The man who murdered Christchurch mother and real estate agent Yanfei Bao has been sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of 17 and a half years.
Tingjun Cao, who continues to deny the crime, was found guilty by a jury in December.
He gave no reaction as the sentence was delivered by Justice Lisa Preston.
The 54-year-old was forced to watch today’s hearing from another courtroom due to his constant outbursts as the judge attempted to get proceedings underway.
He could be seen on the screen as the sentencing continued, sitting on the floor and at times with his back turned.
Bao’s daughter, now aged 11, wrote a victim impact statement to be read out.
“You took my mummy away from me, and my life has not been the same since,” she wrote.
Bao’s father also spoke from China, expressing his regret he couldn’t be present for the hearing.
He explained his heart is still “filled with immense sorrow which words cannot adequately portray”, and that Cao has destroyed their family’s happiness.
Detective Inspector Nicola Reeves paid tribute to Bao’s family, both in New Zealand and China, and those in the community who came forward during the investigation.
“Yanfei was like so many of us, a much loved and admired woman, who was working hard to provide a better life for herself and her family. She had a fundamental right to be safe in her place of work and return home at the end of the day.”
The Crown case was that Cao attacked the real estate agent at a house she was showing him in Hornby on July 19 in 2023.
Bao’s disappearance sparked a major search which only led to the discovery of her body a year later.
‘Sexual component’
In handing down the sentence, Justice Preston said: “The evidence demonstrates there was a sexual component to your offending.
“Although it is unnecessary for me to decide whether a sexual assault did occur within the house, certainly the forensic evidence is consistent with this.”
At the trial, the court was shown a photo recovered on the defendant’s phone.
The judge labelled it “shocking”, and that it made a sexual motive “abundantly clear”.
“In taking it you showed a breathtaking lack of humanity and respect for this innocent woman.”
ESR scientists gave evidence about blood found at the house and drag marks on the carpet.
The jury also heard phone data showed Cao’s phone and Bao’s phone travelled together on the day she disappeared.
They were shown CCTV vision of Cao’s movements across the city. Footage showed him arriving at the Hornby property, leaving, and later in the day making a purchase at a hardware store in New Brighton – indicating with a digging motion that he wanted a spade.
Cao became a person of interest in the investigation after a member of the public spotted him acting suspiciously around the location Police found Bao’s phone, and took a note of his car details.
Police tracked the registration number and Cao was placed under surveillance. He was then arrested at Christchurch airport with a one-way ticket to China in his possession on July 22, 2023.
He was charged with kidnapping, and that charge was later upgraded to murder.
When the case went to trial, Cao represented himself after sacking his lawyers. And Crown Prosecutor Pip Currie said in her closing address: “This case is an absolute slam dunk.”
The jury returned the guilty verdict after just over an hour-and-a-half of deliberation.
Defence lawyer Colin Eason today said, “[Cao] maintains his innocence and denies any involvement with the victim’s death. Mr Cao has already instructed counsel in relation to that appeal.”
‘I wish she was still here’
The statement of Bao’s young daughter read by a victim support worker said, “I wish she was still here. I wish none of this had ever happened.
“Losing her has left a hole in my heart that nothing can fill.”
The school student, whose name is suppressed, wrote: “I laugh less now as nothing feels as fun as it used to.”
“I miss my mummy every single day, I miss the way she used to do my hair, cook for me and make me feel safe. I miss her voice, her smell and the way she knew how to always make things better.”
She said she feels lonely a lot, and tries to be brave, but that it’s hard.
“Sometimes I just want to cry, but I also don’t want to make my dad Paul and everyone else more sad than they already are.”
She shared how sad she is that her mum will never be a part of her life going forward, and won’t see her grow up.
“I wont be able to tell her about my day or hear her say she is proud of me.”
‘Light of my life’
Yanfei Bao’s father described her as “an intelligent, kind, brave and resilient modern Chinese woman full of positivity.
“She was the light of my wife’s and my life, the most brilliant colour in our ordinary days and the greatest spiritual support and source of motivation during our family’s tough times.”
He spoke about her achievements over the years and said, “We often imagined her a happy life ahead, however, fate dealt us the cruelest blow.
“Over the past year, our family has been engulfed in immense grief and has struggled to accept this harsh reality.
“The excessive grief has severely affected my wife’s health, leaving her dependent on medication.”
Her father, who’s travelled to New Zealand twice since the murder, spoke of the lack of remorse from Cao.
“I believe the perpetrator acted with deep malice,” he said.
“Therefore, I solemnly request that the court, in order to uphold the dignity of the law, ensure judicial fairness and maintain social stability, convict and sentence the defendant to the highest penalty according to the law.”
Bao’s older sister also gave an emotional victim impact statement.
She said upon learning of her disappearance in July two years ago, “It felt like the sky was falling.
“I wished I could grow wings and fly to New Zealand and find her.”
She said Cao’s actions have damaged the nation’s reputation on the international stage.
A statement from Bao’s partner, Paul Gooch was read in court too.
“We find ourselves in a profound state of grief, grappling with the heartwrenching questions that linger,” he said.
Asking, “For how long did she endure the imaginable suffering before her death?
“Nothing can ease our sorrow knowing her last hours were filled with unimaginable pain, brutality and terror.”
The search
Yanfei Bao had been reported missing after she failed to pick her daughter up from after school care.
Police quickly became concerned for her welfare and a search began.
Reeves, the officer in charge of the investigation, recalls finding out about the case the following day.
“I was told about Yanfei and that she was missing, I went down to the briefing that happened in the morning and instantly thought ‘this is not right, this is definitely not right’,” she said.
“We have a lot of missing person reports come into the police daily, most of them we can rule out pretty quickly, we know it’s not sinister. But this one felt very, very different.”
Factoring into that was the mix of concern from her partner, her loved ones and best friends and the fact she hadn’t collected her daughter. She recalls everybody saying there was no way that would happen, as it just “wasn’t her”.
Reeves said she “certainly had a gut feeling that I don’t like what I’m hearing here, this situation is not right”.
‘Sinister’: Watch the full interview with Detective Inspector Reeves on TVNZ+
A number of pieces of evidence led police to Cao, including the resident who spotted him in a cul-de-sac and alerted police and Bao’s phone data.
Her mobile phone had been found badly damaged beside Christchurch’s Southern motorway and police were initially unable to unlock it, but when they eventually worked out her passcode it was a game changer for the investigation.
The trial
Several searches took place for Bao’s body, which was finally found more than a year after she disappeared, in a shallow grave on a farm on the outskirts of Christchurch.
That discovery was recounted during last year’s six-and-a-half-week trial. Senior Constable Andrew Lillie said: “We removed the 15-25cm of pine needles from the bones. What was uncovered appeared to be human remains.”
Nearly 80 witnesses gave evidence as part of the Crown’s case, including Bao’s partner Paul Gooch.
“I had grave concerns for my partner, because obviously, I didn’t know where she was and it was completely out of character for her to do such a thing,” he told the court.
“I believe that the defendant had [Bao’s] iPhone 14 in his position from approximately 12.31 until 6.26pm on 19 July 2023,” said Detective Constable Amy Campbell-Hayward.
During cross examination, Cao accused witness after witness of lying in their evidence.
He also suggested police had planted evidence at the burial site and at one stage made the claim police had moved the burial spot altogether.
In closing the Crown case, Prosecutor Currie said: “Evidence is both compelling and overwhelming and it points in only one direction. Mr Cao was the person responsible for the murder of Yanfei Bao,” she said.
“The DNA evidence alone could convict him, you have his blood and her blood in the back bedroom at Trevor St.”
Following the guilty verdict, Bao’s partner Gooch said he was “relieved” and felt a “profound sense of gratitude”.
He thanked police, including Reeves, for bringing his partner home.
He added Cao’s actions through the trial highlighted an “absence of humanity”.
– Additional reporting by Laura James
