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The former roommate of a man accused of stabbing his ex-wife to death said he was “obsessed” with causing her pain.
Manchao Li, 65, has denied murdering Zhimin Yang, also known as Jennifer, at Massey in West Auckland in July last year.
He has also denied having violated a protection order that prevented him from contacting his ex-wife.
The Crown’s case is that Li was obsessed with getting revenge on Yang for a property dispute after the couple divorced.
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West Auckland stabbing: Manchao Li obsessed with getting revenge on his ex-wife, says Crown
* Stabbing in West Auckland: Manchao Li loses name suppression in alleged murder case
In Auckland High Court, Crown Prosecutor Nick Webby said Yang was attacked from behind and stabbed 12 times with a hunting knife while walking to a bus stop on July 29 last year.
“She didn’t realize at the time and not until it was too late that the man who would kill her had followed her,” Webby said.
LAWRENCE SMITH / THINGS
Forensic personnel review the scene of the incident in West Auckland. (First published July 2019)
On Wednesday, Garrick Protheroe told the court that Li moved into an apartment with him and another woman.
“From day one he was obsessed with the fact that his ex-wife had played dirty on him and somehow he was going to get back at her,” Protheroe said.
Protheroe told the court that Li referred to Yang as “the b …” and life would be better if she “was no longer on the planet.”
He understood that that meant: “He was going to kill her, get rid of her,” Protheroe said.
The roommate said he tried to advise Li and said that no one was worth that kind of action.
While living in the apartment, Li showed Protheroe various weapons, including a compressed air rifle, a hunting knife, and a butcher knife.
The man recalled how Li once spoke of wanting to dismember a part of Yang’s body to remind him of what he had done to him.
Li also asked Protheroe to write a letter to Yang’s employer in an attempt to fire her. The roommate declined.
In February 2018, Protheroe called the police about her concerns.
During questioning, Li’s lawyer, Sam Wimsett, asked Protheroe if he was aware of Li’s mental health problems.
“He said he was taking medicine and he said he wouldn’t take it a couple of times,” Protheroe said.
David White / Stuff
Crown prosecutor Nick Webby said Manchao Li’s attack on his ex-wife was deliberate.
CAME TO NZ FOR A BETTER LIFE
Earlier on Wednesday, Yang’s son, who has name suppression, told the court that his mother was a university professor in China for 18 years before moving to New Zealand in search of a “better life.”
Yang’s son told the court that he met Li around 1998, a year before his mother and Li moved to New Zealand.
In 2003, the son joined his mother in New Zealand and understood that they were good friends who had come abroad to seek a life together as a team.
In 2005, the relationship between Yang and Li deteriorated, the court heard.
“I could feel pressure in the relationship and they often argued over very small matters.
“It ended with him raising his voice and me staying in my room crying because I was afraid for my mother’s safety and I was too young and I felt very, very helpless,” said the son.
Lawrence Smith / Stuff
Zhimin Yang was pronounced dead after sustaining stab wounds while waiting for a bus on Westgate Drive.
In 2005, Yang and her son moved to another address.
Soon after, Li appeared and Yang and Li began to argue, the court heard.
“I remember that day quite clearly, I don’t remember the content of the discussion, but it was very strong … and our neighbors also listened to them and asked if Mom needed help,” said the son.
“Once Li left the house, Mom said we had to get out of this house immediately.”
The couple went to a friend’s house to escape from Li before the police put them in a safe house.
Around the same time, Yang sought out and received a protective order from Li.
“The basis of the order was to threaten to kill,” the son told the court.
After the Blockhouse Bay property that Yang and Li had owned was sold, Yang was not given much of the proceeds from the sale and was struggling, holding two jobs and receiving emergency welfare assistance, the son said.
David White / Stuff
Defense attorney Sam Wimsett is acting on behalf of Manchao Li.
In 2011/2012, Yang bought property in Massey and installed cameras, large fences and gates because she feared Li would find her and kill her, the court heard.
The court heard that he had pepper spray and alarms on his person.
Yang worked in a library in West Auckland where Li frequently violated the protection order and visited her.
The Auckland Council eventually transferred her to a job in the city to “keep her safe”.
Detective Sara Brooksmith told the court that Li was found guilty of violating protective orders in 2008 and 2014 after he visited her at work several times.
He also obtained the protection order against him in 2014.
During questioning, the son was asked if his mother and Li were in a “marriage of convenience.”
The son said they may have come to New Zealand as a couple for immigration purposes, as his mother qualified as a skilled worker.
“In my mother’s notebooks I found out that she was in love with Li,” she said.
The trial continues.
