Gulf Harbour body trial: Notes left on bed, pushchair to 'serve as a warning'

Warning: This story contains content some may find disturbing.

Notes found on a defendant's laptop show that a bed where Shulai Wang was believed to be confined to and a black pushchair believed to be used to dispose of her body were kept as a warning to other followers, the court heard.

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

Four family members - Kaixiao Liu, a self-claimed leader of a religious group, and his wife Lanyue Xiao, his parents Xiuyun Li and Jingui Liu - are on trial for her 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, which was referred to as the "Ark".

Wang was at one stage locked up in a tent, denied food and medical help and might have been placed into a suitcase before her death, the Crown said earlier.

The court heard further of the six recordings found on a laptop seized when Liu and Xiao were arrested at the Auckland Airport at the end of June 2024.

Police officer Nan Du listened to and translated the recordings which was spoken mostly in mandarin Chinese among Liu, other defendants and five other women staying at the house, who have name suppression.

The court heard earlier that Wang tried to jump to a neighbour's property on 6 March and was brought back by other residents of Liu's house, and a note dated 7 March said there was "no movement".

A white van connected to the defendant was captured on the Gulf Harbour marina's CCTV on 8 March, and Wang's body was found by a fisherman four days later.

In a recording titled "Traitor", which was saved at the end of March 2024, Liu mentioned locking the tent could stop Wang from thinking about harm other women in the house and escape.

"A few days before the traitor escaped, I...gave the order to lock the tent. Why? If the tent was not locked, when you woke up in the morning, the traitor might be gone...," Liu said to others.

"She could strangle you two to death in any way she wants when you are asleep or hide a knife on her body and cut you. She could quietly climb over the wall and escape at night. Right?"

Liu went on talking about how food was withheld from Wang so she couldn't run faster, otherwise another woman in the house wouldn't be able to catch up with her.

A woman mentioned seeing Wang looking for food in a rubbish bin.

Multiple written notes were also found on the laptop seized from Liu and Xiao.

Notes shown to the court earlier mentioned Wang bei