Warning: This story contains content some may find disturbing.
One of the police officers first on the scene describes an unpleasant odour and seeing a hand in a hole of the plastic bags containing Chinese woman Shulai Wang's body.
By Liu Chen and Lucy Xia of RNZ
The Crown said Wang, 70, came to New Zealand in 2023 from China's Hainan province to seek religious instruction from one of the accused, Kaixiao Liu.
Her body was found in layers of plastic bags floating near the Gulf Harbour marina in March 2024 by a member of the public.
Liu, his wife Lanyue Xiao, mother Xiuyun Li and father Jingui Liu have been accused of the kidnapping and manslaughter of Wang and were facing trial in the Auckland High Court.
Constable Chelsea Cruickshank said she attended the scene near Laurie Southwick Parade in Gulf Harbour and met the member of the public who made the call, Paul Middleton.
Cruickshank said she went over to the rock where the bag was half-resting and held onto it wearing gloves to prevent it from drifting away, while waiting for a police boat to come and help.
She said the bag was very heavy, and tightly secured around the body, almost like it was vacuum-sealed.
"I could see a rip in the black rubbish bag and there was a hole," she said.
"In that hole I could see a human hand and behind that human hand, I could see what looked to be a human body folded in half."
Cruickshank said the body was wearing pyjama pants and it was a mottled purple-blue colour and white, with some skin peeling off.
"While I was bent down holding that bag, there was a strong odour coming from the bag," she said. "Quite an unpleasant smell."
She had been holding the bag for half an hour until the police boat arrived with a plastic stretcher which was then used to lift the body out of the water.
The four defendants, accompanied by Mandarin interpreters, chose to represent themselves with stand-by lawyers being assigned to each of them.
In the cross-examination, Kaixiao Liu raised a series of questions to Cruickshank.
"According to your professional experience, can you determine that (if) it's (a) very casually-dump body or some people worked very hard to give a burial (to) the deceased," Liu asked.
"Don't think there's any such thing as a casual dump on the body," Cruickshank replied.
"However, it looks like they tried very hard to hide it the way that it was wrapped up in duct tape and folded in half.
"I thought it was very likely that they were trying to hide this person."
Another police officer took over the body and kept the body safe in the Auckland City Hospital mortuary also gave evidence.
When Kaixiao Liu cross-examined this officer, he mentioned "bloody water" and "King Charles", but was interrupted by Justice Mathew Downs who said "Sorry, Mr Liu. I don't recall that evidence, just pause".
Justice Downs reminded Liu that he needed to ask questions based on the evidence given.
Both today and Monday's proceedings were interrupted due to the nature of Liu's questions or unfamiliarity of the procedures, and Justice Downs advised Liu to seek help from his standby lawyer if needed.
Earlier on Tuesday, another member of the public gave evidence saying they have seen a floating object in the Gulf Harbour while taking their dog for a walk.
The Crown was expected to call close to 50 witnesses including members of the public, police officers and immigration officers.
The trial before a jury of six men and six women was expected to last four to six weeks.
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