Third man charged over murder of Chinese student

A third person has been charged over the death of a Chinese student whose body was found in a suitcase floating in Auckland's Waitemata Harbour last week.

The third man, a 20-year-old student, was charged with kidnapping and being an accessory after the fact of murder by interfering with evidence after the body of Wan Biao, 19, was found in the suitcase near Westhaven Marina on Good Friday.

He was due to appear in Auckland District Court today.

Yesterday, two men were given name suppression when they appeared in court. One was charged with kidnapping and murdering Mr Wan. The other was charged with being an accessory after the fact also by tampering with evidence.

Both men were 21 and both were given name suppression until their next appearance at a pre-depositions hearing on June 28.

Earlier this week police revealed Mr Wan's parents in China received an $800,000 ransom demand on Thursday night, a few hours before the body was found on Good Friday morning.

Police did not hear of the kidnapping or ransom demand until after the body had been recovered and an autopsy had been performed. They would not say if the killing could have been prevented if they had been told earlier.

Mr Wan had serious injuries but police would not reveal what they were although they said they had recovered some items which could have been used as weapons.

The two men who appeared in court yesterday entered no plea although the lawyer who appeared for one said they would plead not guilty.

During their brief appearance, an interpreter translated the court proceedings into Mandarin.

Mr Wan's relatives were expected to arrive in New Zealand in the next few days and police said they would probably take his body back to China.

He was an English language student and one of the men charged over his death was believed to be a classmate.

Police said they were still keen to talk to four women who were at the corner of Wellesley and Elliott streets about 3.25am on Good Friday.

Detective Inspector Bernie Hollewand, the officer in charge of the inquiry, said the women were not connected with the killing but may have information useful to the inquiry.

They are asked to contact the inquiry on 0800 BESTLAND (0800 237 852) and police said they could call in confidence if preferred.

Police said calls from people not fluent in English could also be transferred to an interpreter.

- NZPA