Emily Ansell: Newstalk ZB reporter on the High Court hearing the first evidence in Tingjun Cao's murder trial

The High Court in Christchurch has heard the first evidence in the murder trial of Tingjun Cao.

He's accused of killing estate agent Yanfei Bao.

Newstalk ZB's Emily Ansell says Bao's partner, Paul Gooch, realised something was wrong when Bao hadn't picked up her daughter from after-school care.

"He said when he got home, he checked the dishwasher to see if Bao's lunch dishes were there - as usually, she'd come home and eat. But they weren't." 

Court adjourned early today, for various reasons including translation issues.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now, the partner of Jan Fei Bao has told the
High Court in christ Church about the moment he realized
something was wrong. The Crown is claiming that the christ
Church real estate was murdered by Tingjin Chow. He denies
this Newstalks he'd be reporter Emily Ansel's been caught again
today for us. Hey Emily, Now, what did the partner,
Paul Gooch say about the last time he saw her?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, he said today that the last time he saw
his partner was in the morning that she disappeared. He
said he got up before seven and followed the usual routine,
but Bao was asleep when he left, so he gave
her a kiss on the forehead before hitting out the door.
He says limited communication between them during the day was
usual as their jobs were busy. He did send her

(00:41):
a text after work saying, Hi, honey, just heading to
the gym. Now catch up when I'm back home later,
but unfortunately he did return to a dark house.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
When did he realize something must be wrong?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, he said that while he was picking up takeaways
after the gym, he realized he'd had a few missed
calls from the after school care company where Youngfaye's daughter
was at and so once home, a neighbor informed him
that the school care after schoolcare staff had been had
stopped by to try and see if anyone was home
and to let them know that no one had collected her.

(01:14):
It was the plan for young Fabau to pick her up.
He said. When he got home, he checked the dishwasher
to see if bows lunch dishes were there, as usually
she would come home and eat, but they weren't, And
so after that calling her frequently, she wasn't packing up.
And then when he picked his daughter up from the
police station and friends weren't able to get in touch.
That's when he said he grew really concerned and eventually

(01:36):
reported her missing at about ten thirty.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Sounds like he got a little bit testy when the
accused lawyer was questioning him.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
So throughout most of the cross examination from both the
Crown and defense, he was very calm considering the circumstances,
but there was a slight rise intention so the defense
asked a couple questions about arrangements, current arrangements with her
daughter schooling and where she's living. And at one point
when the defense lawyer, Colin Eson referred to Bao as missing.

(02:06):
When speaking about her daughter, Gooch replied, her mother is
not missing. Her mother is dead, and there was some
audible frustration there. Earlier on, he had also corrected Ethan's
pronunciation of her daughter's nickname and then appeared to call
him a prack under his breath once cross examination finished.
But as I said, throughout most of the questioning, he

(02:28):
was very cool, calm and collected.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
It appeared all right, hey, thank you very much. Emily appreciated.
Emily Ansel News Talks.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
He'd be reportable for more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive.
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