Blood stains found at a Christchurch house matched the profiles of real estate agent Yanfei Bao and the man accused of her murder, the High Court has heard.
Chinese national Tingjun Cao is standing trial for killing Bao at the Hornby property in July last year.
ESR forensic scientist Wendy Janes told the court the blood was not visible to the human eye but luminol testing revealed stains on walls, curtains, doors and carpet that matched their DNA profiles.
Luminol is a chemical compound that emits a blue fluorescent light when it reacts with blood.
Bao had arranged to meet a buyer at the house before she vanished on July 19, 2023.
Her body was found in a shallow grave at a Greenpark farm south of Christchurch a year later. The trial, which is more than halfway through its expected six weeks, is hearing from around 80 witnesses.
On Wednesday, Justice Lisa Preston told the jury she was concerned by the risk the trial could run into a seventh week and asked them to consider their availability.
“In any criminal trial there are always some unknowns and timings are subject to those factors,” she said.
Cao, who is representing himself after sacking his defence lawyers, has been warned by Justice Preston over the nature of some of his questions, including repeatedly accusing police witnesses of falsifying evidence.
On Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Cameron Stuart objected to Cao’s cross-examination of police fingerprint analyst Mark Brooks, in which Cao disputed evidence relating to thumbprints taken from the rear-view mirror of his own car.
“We’re wasting time going down this rabbit hole,” Stuart said.
After Stuart objected a second time, Justice Preston directed the jury to leave and closed the court.
On their return, Cao told the court he had no further questions for the witness.
The trial continues.
By Keiller MacDuff of rnz.co.nz
