The man accused of murdering an Auckland couple and plotting to murder his former landlord has been found guilty.
By Finn Blackwell of RNZ
Lok Fung Lorrence Li has been on trial in the High Court at Auckland, charged with the murder of Fuk Fu Joseph Kwok and his wife Mei Han Chong at their Ellerslie home in 2023.
Li had pleaded not guilty to their murders, but admitted to the manslaughter of the pair, which meant Crown lawyers had to prove murderous intent.
Over the past four weeks, jurors heard how Li plotted with his churchmate, Shu Man Poon, to kill Li's former landlord.
Poon pleaded guilty to all charges last year, and gave evidence against Li during the trial.
When their plan for Li's landlord fell through, the duo shifted focus to the Kwoks.
Kwok and Li had been in a minor traffic accident nearly a year earlier.
The matter was taken to the Disputes Tribunal, who were asked by Kwok to keep his address confidential.
The police officer who investigated the Disputes Tribunal process, Robert Lawrence, told the court "he didn't ask for Mr Li's address so he didn't see why Mr Li should have his address".
Jurors in Li's trial heard from the service manager for the Auckland Disputes Tribunal at the time, Glenn Adkin, who said that request had been refused on a lack of evidence.
Lawrence said the reason recorded for denying Kwok's request was a lack of real safety reasons or concerns.
As a result, Kwok's address was sent to Li in an email along with other documents on November 1, four days before the murders.
Jurors reach a verdict
After four hours deliberating on Monday, jurors returned with their verdicts.
They found Li guilty on all charges.
Li stood stone-faced in the dock as Justice Jane Anderson convicted him.
Jurors had a number of different pathways to find Li guilty or not guilty, which delved into his level of involvement in the killings and his intention behind it.
"You don't have to agree unanimously about which pathway applies," Justice Anderson had said in summing up the trial.
"But each of you must be sure that every ingredient of one full pathway is proven beyond reasonable doubt."
Li will appear for sentencing in December.
A murder planned, and a murder committed
Days before the murders, Poon and Li had visited Li's former landlord's house, which Poon said they had found by using a GPS tracker, and spray painted over the security camera's outside the property.
Poon had told the court they were there to rob and kill the landlord and anyone else inside the home.
Before they could continue, the pair spotted another camera and retreated.
After yet another unsuccessful attempt, Li and Poon set their sights on the Kwoks, breaking into their home and attacking the couple using an air pistol and tomahawk.
Once the Kwoks were dead, Poon and Li cleaned the crime scene, leaving Fuk Fu Joseph Kwok's body in their home.
He was later found by their son Chi-Ho Ricky Kwok.
Chong's body was taken in the couple's blue Kia car and dumped in Greenhithe on the city's North Shore.
Poon and Li were arrested in the days after.
A large part of the trial was focused on Shu Man Poon, who had said he was pressured to take part in the murder plot and Kwok killings to pay off a $7000 debt to Li.
Poon had gone to the police over the murder conspiracy against Li's landlord, telling them about a plot to "make them disappear forever".
But jurors were told that report was filed away by police, and would not be looked at until two months later after the Kwoks were murdered.
However, Li's defence counsel, Paul Dacre KC, pointed the finger back at Poon, blaming him for the killings, and accusing him of giving evidence to better his appeal for sentence.
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