The man accused of murdering Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao has had another outburst in open court.
Tingjun Cao, who denies the offending, appeared to be unhappy with evidence presented this afternoon.
The 53-year-old, who doesn’t speak English, stood up and began signalling towards his lawyers and waving papers around, before yelling in Mandarin.
He was then ushered out of court, and Justice Lisa Preston adjourned proceedings.
Tingjun Cao, who denies murdering the real estate agent, once again appeared unhappy with court proceedings this afternoon. (Source: 1News)
The trial at the High Court in Christchurch has been interrupted multiple times due to the defendant being in and out of the courtroom.
The defendant stormed out of the trial on Thursday, while making comments claiming the evidence wasn’t the truth.
The judge addressed his presence in the room this morning, saying: “As you can see, Mr Cao is present in the court today, seated in the dock. That is the arrangement that will best assist today and that may or may not change from here on in.”
He had previously been sitting near his lawyers.
‘He was after a spade’ — store owner
The outburst followed evidence from the owner of a New Brighton hardware store, which Cao’s alleged to have visited on July 19 2023.
The crown case is he went there after meeting Yanfei Bao at a property in Hornby, attacking her, and departing with her body in his car boot.
The prosecution argues he was buying a spade so he could bury her on the outskirts of Christchurch.
The jury was shown CCTV footage from the store, of a man seeking help from the store owner.
Dennis Shrimpton said when the customer arrived he was “holding his phone and speaking to it”.
“He showed me the phone, but nothing there was readable.”
Shrimpton described the man as Asian with a medium build, and said he didn’t speak English.
The court heard the customer eventually gave up on his phone and starting physically acting out what he was looking for.
“I thought he wanted something to fold up, but no, that wasn’t it.
“He then indicated, sort of a digging motion.”
The owner said he was still confused until the man then “clearly indicated he wanted to dig a hole”.
Asking to stand up, Shrimpton mimicked the movement in court.
“That told me he was after a spade.”
Shrimpton said he took the customer to the gardening section, and that he soon returned to the counter with a spade.
Defence counsel Joshua Macleod asked Shrimpton if he recalled any marks on the man’s hands. He could not.
“Or any blood staining on his clothing?” Maclead asked.
“I recall a stain above his left knee-ish area,” Shrimpton replied.
The judge dismissed the jury earlier than scheduled today, reminding them not to discuss the case with anyone and to “keep an open mind”.
The trial continues tomorrow.
By Laura James and Katie Stevenson
