Police began their investigation in March 2024, after a fisherman found Wang’s body, which had been folded in half, bound with tape and weighed down with rocks. However, it took time to identify Wang and police didn’t file the first set of charges until June 30 that year, as Liu and his wife were attempting to board an international flight.
The body of Shulai Wang, 70, was found wrapped in plastic and floating in Auckland’s Gulf Harbour in March 2024. Photo / New Zealand Police
The secret police listening devices were installed while serving a search warrant at their home. In the recordings, police realised that Liu appeared to be in regular contact with Wang’s adult son in China, who also appeared to be a religious follower. Like others, the son would refer to the sect leader as “Lord”, according to the police translation.
On July 17, Liu was recorded having an online meeting with two followers in which he explained that police had traced the serial number on a bag found with Wang’s body.
“That’s how they got me,” he said. “I’ve told you before, in order for her to sleep and sink, there are some very beautiful garden pebbles wrapped in a bag.”
He emphasised that “no matter what, this is still not any murderous evidence”, describing the dumping of Wang’s body as a burial at sea.
“They think that dealing with the body is not appropriate,” he said. “This is the only evidence that they can accuse of.”
Later, Liu was recorded speaking with Wang’s son, advising him that police can be cunning with their questions and suggesting how he should fix his gaze to look more confident. He also appeared to coach him on how to approach and frame the situation to the Chinese media.
Liu suggested that if other people wanted to talk about the case, Wang’s son should say he’s expecting a $30 million payout as part of a lawsuit against the Government for the mishandling of his mother’s body. Liu said the man should then offer a portion of the money to any potential witnesses, explaining that there will be no money to give if he loses the case because others speak.
“Lord, I am listening,” the woman’s son responded at one point when Liu asked if he understood the instructions.
Alleged sect leader Kaixiao Liu (left), his wife Lanyue Xiao, his father Jingui Liu and mother Xiuyun Li are all on trial in the High Court at Auckland, accused of participating in the homicide of 70-year-old Shulai Wang. Photos / Jason Dorday
On other calls, Liu encouraged the son to tell authorities that he had been in contact with his mother frequently and, despite the encouragement of everyone around her to “live well”, “she just wanted to die”. Liu then described a scenario to the son in which he said Wang might have been suicidal after pushing two housemates off a rooftop garden at the home.
Liu described it as an attempted murder that weighed on her mind the next day when she ran to a ladder then jumped off it, landing in a neighbour’s yard. Documents found inside the home suggest that those who lived in the home thought Wang was trying to escape that morning, but Liu painted the situation differently to her son.
“ … After she jumped into the neighbour’s yard, she didn’t get up and could not move. Then our family members brought her back,” Liu said. “Of course, let her rest in the room. But later, I don’t know what happened. She stopped breathing …
“No one has ever done anything to hurt her. They have never even thought about that. I can be completely sure of this, because I know these family members too well. They are very pure in their hearts, and their simplicity can be said to be incomparable. They only want to help each other and live well.”
In another conversation, the woman’s son suggested he might put on some theatrics during a police interview.
“If she/he keeps asking me questions, can I slam the table and yell at him? Just say, ‘Are you interrogating me? I should interrogate you. Why was an autopsy carried out without authorisation?’”
Liu responded: “Yes, yes, that’s right.”
But he quickly thought better of it.
“You can’t point at him, and don’t slam the table either, it’s too loud,” the defendant advised. “It’s fine to slap your thigh. That at least shows how you’re feeling … ”
Kaixio Liu (left) and wife Lanyue Xiao appear in North Shore District Court on July 1, 2024, charged with tampering with a body. Photo / Dean Purcell
Liu’s wife asked him to clarify if they were talking about Chinese or New Zealand police at that point.
“Of course, the New Zealand Police,” he responded.
In yet another conversation, Liu instructed the son to lie about his whereabouts in videos to make it look like he was in New Zealand. Don’t stand in front of any coconut or papaya trees because they aren’t common in New Zealand, he advised.
He added: “You need to mention the elderly was poor and empty-handed, without any property. ‘My teacher, family still received her patiently. They accompanied her on her last journey of her life.’”
On August 20, Liu again held an online meeting in which he warned Wang’s son that authorities in China may soon be contacting him because Liu had submitted the son’s videos and written statements to the Chinese embassy in New Zealand. Liu emphasised again the need to make sure others didn’t talk by reminding them of the lawsuit.
“If they screw the thing up, they won’t get any money, even a penny. Nothing,” he said.
He had Wang’s son retrieve a pen and paper to write the next part down.
“You need to clarify [to Chinese authorities] that we have been away from religion for years,” he said. “We are no longer religious and do not participate in any religious activities. [We] just bought this new place to live a good life.”
The first recording played by police today had been from weeks earlier, as it appeared Liu and his wife were watching a recording Wang’s son had made for them.
“I am Chinese. I read the news about an elderly Chinese burial at sea in New Zealand but the remains was brutally salvaged,” the man said in the video. “I am shocked and angry because that is the remains after a sea burial. Her dignity has been severely violated.
“You scandal, despicable and heartless. How could law enforcement do such a thing? My mother has long-term heart and stomach conditions, suffers from lumbar disc prolapse and has had her gallbladder removed. In recent years, her heart condition has worsened.
“She understands that she may not have much time left. However, she does not wish to be cremated after her death. She wants to be buried at sea. In our area, there is no one who can arrange a sea burial. I definitely have both the right and the responsibility to help my mother fulfil her final wish.”
At that, Liu’s wife laughed.
“It is very funny,” she said.
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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