intended ignorance".

"I submitted you - panic after death must not used by the Crown to fabricate a story of kidnapping and manslaughter."

Liu's parents are expected to give closing statements on Wednesday.