Sailors saw human flesh in suitcase, court hears

In the early hours of Good Friday this year, a suitcase was hurled into the water off Princes Wharf in downtown Auckland.

It bobbed on the tide for about five hours until it was found, semi-submerged, near Westhaven Marina by a couple sailing.

The case was too heavy to be pulled aboard, but the sailors managed to get it partially open. Inside, they saw clothing, some towels and "a section of exposed human flesh".

The police were called and the body later identified as that of Wan Biao, a 19-year-old English language student.

That suitcase was one of a number of exhibits propped against a witness box in the Auckland District Court yesterday as a depositions hearing began for the four men charged in relation to Mr Biao's death.

Zheng Li and Xian Cui are accused of kidnapping and murder, and Lianda Yin and Yuxi Wang of kidnapping and being accessories to murder.

The men had kidnapped Mr Biao the previous evening and taken him to Room 408 of the Elliott Street Apartments in central Auckland, Crown Prosecutor Christine Gordon told the court.

Once there, the men contacted Mr Biao's family in China in an attempt to extort the equivalent of $760,000. Mr Biao was brought to the telephone at one point to prove to his mother the ransom threat was genuine.

His mother alerted others, who contacted New Zealand police. But by the time they had made contact, Mr Biao's body had already been found.

He was probably dead by 3.30am on Good Friday, as Ms Gordon told the court three of the accused - Cui, Yin and Li - were seen leaving Elliott St with the suitcase around that time.

It is alleged they then called a taxi for the short journey to Princes Wharf, where they carried the case to the end of the wharf and threw it in the water.

One of the accused returned to the wharf later that morning, "to confirm there was no sign of the suitcase".

Police found clothing and towels in the case that were traced back to the scene of the killing, rubbish bags, and a knife and saws "consistent with certain wounds", Ms Gordon said.

Wang is alleged to have returned to the apartment on the Saturday to clean up.

Li and Yin conceded they each had a prima facie case to answer and were remanded to a High Court call-over next month. It will be decided today whether Cui and Wang must stand trial for their alleged role in Mr Biao's killing.

THE ACCUSED

* Zheng Li - murder and kidnapping.

* Xian Cui - murder and kidnapping.

* Yuxi Wang - kidnapping and being an accessory to murder.

* Lianda Yin - kidnapping and being an accessory to murder.