Three people have been charged with kidnapping and manslaughter following the death of a woman whose body was found in a bag in the water in Auckland’s Gulf Harbour earlier this year.
The body of 70-year-old Chinese woman Shulai Wang was found in a black rubbish bag in the water in Gulf Harbour on March 12. She was only identified last month.
She came to New Zealand in August last year from China and had no family here.
She had not been reported missing.
A 37-year-old man and two women – aged 36 and 61 – were arrested at a home in Orewa this morning, Acting Detective Inspector Tim Williams said.
The trio have been charged with kidnapping and manslaughter.
“The 37-year-old man and 36-year-old woman are also facing additional charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice and providing false immigration information.
“The man also faces a single additional charge of failing to carry out obligations under the Search and Surveillance Act.”
The 37-year-old and 36-year-old had previously been charged with interfering with human remains.
The trio are in custody and will appear in the North Shore District Court tomorrow.
”Today’s arrests are the result of thousands of hours of investigation work,” Williams said.
“The team has worked countless hours over months, assisted along the way by our colleagues at many other agencies, including NZ Customs and Immigration NZ, trying to piece together who the victim was and what happened to her.
“I appreciate that there will no doubt still be a lot of questions about what happened to Mrs Wang, but as the matter is now before the courts we are limited in what we can say.”
Williams acknowledged the hard work of the investigation team “who has worked painstakingly to provide answers for Mrs Wang’s family”.
“I would also like to thank the dozens of other people outside of the enquiry team who have assisted us, including members of the public who contacted Police with information.”
Police continue to work with Chinese officials to update Wang’s family.
