Liu strangulation not by hand, Xue trial told

A pathologist has told a court murder victim An An Liu died of ligature pressure not manual strangulation.

The Crown argues that Ms Liu was strangled with a man's neck tie found around her neck with a knot in it.

Dr Timothy Koelmeyer, who performed the autopsy on Ms Liu, today told the High Court at Auckland said it didn't take much pressure to cause the death of someone when applying pressure to the neck.

Dr Koelmeyer said it wouldn't have taken long for Ms Liu to have been left unconscious, possibly only 45 seconds.

He also couldn't say exactly when she died, telling the jury it was impossible to say exactly when Ms Liu was killed.

But Dr Koelmeyer said Ms Liu was not as badly decomposed as he would have thought, given how long he and his colleagues knew she had been missing.

The Crown alleges Ms Liu was killed by her husband Nai Yin Xue on the evening of September 11, 2007.

Xue denies killing his wife and is defending the murder charge at a trial that is midway through its third and probably final week.