Nai Yin Xue and his slain wife An An Liu's marriage was "cold" and Xue's attitude towards her was "distant", a former friend told the High Court at Auckland today.
Graham McNamara did martial arts training with Xue for about six years and visisted his house on several occasions.
Asked by Crown prosecutor Aaron Perkins to describe the relationship he said it was cold and there was "no warmth in the house".
Xue is accused of murdering Ms Liu on September 11, 2007. Her dead body was found in the boot of his car after she had been strangled.
Mr McNamara said Xue's attitude towards his wife was "stand-offish".
He told the court of a time Xue got upset with him after he gave Ms Liu a kiss on the cheek when he greeted her.
He said she looked upset but when he did it Xue, who he knew as "Michael", became angry and walked out of the room, saying something in Chinese.
On other occasions he went to see Xue he noticed an "imbalance" in their relationship. "Michael was in control," he said.
An example of the control he had over her was he would ask her to do things and if she or their daughter came into the room he would ask her to leave.
He stayed friends with Xue but fell out with him soon after Ms Liu left for China in 2004.
In cross examination, Mr McNamara admitted he didn't know much about Chinese culture and accepted that Chinese people were generally more reserved than New Zealanders.
