KEY POINTS:
The man accused of murdering his wife before abandoning his daughter at a Melbourne train station may have to give a sample of his blood to police.
Nai Yin Xue, 55, is accused of murdering his wife, An An Liu, in September, 2007, before fleeing to Australia with his 3-year-old daughter Qian Xun Xue. He then fled to the US where he was arrested nearly six months later.
In a pre-trial hearing at the Auckland High Court this morning, the Crown applied for a compulsory DNA sample and for hearsay evidence to be admissible.
The Crown is applying for statements made by An An Liu to acquaintances before she died to be heard in court.
Crown Prosecutor Aaron Perkins said the statements included An An Liu telling people that she feared her husband.
He said the statements helped to illustrate what went on between the couple during a "short marriage" and included a violent episode in September of 2006.
Mr Perkins said An An Liu left Xue on more than one occasion, including moving to a women's refuge house, but feared that Xue would be able to find her.
He said Xue followed her to Wellington on one occasion and the pair returned to Auckland together.
"The accused wished to continue the relationship, he wished the relationship to yield a son," Mr Perkins said.
He said hearsay evidence shows that Xue could not accept that An An Liu had left him.
An An Liu made "statements where she indicates to numerous people that she did not want to live with him but that he [Xue] would always find her, talk to her and talk her into returning," Mr Perkins said.
The Crown has also applied for a video link for witnesses in Australia and the US to give evidence during the trial.
Mr Perkins said he hoped the number of witnesses could be cut down.
Xue's lawyer, Chris Comeskey said he may not need to cross examine up to 90 percent of the overseas witnesses.
Justice Williams has reserved his decision.
An An Liu's body was found in the boot of the family car outside their house in the Auckland suburb of Mount Roskill in September 2007.
Xue was later arrested in the United States in February last year and extradited in March after an international police alert was put out for him.
