Gulf Harbour body trial: Grandparents deny involvement in woman's death

Warning: This story contains content some may find disturbing.

The standby lawyer of one of the defendants facing trial regarding the death of Shulai Wang says his client had little contact with Wang but focused on looking after her grandchildren.

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

Four family members - Kaixiao Liu, 38, a self-claimed leader of a religious group, and his wife Lanyue Xiao, 38, his mother Xiuyun Li, 63, and father Jingui Liu, 65 - 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 March 7 after an unsuccessful escape from the defendants' house in Ōrewa a day prior.

Her body was dumped in the Gulf Harbour marina, with CCTV capturing the family's white van and a group of people moving around there, the Crown said.

Earlier in court, the jury heard recordings where Liu told Wang's son to say his mother had health issues and came to New Zealand for a sea burial, and that she died of a heart attack after a fall.

The defendants, who denied all charges, chose to represent themselves, with standby lawyers assigned by the court to assist them.

'Observer, not a helper'

Philip Hamlin, Li's standby lawyer, said in his closing statement there was no proof of homicide.

"That's a construct that's followed from the finding of the body," he said. "But there's no scientific proof, pathological proof, no eyewitness proof of the killing by one person or another in this case."

The police found a large number of notes and diaries at the defendants' house, and attributed "Ya's daily writings" to Li.

Earlier in court, the jury heard that the writings documented things happened in the household and a point system where residents had points awarded or deducted from them based on their behaviour.

A note dated March 6 described Wang's escape to the neighbour's yard and another note dated March 7 mentioned "there was no more sounds coming from Shulai today".

Hamlin said Li "had little contact with" Wang and "her eyes were on their grandchildren".

Earlier the court heard that when an image of Wang was shown to Li, Li said she didn't know her and had never heard of this name.

Li wrote these notes but it didn't mean Li saw what happened or was involved in it, Hamlin said.

"What it [the writings] does show, and I suggest to you, she was the grandmother and that was her role looking after children as most grandmothers do," he said.

"Ms Li was not involved with Ms Wang's actual detention, however that looked. She was an observer, not a helper."

Hamlin also said Li was not in charge of Wang and didn't have a duty to look after her and living there "doesn't make her culpable or responsible".

For any form of detention, people in the house just intended for Wang to repent and get better and bring her back to God, and they didn't intend to hurt her, Hamlin said.

He said the pathologist's report also didn't have evidence of prolonged weight loss, so the Crown's case of Wang's deprivation of food didn't stack up.

There was also no evidence to support the Crown's theory of Wang's mouth being taped or stuffed with a towel or Wang being denied medical care, Hamlin said.

'Lower in the pecking order'

Jingui Liu's standby lawyer Shane Tait said when Wang died, Jingui Liu had only arrived in New Zealand for a few weeks and didn't speak good mandarin or English.

Jingui Liu was "lower in the pecking order" in the household as he slept in the kids' playroom on a single bed and did not have control of the house as he could be told off and deduct points for not observing house rules, Tait said.

"I submit, members of the jury, words are cheap when one lives in an overbearing situation," he said, adding that the words need to be looked at in relation to the situation that they were given.

The court heard earlier that in a recording found seized from Liu and Xiao when they were arrested at the Auckland Airport on 30 June 2024, household members were talking about how to tie Wang up.

Jingui Liu mentioned handcuffs and chains (or little locks based on his Dongtai dialect) as a suggestion, the court heard.

However, the police searched the house for at least 12 days but didn't find such evidence, Tait said.

"There [are] no handcuffs. There is not even what can resemble a wire or a thin wire."

Tait also questioned whether Jingui Liu could be in charge of Wang when he was "at the bottom of the pecking order" or when he only lived there for a few weeks.

Liu's standby lawyer Nick Leader said Liu denied all charges in his closing statement on Tuesday.

Speaking for herself, Xiao also claimed her innocence in her closing statement.

The jury was expected to start deliberating on Thursday.