A High Court trial for the man accused of murdering Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao begins today.
Bao disappeared from the suburb of Hornby on July 19, 2023 when she was going to show a house to a prospective client.
Her body was found just over a year later on July 31, buried in a shallow grave along a treeline on a Greenpark farm.
Chinese national Tingjun Cao, 53, was arrested at Christchurch Airport days after her disappearance.
One of Bao’s friends Jin Tian, who spoke to her on the morning she vanished, said Bao promised to call her back but never did.
In a social media post, Tian said Bao mentioned a potential client who wanted to transfer money to New Zealand during their phone call.
She believed the client may have been the last person to speak to Bao.
Yanfei Bao’s husband reported her missing that night and her cellphone was found in grass on the side of the southern motorway on July 21.
Cao was initially charged with Bao’s kidnapping but two days later police said they did not believe she was alive and the investigation became a homicide inquiry.
He was charged with Yanfei Bao’s murder last September, to which he pleaded not guilty. A kidnapping charge has since been dropped.
Bao lived in Christchurch with her husband, Paul Gooch, and her daughter who was aged nine when she disappeared.
In August last year, Bao’s family released a statement thanking people for their support and urging anyone with information to come forward.
“Their only desire is to have her returned to them, so they can find closure and begin the grieving process,” the statement said.
“Amid this harrowing experience, the Bao family encourages everyone to cherish their loved ones and express their feelings openly.”
Gooch said people should go home and tell those they held dear that “you love and cherish them”.
Cao’s trial has been set down for six weeks.
rnz.co.nz
