Suitcase murder victim very nice guy says flatmate

Wan Biao

A flatmate of Wan Biao, the Chinese student found dead inside a suitcase in the Waitemata Harbour, has spoken about the victim, saying he was a "very nice guy".

The Herald spoke to the man, who declined to be named, at the inner-city apartment Mr Wan shared with five other Chinese students.

He said he received a text message from Mr Wan around midnight on Wednesday asking if he would like to come out and play pool.

He turned down the invitation because he was tired, and the next he heard of Mr Wan was on Sunday when police showed up at the Cook St address to search for clues to his death.

The body of Mr Wan, a 19-year-old English language student, was found folded inside a suitcase in the harbour on Good Friday.

Police yesterday confirmed that he was last seen at home at 9pm on Thursday, and that his home and car held no clues to his fate.

Mr Wan's flatmate said the victim often stayed away from home until late.

"He seemed a very nice guy. He was very nice to me, but he always came back late - very late. 3am. Maybe he's working or something, but I don't know."

Mr Wan had been the first of the flat's six occupants to move in, about two months ago. The dead student's room was directly above his flatmate's, who moved in a month ago.

The flatmate said he had gone to his room a few times to ask for cigarettes and the pair talked of their plans and of their families in China.

He was distressed that news agencies - including those in China and Hong Kong - had speculated that his dead flatmate had gang connections.

"We're just students. We're just working for a living, and studying.

"I just don't want people [to] think all Chinese people are killers, murderers.

"Sometimes it's very hard for us. We didn't do anything but people think we do something bad."

Mr Wan had been planning to go to Canada to work, the man said, but he did not know when. The man said he did not want to pry too much into his flatmate's personal affairs.

As a fulltime student who works part-time, he did not see much of his flatmate. He did not think Mr Wan had a girlfriend, and did not meet any of his friends.

He heard about the murder when police showed up at their apartment on Sunday morning. They spent about four hours at the address and the flatmate spent a further four hours at the police station.

Police dropped into their flat again yesterday at 8.30am.

"I just [told] the police everything I knew."

Police said yesterday they were seeking two men seen leaving Westhaven Marina in a small dinghy at 8.30am on Friday - an hour before the suitcase was spotted in the water.

Detective Inspector Bernie Hollewand said police were tipped off by a yachtie who had gone sailing for the long weekend.

The yachtie rang the inquiry hotline over the weekend but the call was brief and police hope to speak to him at more length today.

"Obviously we'd like to speak to those men [in the dinghy] and eliminate them from our inquiry," said Mr Hollewand.

Police were reviewing security footage around the marina, he said.

"We haven't had the call that has described the case being thrown into the water so if someone has that information we still need it."

Mr Hollewand refused to speculate on a motive for the murder.

Mr Wan appeared to have been "a reasonably studious chap", he said.

"Not all the international students have a high attendance rate at the institutions that they are enrolled at, but Mr Wan was a studious person of reasonably sober habits."

His family are now organising travel documents to come to New Zealand.

A fisherman, meanwhile, has dismissed reports on TV3 that he had seen the suitcase hours earlier, around 4.30am.

Oliver Woodward said he had noticed something in the water around the spot where the suitcase was later retrieved, but could not say what the object was.

He doubted it was the suitcase because the tide was on the way in "and the chances of it being in the same place for four or how many hours is pretty slim, especially something that is floating".

News of Mr Wan's death has reached China, with items in the Shanghai Daily, China Daily and xinhuanet.com - the online outlet of China's state and worldwide news agency - among others.

The case is concerning the export education industry, which is already experiencing a decline in Chinese student numbers.

* Anyone with information should phone 0800 237-852 (0800 BESTLAND).