Cissy Chen accused: 'I knew I was innocent'

Jack Liu stands with a small portion of the paperwork that was used during his trial for the murder of his partner Cissy Chen. Photo / Nick Reed

• Murdered woman's partner opens up after being acquitted of murder

• Jack Liu says he never stopped praying during wait for justice

• 58-year-old unhappy with police decision not to reopen investigation

After Jack Liu was cleared of murdering his partner Cissy Chen yesterday he went home to the Torbay house where the Crown alleged he killed her.

Mr Liu phoned his parents to tell them he was a free man and looked forward to "work as usual" at the factory.

He spoke to NZME from his lawyer Michael Kan's chambers today, crammed into an office half-filled with dozens of binders and boxes bearing his surname.

They contain only part of the police paperwork outlining the case against him, Mr Kan said.

Mr Liu was on restrictive bail conditions for the 10 months before his trial in the High Court at Auckland, but the 58-year-old was restrained when asked about how it felt to be free.

"I don't have any special feelings. From the very beginning I believed I was innocent," he said.

Similarly, he said he was not nervous about the day-and-a-half wait for the jury's verdict.

"I was calm all the time. I never stopped praying," Mr Liu said.

While living without his partner of eight years was "very lonely", he said being at the Waiau St property did not evoke painful emotions - quite the opposite.

"It's the same house we built together, where we lived together. It can bring back good memories of the happy times we shared together. I am not avoiding anything," Mr Liu said.

"I have never disappointed Cissy, we loved each other. That's why I have no fear living in the same house."

Victim Cissy Chen.

Shortly after Ms Chen went missing on November 5, 2012, police bugged the house and captured a monologue by Mr Liu on what would have been her birthday.

The defendant spoke to her spirit, which the Crown said was evidence he knew of her death. Ms Chen's body wasn't found for another 16 months in a reserve 11km away.

That Mr Liu knew of his partner's death at the time the monologue was recorded was strongly disputed in court. Unashamed, Mr Liu said today he still had "private conversations" with his former partner.

When asked what the most difficult part of the two-and-a-half-year ordeal was, he was emphatic.

"The suspicion by the police," he said.

He said he found himself in the crosshairs of investigators almost immediately and did not feel he had the chance to mourn Ms Chen's death fully.

Police issued a statement this morning to say they would not be reinvestigating the case.

Mr Liu was adamant they should.

"There are many leads the police can follow."

He deferred to his lawyer on what those leads may be but Mr Kan said the police were best placed to highlight potential suspects.

Despite publicity around the case, Mr Liu said he was keen to stay in New Zealand and work until retirement.

"I'm not concerned. My neighbours say 'hello' to me and my colleagues are all very nice to me."

Mr Liu was speaking soon after NZME reported that an alleged conversation between Ms Chen and her friend Cindy Chin was withheld from the jury because of its potentially prejudicial influence.

"Cindy if one day I am dying [if I die] you please quickly call the police and Jack he's the one who kill me," Ms Chen allegedly said.

Mr Liu said there was a wider context to the comments. Both he and his lawyer said, regardless, the alleged words came from the witness's memory and could not be relied upon.

With his name cleared, the man who spent seven weeks in the dock said there was one thing he was particularly excited about.

"I haven't been to church for a long time. I'm looking forward to going there again."

And to those who still thought he was the killer, including members of Ms Chen's family who sat through the trial.

"There's no need for me to respond."