Yanfei Bao: Memorial service to honour murdered real estate agent’s ‘beautiful life

By RNZ

A public memorial service will be held for real estate agent Yanfei Bao in Christchurch next week.

Organisers said people were invited to attend the service at Our Lady of Victories Church in Sockburn at 11am on Monday to remember the 44-year-old mother’s “beautiful life”, “celebrate all her incredible accomplishments” and share their favourite memories of her.

Tingjun Cao, 53, a Chinese national, is on trial in the High Court at Christchurch for the murder of Bao last year.

The trial began last month and the jury was this week told the hearing could run into a seventh week.

Early in the trial, Bao’s partner, Paul Gooch, told the court he realised something unusual had happened when he arrived home on July 19 last year and discovered she had not been home during the day.

He was met by a neighbour who told him that someone from their daughter’s afterschool care had gone to the house after Bao had not collected her.

Gooch said he went inside to check the dishwasher because Bao usually came home for lunch, but there were no dishes inside.

Yanfei Bao’s remains were found in July in a shallow grave on a Greenpark farm south of Christchurch.

Yanfei Bao's death is a devastating loss for her family, her partner says.

Gooch had previously spoken of Bao’s “vibrant and radiant spirit” and the family’s devastating loss.

“She will be best remembered as a larger-than-life personality, embodying unwavering diligence, hard work, and an infectious sense of humour that brightened the lives of those around her,” he said in a statement.

Her death had been incredibly challenging for the entire family and had irreparably changed everyone’s lives.

“Yanfei’s magnetic confidence and warm charisma effortlessly drew people towards her, and she took great joy in sharing her captivating stories and wealth of knowledge, generously welcoming guests into her home with love, grace, and delectable cuisine,” he said.

Her positive influence reached far and wide, touching the lives of her family, friends, and colleagues, illustrating a remarkable devotion to her loved ones, Gooch said.

“Every decision and action she made was rooted in her deep care for others, and her memory will forever occupy a cherished place in our hearts.”