Women connected to religious sect ‘simply smiled’ during immigration interview after body discovered in Gulf Harbour
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When police investigating a homicide arrived at an Auckland home linked to a religious sect, they found five women. It was discovered those women – “potential eye-witnesses” – were unlawfully in New Zealand and were later deported.
The sect’s leader, Kaixiao Liu, along with his wife, Lanyue Xiao, are on trial facing charges of manslaughter and kidnapping in relation to the death of a 70-year-old woman, whose body was found in Gulf Harbour. They are facing trial alongside Liu’s parents, Jingui Liu and Xiuyun Li.
All four have pleaded not guilty and are representing themselves, but have experienced defence counsel on standby to assist.
It was March 12, 2024 when the body of a woman was fished out of the harbour. The body was in black plastic bags and police would later uncover she had been bound by tape and rice bags filled with pebbles had also been taped to weigh her down.
Her identity was initially a mystery to police, but after extensive inquiries, she was named as Shulai Wang, while Liu was tracked down as the purchaser of the rice bags that had been taped to her body.
The Crown’s case is Wang and the five other Chinese women had travelled to New Zealand for Liu’s religious teachings and lived in conditions of “practical servitude” to Liu and his family.
Prosecutors previously told a jury at the High Court at Auckland that in March 2024, Wang attempted to escape “The Ark”, the Orewa home linked to the sect, and had been disobeying “house rules”.
The Crown alleges she was held in a locked tent, physically disciplined and withheld food before she died.
Content retrieved from: https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360984665/women-connected-religious-sect-simply-smiled-during-immigration-interview-after-body-discovered-gulf.
