Xue's wife's lover made her 'ferocious like a wolf', court told

An An Liu. Photo / Supplied

An An Liu told a friend she hadn't liked sex with her husband - murder accused Nai Yin Xue- but a new lover had made her "ferocious like a wolf", a court has heard.

Ms Liu was speaking with a female friend, Shanshan, on a social networking site called QQ when she made the claim, Xue's defence lawyer Chris Comesky said today.

He showed Crown witness Weihong Song a transcript of the conversation at the High Court at Auckland murder trial of Xue today.

Ms Liu was found strangled to death in the boot of her car in September 2007 after the couple's daughter, Qian, had been abandoned by Xue in Melbourne.

Xue, 55, has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

The online conversation mentioned someone called "brother Song". Mr Song agreed with Mr Comesky that Ms Liu was probably speaking about him but said he had never had sex with Ms Liu, who stayed with him in Wellington for six weeks after she left Xue following a violent incident between them.

The court yesterday heard how Xue begged his wife to come home after she left him but she refused, telling police she was scared of what he would do to her if he caught her.

Xue, 55, left a message on the cell phone of his wife Ms Liu after she moved out of their home with their daughter Qian following an incident in September 2006 when Xue punched her in the face and threatened to kill her during an argument over money.

Ms Liu, 28, spent several months hiding from Xue but eventually returned to live with him.

The following month, she was found strangled in the boot of Xue's car. Xue was charged with her murder after he was captured in the United States. He has pleaded not guilty.

Ms Liu obtained a protection order from the courts to keep Xue away from her and contacted Henderson police when Xue left the message on her cell phone.

Gerald Hay, a non-sworn member of Henderson police, read a statement that he took from Ms Liu about the protection order breach.

Mr Hay said Ms Liu told him that Xue left a message, in Chinese, on her phone telling her that he still loved her and asking her to come back to him. Xue said he didn't want to hurt her and asked for a second chance.

But Ms Liu told Mr Hay she was scared of what her husband "might do to us if he catches up with us".

A Crown witness, former social worker Zhen Qu, told the court of Ms Liu's fears that Xue had followed her to a safe house after she moved out of the couple's home. Ms Qu said that Ms Liu had called her and said she had seen Xue driving slowly past the house. Soon after, she and Qian were moved to another property in West Auckland.

Another Crown witness, Rui Zhang, said she lived with Xue and Ms Liu at their New Lynn house in 2006. She said Ms Liu told her that if she left Xue he would kill her and that she was scared of her husband. After the fight that caused her to leave, Ms Liu changed the date she had been due to fly to China to one almost a month earlier.

"She was afraid Nai Yin Xue would find her at the airport," Ms Zhang said.

Ms Zhang had been due to go to China with Ms Liu and didn't change her travel date - and she saw Xue at the airport that day. They talked briefly before Ms Zhang and her boyfriend caught their flight.