Blood of accused on knife, jury told

Photo / NZ Herald

The blood of a man accused of stabbing a woman and putting her body in a suitcase was found on a knife at the scene, a High Court jury has been told.

Peng Chen Tian, 25, is charged with the 2008 murder of Yi Ren.

He has pleaded not guilty at the High Court at Auckland.

Tian sat in the dock yesterday studying police photographs of the crime scene that showed Ms Ren's body folded into the suitcase.

ESR forensic scientist Dion Sheppard told the court he went to the inner-city Auckland apartment on September 2, 2008 and found blood from Ms Ren in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.

DNA testing on a knife found at the scene showed there was an "extremely strong" chance the blood on it came from Tian.

Another knife showed "strong scientific support" the blood belonged to Tian. A smaller amount may have come from Ms Ren, Mr Sheppard said.

Blood smears taken from Ms Ren's long sleeve T-shirt also matched Tian's DNA.

When police arrived they found Tian bleeding heavily from a wound to his hand.

The Crown said Tian had nearly severed his thumb and was sitting in his underwear and a singlet on Ms Ren's bed.

Sergeant Duncan Hall said blood splatters and droplets were found throughout the apartment and extensive bloodstains were on the bed and on clothing.

In cross-examination, Tian's lawyer, Paul Davison, QC, questioned Mr Hall about a latex glove found hanging on a kitchen cupboard door near two bloodied purple gloves.

Mr Hall confirmed that the latex glove had not been swabbed by police or uplifted by ESR scientists.

Mr Davison asked why the latex glove had not been tested.

Mr Hall said he considered testing the glove but decided against it. He said he understood the glove has since been destroyed by police.

He also confirmed that he found a police search warrant dating from May, 2007 - more than a year before the murder. The warrant gave police permission to look for pseudoephedrine, a precursor drug for methamphetamine, or P.

Mr Hall said he spent seven days at the property and found no evidence of drugs.