Xue chose flights 'at random'

Nai Yin Xue appeared uneasy at a Melbourne travel agency as he glanced at a world map and appeared to pick "random" cities to fly to, a jury hearing a murder charge has been told.

Xue, 55, told travel agent Michelle Slade he wanted to fly to Los Angeles - but when she told him that was not possible, he asked for a trip to several other places around the world.

Xue is accused of murdering his wife, An An Liu, by strangling her with a necktie and then leaving her naked body in the boot of his car.

Speaking to the High Court at Auckland via videolink from Australia, Ms Slade said Xue was anxious when told he could not leave that night.

"He seemed a bit uneasy about it. I could detect there was some urgency, that he really wanted to leave that night, but I reiterated there was nothing I could do if he wanted to go to America that night."

He tried to book a flight to London but was told there was nothing available. He then went to a world map hanging on the wall and looked at other places he could fly to.

He started randomly looking at places on the map, including Vancouver and San Diego and then Johannesburg.

"I was a bit taken aback after the random destinations he was choosing," Ms Slade said.

There was a sense of urgency in his requests, she said.

Xue then spoke to a colleague of Ms Slade's, Cammy Lin, because she spoke Mandarin. She booked him a flight to Los Angeles the next day, with a return flight booked for a month later.

"He said he wanted to go [to South Africa] to see if there were any business opportunities," Ms Lin told the court.

When she told Xue it was dangerous there, he replied that he was a "kung fu expert".

His flight to Los Angeles took him back through Auckland - to pick up more passengers. However, Xue did not have to leave the plane.

In cross-examination, defence lawyer Chris Comeskey asked Ms Slade to confirm that she told Xue he would be stopping in Auckland. She confirmed that she did.

Mr Comeskey asked Ms Lin if it was true that Xue appeared to have "no real plan" for a destination outside Melbourne, to which she agreed.

Crown evidence in the trial, which began last week, is expected to be completed by early next week.