Wet rags, bloodied carpets, and a body in the back of a car is how a convicted murderer says he and another man cleaned their crime scene.
By Finn Blackwell of RNZ
Lok Fung Lorrence Li has pleaded not guilty to murdering Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok and his wife Mei Han Chong in 2023.
He has pleaded guilty to the couple's manslaughter, meaning the Crown must prove murderous intent.
Li has also denied plotting to murder his former landlord.
The man the Crown says he schemed with, Shu Man Poon, has been giving evidence at Li's trial in the High Court at Auckland.
He pleaded guilty to all charges last year.
Jurors heard on Wednesday how the pair entered the Kwok's Ellerslie home, assaulting the couple.
Poon said Li shot Kwok and Chong with an air pistol before stomping on them as they lay on the floor.
Li then used a tomahawk on Kwok, and shouted at Poon to "do something".
Poon told jurors he struck Kwok with the tomahawk a number of times.
On Thursday, further details of what the pair did after the killings were revealed.
The tomahawk itself sat in a clear case near the front of the courtroom.
After the brutal attack, Poon told the court he and Li turned their efforts to moving the Kwoks.
Poon told the court they had not discussed what they would do with their bodies.
They tried to put Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok in a rolling chair, and when that didn't work, the men attempted to move him using a carpet.
Again they were unsuccessful.
Instead, Poon and Li covered Kwok as he lay on the ground, placing black bags over his hands and feet.
Poon said that once that was done, their attention turned to Mei Han Chong.
Li took the couple's car keys and moved their blue Kia car into the driveway.
The duo moved Chong's body outside, and into the backseat of the car, Poon said.
Li told Poon to take two bloodstained carpets from inside the Kwok's home and put them in his car.
What was on the ceiling?
Poon said the two had cleaned the scene, using wet rags to wipe away bloodstains.
"We both attended to clean up the bloodstains," he said.
"And how did you do that?" asked Crown Prosecutor Matthew Nathan.
"Using the wet rag, to wipe around even the staircase, wipe around even the top area, the ceiling."
Nathan asked what was on the ceiling.
"Blood," Poon said.
It took them roughly 30 minutes to clean up after the killings, Poon said.
The pair left, with Li locking the door behind them.
Li drove off in the Kwok's car, with Poon following behind in his Toyota Ractis.
Both cars ended up in Towle Place, about five minutes away from the scene of the crime.
Poon said they left the Kwok's car there, with the body of Mei Han Chong still inside.
The two drove off, stopping nearby.
'Wow, this is exciting'
Li pulled out four phones taken from the Kwok's house and broke their SIM cards, Poon said.
It was then Li's foot started hurting, and Poon recalled seeing it swollen.
"In my memory he said 'wow, this is exciting, we need to have a stop right here and have some fresh air'," Poon said.
CCTV footage played in court showed the two men travelling in Poon's car to Mission Bay.
They had stopped briefly on their journey from Celtic Crescent to change the license plates on Poon's car.
At Mission Bay, the phones were thrown into the sea, Poon said.
He said Li coached him as they left toward Poon's house to come up with a fake timeline to mislead police.
The fake narrative would be that Li went to Poon's home, chatting into the night, before getting hungry and leaving for McDonald's.
"But unfortunately we have forgotten to bring the money, that's why we travelled around from North Shore to Great South Road," Poon said.
"Mr Li was thinking of and coaching me how to speak to the police if I got caught."
The two parted ways after getting to Poon's house, with Li leaving some of his laundry from the night for Poon to wash.
Jurors were taken through messages from later that morning, attempting to create a cover story for the time they had been at the Kwok's.
Disposing of the body
That same night, the pair had gone back to Celtic Crescent to see if anything had changed.
After, they returned to Towle Place.
Li got into the Kwok's car and drove off with Poon in tow.
They separated on the motorway and met each other again at Kereru Grove in Greenhithe.
They put on gloves and lifted Chong's body out of the car.
"We just throw it down to the slope, Poon said.
The Kwok's car was dumped in Glenfield, and Poon dropped Li back at his house, he said.
The Aftermath
In the days that followed, Li and Poon exchanged more messages and calls over the phone.
When news broke of the Ellerslie Homicide, Poon said he attempted to kill himself. Li went to check on him.
"I remember that he said 'if you die, I can help you to look after your family'," Poon said.
"I think he got the planning of putting all the guilt on my dead body," he said later.
Poon was told by Li to go hide in Hamilton, he said.
He slept in his car.
Li and Poon send messages over WeChat about media coverage of the killings.
"He was saying as long as the police can't find me, there will be nothing happens between myself and Mr Li," Poon told the court.
"I might go back to Hong Kong," Li wrote.
"We should keep in touch every day and let each other know we are OK."
The trial continues on Friday.
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