KEY POINTS:
The ceremonial sword belonging to Nai Yin Xue has been found in his wife's car, which was abandoned at Auckland International Airport.
Mr Xue is accused of abducting his dauther, Qian Xun, and murdering his wife, An An Liu - whose body was found in his car last week.
Mr Xue's sword, still sealed in a police exhibit bag, was found during a search of Ms Liu's car.
It had been confiscated - along with Mr Xue's passport - by police, but Mr Xue picked the items up shortly before leaving the country.
Detective Inspector David Pearson said the car had been secured on Monday September 17.
"That car and its contents - including that which was in the still-sealed Police exhibit bag - were examined by detectives who have been working on Operation Patch since the CIB became involved in the search for An An Liu late on Monday, September 17.
"The absolutely spurious inference all week has been that Police virtually handed Ms Liu's killer the means to kill, despite this team saying from the time the most-mortem examination of her was completed that we were not looking for any weapons."
- NZHERALD Staff
