Massey stabbing: Manchao Li jailed for life, family’s daily despair after brutal murder of his beloved mother

The spiteful ex-husband of an Auckland woman has been sent to jail after stabbing her to death in a daytime attack.

On Friday, Manchao Li was sentenced after murdering Massey’s librarian, Zhimin Yang, known as Jennifer.

After years of feeding grudges and racking up personal and financial failures, Li stalked and killed his ex-wife while waiting for a bus in West Auckland in July 2019.

Li’s son, who has his name permanently deleted, told the Auckland High Court that he felt guilty and wished he had died in his mother’s place.

“He was always going to kill one of us and that person should have been me.”

He said that most of the family conversations since the early 2000s had been about Li’s abuse, lies and manipulation.

He said the family enrolled Yang in self-defense courses and helped her install gates, doors, locks, alarms and surveillance cameras around her home.

But the son told the court: “Li was a very committed murderer with a detailed plan.”

“Most of my family is in worse shape than I am,” he said in his victim impact statement.

She said her grandmother repeated the voice messages Jennifer had sent her every day.

The son said Li had smiled during the murder trial.

“I couldn’t see an iota of remorse. His words sounded like he had rehearsed them.”

He said his mother’s last moments would have been terrifying.

“He looked at this world one last time and breathed one last time … My mother’s life ended in fear, sadness, worry and pain.”

At his trial, Li accepted that he should have stabbed Yang, but insisted that he was not in his right mind.

Li, 65, also denied violating a protection order.

He often tried to dodge questions during interrogation, answering questions of his own or telling Crown Attorney Nick Webby stories about mythical creatures.

The son said that Li was a serial liar.

And he told the court that the murder had tested his own will to live.

“A sudden death feels better than the slow death that I am currently experiencing.”

“It has taken the purpose out of my life.”

Webby said Friday that the murder was carefully planned and carried out with great brutality.

After Webby addressed the court and it was defense attorney Sam Wimsett’s turn, Li raised his arm and stood up.

Following a conversation with an interpreter and with Wimsett, Li was denied the opportunity to address the court.

‘Great’ killer

Judge Pheroze Jagose said Li became obsessed with revenge and hatred after a dispute over ownership of a relationship.

The judge said that even when Li lived in Christchurch for a time, he continued to harass Yang.

“He harassed her and her son, even hiring a private investigator to find her home and work addresses.”

Judge Jagose said Yang had to move house to evade Li’s harassment.

“With horrible foresight, Ms. Yang told the police that if she knew where she lived, she believed she would kill her.”

He said Yang was a university physics professor in China who came to New Zealand as a skilled migrant.

He said Li’s arrogance and his description of the relationship as a marriage of convenience was disgusting.

The judge said that Li had previously indicated a degree of murderous hatred towards Yang.

“His roommates noted his self-esteem and grandeur, particularly with women.”

The court once heard Li talk about wanting to cut off Yang’s hands and feet.

Judge Jagose said there were no mitigating factors and that the killing was entirely Li’s fault.

He identified multiple aggravating factors, including Yang’s vulnerability, the calculated nature of the attack, and his intense brutality.

Li was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 19 years.

Outside of court, Detective Sergeant Ryan Bunting of Waitematā CIB said the killing was a reckless act that shocked the community and witnesses.

He thanked members of the public who tried to prevent Li from escaping and the people who tried to give Yang first aid.

“She was a very dear mother, sister and daughter who was just trying to live her life.”

1997: Yang and Li marry in China.
2001: Yang and Li emigrate to New Zealand and buy a house in Blockhouse Bay.
2005: The couple separates in August. Yang moves to Avondale. In December, a protection order is granted for Yang.
2007: Li is convicted of violating a protection order.
2009: Yang and Li finally divorce.
2014: Li is again convicted of violating a protection order.
2016: The High Court dismisses an appeal Li filed over property division, and a judge finds that Li was dishonest on much of his evidence.

Days before the murder:
June 23: At this time a letter is sent to Yang’s son, warning the recipient to leave New Zealand or be “exterminated.”
July 18: Li buys a knife at Miter 10 Westgate.
July 22: Li buys a tactical folding knife on eBay and has it shipped to his address at Matisse Dr in West Harbor.
July 28: Li enters Hunting & Fishing, Constellation Dr. He haggles before buying a hunting knife and shows interest in buying a machete.

July 29, 2019:
7.16am: Someone using a video camera found in Li’s car begins recording Yang as he leaves his Granville property Dr.
7.59am: Images from a Pavlovich bus show Li’s car parked at Granville Dr.
8:03 am: Li, or the person using the camera in his car, stops filming Yang.
8:07 am: A security camera on White Heron Dr, Massey, shows Yang walking.
8.20 am: Witness Casey Armstrong notices a silver Honda Airwave pickup slowly driving near her in Westgate. Dr. Armstrong is scared and takes a photo of the car.
8.30am: Pavlovich’s bus footage shows Yang waiting at a bus stop.
8.33am: Yang is accosted and stabbed multiple times alongside Westgate Dr.
8.34am: Witness Daniel Harvey follows Li on foot, but Li gets into his Honda before Harvey can grab him.
8.38am: Witness Peter Simpson calls 111 and says he used his ute to stop the silver Honda.
8.40am: The police Eagle helicopter spots Li around some nearby bushes. He is arrested without incident.

Domestic Violence: Do You Need Help?

If you are in danger now:

• Call the police at 111 or ask your friends’ neighbors to call you.
• Run outside and go where there are other people.
• Yell for help so your neighbors can hear you.
• Take the children with you.
• Don’t stop to buy anything else.
• If you are being abused, remember that it is not your fault. Violence is never okay

Where to go for help or more information:

• Shine, toll free national helpline from 9 am to 11 pm every day – 0508 744 633 www.2shine.org.nz
• Women’s shelter: the free national crisis line operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – 0800 shelter or 0800 733 843 www.womensrefuge.org.nz
• Shakti: Provides specialized cultural services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and their children. Crisis line 24/7 0800742584
• Not OK: information line 0800 456 450 www.areyouok.org.nz