The Court of Appeal issued a decision today declining ongoing name suppression to the defendants. It follows a similar decision in the High Court last year.
The media remains restricted, however, in reporting details of the appeal.
A fisherman on Auckland’s Whangaparāoa Peninsula found the plastic-wrapped body in March 2024.
Kaixiao Liu is charged with manslaughter and kidnapping alongside his wife and both parents.
Following an exhaustive search that included an Interpol “black notice” – a special appeal to international partners seeking information on unidentified bodies – authorities eventually identified the body as that of 70-year-old Chinese citizen Shulai Wang.
Police allege the defendants had kidnapped Wang in Auckland’s North Shore several days before her body washed up.
The body of Shulai Wang, 70, was found floating in the water off Gulf Harbour, North Auckland, in 2024. Photo / Police
A fuller picture of the allegations against the family is expected when the group’s trial is scheduled to begin in the High Court at Auckland on May 25.
All four have pleaded not guilty. They have opted to represent themselves.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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