A man who murdered his estranged wife after lying in wait in her townhouse has been jailed for a minimum 13 years under the home invasion legislation.
Passing sentence in the High Court at Auckland yesterday, Justice Robert Fisher told 42-year-old Jia-Chun Hu: "Yours was the arrogance of a man who thought he owned his wife.
"You took her life and now you must pay the price."
A jury last month found Hu guilty of murdering 35-year-old Jian Huang in her New Lynn townhouse on February 26.
Where a murder involves home invasion, the minimum non-parole period is 13 years.
The Crown, represented by Aaron Perkins, did not seek an increase in the minimum term.
Justice Fisher said that Hu was separated from his wife, who had taken out a protection order against him.
She had formed a new relationship with a man referred to during the trial as the Hong Kong man.
Attempts at a reconciliation had failed, and Justice Fisher said that Hu was jealous of his wife's new boyfriend.
He was also angry with her for refusing to pay him money which he considered was due to him from the matrimonial property.
Although his wife had custody of their 5-year-old son, the boy was in Hu's care on the day of the killing.
Hu and the boy had encountered Jian Huang elsewhere in Auckland and followed her to a beach.
Justice Fisher said there was a violent argument, after which Hu decided to kill his wife.
He went to her townhouse to lie in wait for her. As the house was locked, he got his son to put his arm through a mail slot in the front door to open it.
Hu was armed with a hammer for the killing, but seeing a peeling knife decided to use that instead.
Justice Fisher said that Hu kept watch for his wife from an upstairs window.
Unsuspecting, Jian Huang entered her house and was attacked by Hu as she climbed the stairs.
She was stabbed 12 times and died shortly after.
Invasion law invoked to jail husband
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