Cult leader and wife guilty over death of woman whose body was pulled from harbour

The leader of a religious cult and his wife have been found guilty of all charges in relation to the death of a woman who had travelled to New Zealand to seek religious teaching.

It has been 840 days since the body of Shulai Wang, 70, was reeled in by an unsuspecting fisherman at Gulf Harbour in Auckland.

Her identity remained unknown for months, until the empty bags of rice taped to her body led police to those accused of her death.

Wang was one of six Chinese women who arrived in New Zealand seeking religious salvation and tutelage. She ended up dead, bound by tape, weighed down by rice bags filled with stones and concealed in bin bags. The other five women were deported back to China.

On Monday, after deliberating over three days, the jury returned verdicts.

They found Kaixiao Liu, the man who called himself “Lord”, guilty of Wang’s kidnapping, manslaughter, misconduct in relation to human remains, attempting to pervert the course of justice and failing to provide police a PIN number.

His wife, Lanyue Xiao, was also found guilty of kidnapping, manslaughter, misconduct in relation to human remains and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Liu’s mother, Xiyun Li, was found guilty of kidnapping, but the jury could not reach agreement on the charge of manslaughter.

His father, Jingui Liu, was found guilty of misconduct with human remains, however the jury were unable to reach verdicts on the kidnapping and manslaughter charges.

Over the last five weeks, jurors had an insight into the workings of the previously unknown religious sect that was operating out of an unsuspecting home in north Auckland.

On Monday, Justice Mathew Downs thanked the jurors and said counselling was available given “some of the evidence was graphic, even disturbing”.

All four defendants were due to be sentenced in August. Liu and Xiao were remanded in custody, while the parents were remanded on bail.

Liu has indicated he would be appealing the convictions.

How did Shulai Wang come to be living at The Ark’?

Shulai Wang had lived in the Hainan province with her husband. They had three sons and a grandson. Not much is known about her life in China before she arrived in New Zealand in August 2023 alongside another woman.

The Crown’s case was Wang and the other women had come to receive religious instruction from Liu.

Her family, known as “Family 12”, were part of a group of at least 37 families who had acquainted themselves with Liu and were devoted to his teachings.

Wang moved into the Ōrewa home, known as “The Ark”, where she lived with five other Chinese women in “practical servitude” to Liu and his family, the Crown said.

Liu - who was the head of the household - referred to himself as “Lord” or “Master” while his wife was known as “Queen”. The Crown’s case was Liu’s parents and children also had elevated statuses in the house.

There were ranking systems where the women had points deducted for various things.

A note found at the house by police, titled “Covenant of the Body”, recorded how one of the women was “willing to enter in a mutual love relationship with Mr KL”.

It went on to say she was willing to “build a family and have children with him and only him”.

“I am doing these out of my own free will… I am writing this covenant with a clear mind… I only belong to Mr KL.”

The note was dated August 2023.

Around the time of Wang’s death in early March 2024, it became apparent she had breached a number of the “house rules” and was subject to various punishments including being confined to a tent outside the house.

Audio recordings the police uncovered at the house captured Liu saying Wang had pushed over a ladder causing one of the women to fall, which he claimed could amount to attempted murder.

On or about March 6, Wang made an attempt to escape to a neighbouring property but was “captured”.

Jurors heard a recording, titled “Warning”, in which Liu characterised Wang as an evil traitor who refused to repent. The Crown said all four defendants were present.

“Basically no one would intentionally harm the family members or tell lies with open eyes. Shulai’s case is a result of long-term listening to the dark side of the inner world and not listening to God’s way,” Liu was heard saying on the recording.

“I saw her evil thoughts a long time ago, of course I can see the evil opinions in everyone.”

Prosecutor Henry Steele told the jury in his closing remarks it was “obvious” Liu was in charge and “calling the shots”.

It was during this recording, the Crown said, Liu was developing a narrative.

“One thing you would have noted is there’s not a single dissenting voice who even expresses any doubt whatsoever about what’s happening,” Steele said.

Even the children were present.

“One way to keep them quiet is to implicate them, make them complicit,” Steele said of the other five women.

Liu was heard saying on a recording: “She is just lying there, without moving will not consume energy… going a few days without eating or drinking wouldn’t cause any problems at all. Unless evil thoughts inside her are too large and kill herself. Do you understand?”

“Understood,” the others replied.

The Crown said the recording was taken a few hours after Wang had tried to escape and they were also discussing how to contain her.

Jingui Liu suggested buying handcuffs.

“They know what’s happening, acting as one… and are helping and encouraging one another.”

An example of the point system inside the house was from an entry on Liu’s laptop titled “the specialist training camp, daily discipline record”. One of the women was awarded “big plus points 3” after “loyally defending God’s house” after “a traitor” escaped.

The Crown’s case was that by March 6, Wang didn’t want to be at the house and was detained in a way that posed a threat to her safety.

The Crown said she was denied food, tied up and confined to a small box or suitcase.

After Wang was detained, notebook entries appeared to show she had been screaming and then had her mouth taped.

Wang died sometime on March 7.

An audio recording taken in the early hours of that day was found on Liu’s computer and titled “justifiable defence”.

All the defendants were there except Xiuyun Li.

“It was not like this in the beginning, she was testing us step-by-step and violating us step by step… reminded her not to cry or scream… stick on her mouth then, she is still crying or screaming with a sealed mouth, stuff a towel then… if she is still crying/screaming after stuffing a towel then have to put into the box or suitcase more fixed, more soundproof.”

Liu was also heard saying “we are completely forced to defend legitimate and protect God’s home. Do you understand?”

The Crown’s case was that what was being described about Wang’s condition was “obviously dangerous”.

Steele said while Liu was the house leader, all defendants were “clearly superior” to Wang and were aware of her predicament and made no effort to provide her the necessaries of life.

Disposing of the body

After Wang died, the Crown said the family had a problem.

As with most things, a household conference was held.

Another recording created at 1.57pm on March 8 was uncovered by police, this one titled “How to treat defection”.

This was when the narrative of Wang pushing another woman down a ladder appeared, the Crown said.

“We wanted to help her, to help her stay quiet, everything we did is justifiable defence, fixed her in place, not letting her do evil again, not letting her destroy God’s home, also helping her rest quietly.”

On the recording, Liu was heard asking what everyone’s opinions were about “dealing with the body”.

Ideas suggested included to burn her, bury her, throw her in the sea or a forest burial. Some of the suggestions were made by the children.

In closing, the Crown said there was no mention of what Wang wanted.

“[It’s] not mentioned because, again, this is a narrative that’s been created after she died.”

The recording detailed plans to put her in rubbish bags and to scope out Gulf Harbour as a location to throw her in the sea.

Later in the recording, Liu made it clear “everyone in the house shares the same responsibility - except for the children”.

“From a legal point of view, this is like a drug gang, you can’t say that I didn’t touch the drug, but you transported it in the car… if you transport it…”

The other women who lived in the house were told to “just smile” and were warned they would be locked up in a mental hospital and forcibly injected if any of them spoke to authorities.

Steele said it was clear, with hindsight in June 2026, that the women were involved.

However, the decision to deport the women was made by Immigration New Zealand. The women had all refused to speak with police.

An unsuspecting fisherman and rice bags

On the afternoon of March 12, 2024, Paul Middleton was fishing at Gulf Harbour.

He hooked onto an object floating in the water, reeled it in and opened up the black plastic rubbish bags, inside of which he discovered clothing and a hand.

Middleton dialled 111 and the police arrived. His discovery would launch the homicide investigation dubbed Operation Parade, which spanned many months and went international before Wang’s identity was uncovered.

Wang had been folded into the fetal position with black tape wrapped around her head, wrists and body, effectively binding her into a ball.

Two large rice bags filled with stones had been taped with her.

It was those two rice bags that led police to Kaixiao Liu.

After Liu and Xiao were arrested for disposing of Wang's body, they were in contact with Wang’s son in China. This is what formed the charges they faced for perverting the course of justice.

By this time, police had bugged their home, and over multiple conversations, the Crown said the pair went about coaching Wang’s son into giving police a false narrative.

“If any law enforcement from mankind are asking you about the body then you say, it was originally another sea burial.”

When the son was interviewed by police, he stated he had no religious belief and found out about his mother in July. He said he had known Liu for 10 years and they were good friends.

‘We want to find out the truth’

At the beginning of the trial, Kaixiao Liu told jurors: “We want to find out the truth, we have been trying and asking who may know the truth”.

All four defendants represented themselves, but had highly experienced defence counsel appointed by the court on standby.

Liu and his wife cross-examined multiple witnesses and were interrupted multiple times by the judge to remind them to focus on the evidence.

Liu wanted to close his case to the jury on behalf of himself, but in a rare move, Justice Downs disallowed him after concerns from standby counsel were raised.

In closing the case to the jury on Liu’s behalf, Nicholas Leader cautioned the jury about misinterpreting religious hyperbole and cultural references.

He said Liu denied all the charges.

“You may find the residents led an unconventional life to say the least… but you need to be very careful that you don’t let your thoughts and feelings about how they lead that life cloud your judgments.”

The family were “perfectly entitled to live their lives as they were”, with their own rules, habits, traditions and conventions, Leader said.

A large part of the defence case was misinterpreting words in the recordings and notebooks, and how Mandarin words can have multiple meanings depending on the context.

Leader suggested words like “evil, traitor and repentance” mentioned in the recordings were spiritual sermonising, not a literal plot to kill.

“You can’t be sure of Kaixiao Liu’s guilt based on these words.

“On the evidence, you cannot be sure of these offences. This evidence ought to leave you with serious doubts about the guilt of this man,” Leader said.

Lanyue Xiao was allowed to make closing submissions to the jury, some of which echoed Leader’s comments.

She said there was no so-called “servitude” or hierarchy in the house.

Phil Hamlin, standby counsel for Xiyun Li, said she had little contact with Wang and looked after the children in the house.

She didn’t feature in the incriminating notebooks, was not part of the “justifiable defence” recording and had no hand in disposing of the body, he said.

While many of her notebook entries were featured during the trial, Hamlin suggested she was “simply” a recorder of what happened.

In closing Jingui Liu’s case to the jury, standby counsel Shane Tait said his client had only been in New Zealand for about six weeks when Wang died. He spoke a rare dialect, Dongtai, and limited Mandarin.

Tait suggested Liu senior was at the “absolute bottom of the pecking order” in the house - lower than his own grandchildren. Journal entries showed he was given demerit points for minor infractions such as “violating bathroom rules”, speaking too loudly during blessings or failing to stand up properly.

He said mentions of “handcuffs” or “chains” in the recordings were translation errors, and could have meant “little lock”.

Tait said Liu lacked the linguistic ability, the status and the intent to control anyone.