NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Cissy Chen accused: 'I knew I was innocent'

NZME.
17 Jun, 2015 03:00 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Jack Liu stands with a small portion of the paperwork that was used during his trial for the murder of his partner Cissy Chen. Photo / Nick Reed

Jack Liu stands with a small portion of the paperwork that was used during his trial for the murder of his partner Cissy Chen. Photo / Nick Reed

• Murdered woman's partner opens up after being acquitted of murder

• Jack Liu says he never stopped praying during wait for justice

• 58-year-old unhappy with police decision not to reopen investigation

After Jack Liu was cleared of murdering his partner Cissy Chen yesterday he went home to the Torbay house where the Crown alleged he killed her.

Mr Liu phoned his parents to tell them he was a free man and looked forward to "work as usual" at the factory.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He spoke to NZME from his lawyer Michael Kan's chambers today, crammed into an office half-filled with dozens of binders and boxes bearing his surname.

They contain only part of the police paperwork outlining the case against him, Mr Kan said.

Mr Liu was on restrictive bail conditions for the 10 months before his trial in the High Court at Auckland, but the 58-year-old was restrained when asked about how it felt to be free.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I don't have any special feelings. From the very beginning I believed I was innocent," he said.

Similarly, he said he was not nervous about the day-and-a-half wait for the jury's verdict.

"I was calm all the time. I never stopped praying," Mr Liu said.

While living without his partner of eight years was "very lonely", he said being at the Waiau St property did not evoke painful emotions - quite the opposite.

Discover more

New Zealand

Jurors visit Cissy Chen crime scene

21 May 12:59 AM
New Zealand

Pot plant blamed for injury

25 May 01:17 AM
New Zealand|crime

Cissy's partner told 'big, whopping lies'

12 Jun 01:56 AM
New Zealand|crime

Defence: Pair had loving relationship

12 Jun 04:36 AM

"It's the same house we built together, where we lived together. It can bring back good memories of the happy times we shared together. I am not avoiding anything," Mr Liu said.

"I have never disappointed Cissy, we loved each other. That's why I have no fear living in the same house."

Victim Cissy Chen.
Victim Cissy Chen.

Shortly after Ms Chen went missing on November 5, 2012, police bugged the house and captured a monologue by Mr Liu on what would have been her birthday.

The defendant spoke to her spirit, which the Crown said was evidence he knew of her death. Ms Chen's body wasn't found for another 16 months in a reserve 11km away.

That Mr Liu knew of his partner's death at the time the monologue was recorded was strongly disputed in court. Unashamed, Mr Liu said today he still had "private conversations" with his former partner.

When asked what the most difficult part of the two-and-a-half-year ordeal was, he was emphatic.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The suspicion by the police," he said.

He said he found himself in the crosshairs of investigators almost immediately and did not feel he had the chance to mourn Ms Chen's death fully.

Police issued a statement this morning to say they would not be reinvestigating the case.

Mr Liu was adamant they should.

"There are many leads the police can follow."

He deferred to his lawyer on what those leads may be but Mr Kan said the police were best placed to highlight potential suspects.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Read more:
• Cissy Chen murder trial: What the jury wasn't told
• Cissy Chen murder trial: More mysterious evidence withdrawn

Despite publicity around the case, Mr Liu said he was keen to stay in New Zealand and work until retirement.

"I'm not concerned. My neighbours say 'hello' to me and my colleagues are all very nice to me."

Mr Liu was speaking soon after NZME reported that an alleged conversation between Ms Chen and her friend Cindy Chin was withheld from the jury because of its potentially prejudicial influence.

"Cindy if one day I am dying [if I die] you please quickly call the police and Jack he's the one who kill me," Ms Chen allegedly said.

Mr Liu said there was a wider context to the comments. Both he and his lawyer said, regardless, the alleged words came from the witness's memory and could not be relied upon.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

With his name cleared, the man who spent seven weeks in the dock said there was one thing he was particularly excited about.

"I haven't been to church for a long time. I'm looking forward to going there again."

And to those who still thought he was the killer, including members of Ms Chen's family who sat through the trial.

"There's no need for me to respond."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Why US$42b DataDog is going all in on AI

New ZealandUpdated

Aoraki/Mt Cook alpine rescue team suspended after mass staff exodus

19 Jun 07:00 PM
New Zealand

'Put out the welcome mat': South Island sees surge in North Island migrants

19 Jun 07:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Aoraki/Mt Cook alpine rescue team suspended after mass staff exodus

Aoraki/Mt Cook alpine rescue team suspended after mass staff exodus

19 Jun 07:00 PM

Police will co-ordinate rescue operations via other SAR teams and helicopter providers.

Why US$42b DataDog is going all in on AI

Why US$42b DataDog is going all in on AI

'Put out the welcome mat': South Island sees surge in North Island migrants

'Put out the welcome mat': South Island sees surge in North Island migrants

19 Jun 07:00 PM
'Absolutely gutted': Dog lovers protest against leash changes

'Absolutely gutted': Dog lovers protest against leash changes

19 Jun 06:40 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP