Cissy Chen murder trial: Pot plant blamed for injury

Yun Qing Liu. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A man accused of murdering his partner and dumping her body in a North Shore reserve told police an injury to his thumb was caused by moving "a huge pot plant".

Yun Qing "Jack" Liu, 58, is on trial in the High Court at Auckland accused of the murder of Cissy Chen, who went missing on November 5, 2012.

The woman's body was eventually found 16 months after her disappearance in a stream in a reserve in Totaravale, 10km away from their home.

The Crown says the couple's relationship had deteriorated to such a degree she had called her brother to tell him she was leaving the defendant and was going to write a will directing her assets to her family rather than Liu.

He told police Ms Chen had gone for a walk alone that evening but the Crown disagreed, saying he killed her that night, probably in their home.

Today the court heard from Raymond Wong, an Asian liaison officer who acted as go-between for Liu and the police.

He detailed the conversations he translated between the defendant and police in the days after Ms Chen's disappearance and the contact he had with Liu in the subsequent weeks.

Mr Wong met the murder-accused on November 6 and recalled him explaining to police that he did not go for a walk with his partner the previous evening because he had hurt his thumb while moving a large plant.

However, the witness said there were inconsistencies in the sequence of events.

Liu told one constable he had sustained the injury -- which had turned his swollen thumb "greenish brown" -- before Ms Chen had gone for a walk but told another officer it had happened after she had left.

Detective Senior Sergeant Megan Goldie requested the defendant front a media conference in a bid to gain more information about the victim's movements.

But Mr Wong said at first Liu was reluctant.

"He declined, saying that he wasn't emotionally stable as well as he was afraid media would pursue him after the appeal," he said.

Days later, Liu changed his mind and was keen to provide the police with information he thought could be helpful including the name of Ms Chen's ex-boyfriend and a $50 credit card charge from a restaurant he could not account for.

By November 14, police asked him to move out of his Torbay home as the forensic element of the investigation ramped up.

Liu spent a few days in a motel and later complained through Mr Wong that wood panels on his deck were loose after their search.

As the investigation stalled, weeks after Ms Chen's disappearance, he asked for a contact for the Independent Police Conduct Authority so he could make a complaint.

The trial, before Justice Sarah Katz, is scheduled to last another five weeks.