Chinese student murders reappear in NZ court

Name suppression has been lifted Wednesday for three men allegedly involved in the murder of a Chinese student, whose body was found floating in a suitcase in Auckland's Waitemata Harbor on April 14.

The three accused appeared in Auckland District Court for their pre-depositions hearing.

Zheng Li, 21, was charged with murder and kidnapping.

Yuxi Wang, 20, faces one kidnapping charge and one charge of tampering with evidence to help others avoid conviction.

Lianda Yin, 21, was also charged with tampering with evidence to help others avoid conviction.

Police said that Biao Wan, 19, was killed in an Auckland hotel room in the early hours of Good Friday.

His body was stuffed into a suitcase and dumped into the Waitemata Harbour, where it was sighted by fishermen later that day.

The discovery of Wan's body came several hours after his parents in China received a ransom demand for 800,000 NZ dollars ( 4 million RMB yuan).

None of the money was paid.

The three accused will reappear in court for a depositions hearing on Sept. 4.

Source: Xinhua