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Two Ōrewa residents facing criminal charges in connection with the discovery of a body wrapped in a bag off Gulf Harbour on March 12 can now be named.
Kaixiao Liu and Lanyue Xiao, both 36, appeared in the North Shore District Court on July 1, the morning after they were flagged while trying to leave the country.
They are not accused of the murder of the, as yet unidentified, female victim, but face the unusual charge of “offering an indignity” to a body. Police are not ruling out further arrests or charges. No one has been charged with killing the woman as yet.
A judge dismissed the pair’s interim name suppression and, as their lawyer did not lodge an appeal within 28 days, the interim order lapsed, a court official confirmed last week. The pair are due to appear on September 17 for case review.
Bail conditions required both Liu and Xiao to surrender their passports on July 2, and not apply for new travel documents. They are bailed to an address in Harvest Avenue, Ōrewa – the same house police and forensic staff searched extensively last month.
In addition to a nighttime curfew, Liu and Xiao are forbidden to contact three individuals, named as Hong Chen, Tao Zhang and Xiaohui Hu. They may not “text, call, meet, go near, use social media to contact or communicate in any other way with them”. They are also not allowed to ask someone else to contact those individuals on their behalf.
Court documents released to Hibiscus Matters say Liu and Xiao interfered with a body on March 8 – four days before a fisherman made the grisly discovery.
The find sparked the ongoing police investigation, which has so far included seeking help from Interpol partners and encouraging community involvement. Police have described a petite woman of Asian ethnicity and made public photos of distinctive clothing she was wearing, including pyjama pants.
An Ōrewa resident who saw the photos in the press recalled having seen a woman wearing pyjamas, walking with two other people in central Ōrewa in March. She notified police who studied CCTV footage (HM, July 15).
Police thanked people who had come forward with information during the investigation, but said that as the probe was ongoing, “we are unable to go into the specifics of what information has been received. We continue to ask those who might have information to assist, to get in touch.”
