A manhunt was launched for Nai Yin Xue after his daughter (L inset) was found abandoned. He is accused of murdering his wife (R inset) . Photo / Martin Sykes
Nai Yin Xue, who abandoned his daughter in a Melbourne railway station, used a yellow tie to strangle his wife before dumping her body in the boot of his car, a court was told today.
At a depositions hearing in Auckland District Court, crown prosecutor Brian Dickey presented
evidence in the case against Xue who is charged with murdering his wife An An Liu last September.
The depositions hearing has been set down for two days, before two justices of the peace.
Mrs Liu's body was found four days later in the boot of a car outside their home in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill.
Xue became the centre of an international manhunt after his three-year-old daughter Qian Xun Xue was found alone at a Melbourne railway station on September 15 last year.
Xue fled to Los Angeles and was on the run until February 28 when he was captured in Chamblee, a town on the northeast outskirts of Atlanta, by six Chinese Americans who recognised him from a newspaper.
Xue, who has been in custody since he returned to New Zealand, showed little emotion as he appeared in court.
The proceedings were delayed for half an hour this morning when defence lawyer Chris Comesky sought to use his own interpreter for Xue during proceedings.
A court-appointed interpreter is translating court proceedings to Xue and will translate for up to six of the crown witnesses who are expected to be called.
The Crown alleged Ms Liu was killed either on the evening of September 11 or morning of September 12 after a period of domestic violence by Xue.
In 2007 Mrs Liu had been living in Wellington for several months with the couple's daughter following incidents of domestic violence and had only returned to Auckland in August, Mr Dickey said.
Mrs Liu had fled their Auckland home after Xue had threatened to kill her.
In Wellington in July 2007 Xue had gone to the house Mrs Liu was staying at and tried to break in with an axe with the aim of either hurting her or forcing her to return to Auckland, he said.
- NZPA
