KEY POINTS:
"Your son offended us. He deserved to have this result and the New Zealand newspapers have already reported it ... have you read it yet?"
Those were the last words prosecutors say the mother of slain Chinese student Wan Biao heard from the men accused of kidnapping and
murdering her 19-year-old son.
Mr Biao's partially-decapitated body was found in a suitcase recovered from Waitemata Harbour, near the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Good Friday morning, April 14, last year.
Police say Chinese students Xiangxin Cui, Zheng Li and Yuxi Wang lured Mr Biao to the Elliot St Apartments in central Auckland where the killing took place. The plan - intended to extort money from Mr Biao's family - is alleged to have been months in the planning.
The men - who are defending the charges - are on trial in the High Court at Auckland.
Mr Biao's mother - He Xiang Fang - in read evidence said she had received the first of three ransom calls about 9.30pm New Zealand time on the evening of April 13.
She was phoned again about 30 minutes later and spoke briefly with her son.
"His voice was different and [he] was talking in a deep, heavy tone, and I wasn't sure it was our son."
She asked Mr Biao to speak in his own Mandarin dialect for confirmation.
One of the kidnappers then demanded the equivalent of $800,000.
The couple received a third call - saying Mr Biao had "offended" his kidnappers - about 7.20pm on Good Friday.
The court also heard evidence yesterday from Auckland boatie Andrew Willimott.
He told the court he thought he was looking at a mannequin when he first opened a suitcase he had found "bobbing" on the tide, about 9.30am on Good Friday.
"I put my hand in the suitcase, and touched the body ... I felt soft flesh ... [I] realised what I was looking at."
Mr Willimott - who was fishing with his brother and 4-year-old son - spotted the suitcase floating near a buoy close to Westhaven Marina.
"I turned the boat so it would come alongside the suitcase, at which time my brother leaned over the side and grabbed the suitcase handle.
Mr Willimott told the court he had tried to help his brother pull the case aboard, but their efforts caused the boat to lean "quite sharply".
The pair then decided to try to look inside the suitcase while it was still floating.
"We opened the zip to the top corners ... just far enough so that we could see what was inside."
Mr Willimot first saw a pair of jeans, and a belt.
"Moments later I realised what was a body ... I suspected it may have been a mannequin."
Constable Graham Jex arrived on the scene about 20 minutes later, and hauled the case aboard the police launch.
"There was what appeared to be blood coming from the suitcase. there was a lot of water draining out of it, but with the water there was what appeared to be blood."
Detective Constable Tony Bruce gave evidence of later taking inventory of the case's gruesome contents.
Items recovered included numerous blood-stained towels and flannels, clothing and shoes.
A passport belonging to the accused Li was also allegedly found in the case, along with two $16.99 Warehouse saws, and a 12cm kitchen knife.
The trial, before Justice John Priestley, continues today.
