7
Wang’s lover, Soo Jin, was the prosecution’s star witness. According to her evidence, the fight broke out seconds after she stepped back out onto the balcony. Glubb took this as evidence that Wang simply exploded, saw red, snapped, grabbed his WILD WOLF knife and went berserk.
But her evidence also played in Wang’s favour. She said that when Wang saw the two men, one of them silently gestured to him by raising his arm and beckoning him to come closer with his index finger. She told the court, ‘I thought the visitors were upset or angry. The reason was because Asian people do not call people like that.’
No one calls people like that unless they want a fight. ‘Upset, angry’; were they armed?
8
Detective Sergeant Joe Aumua said, ‘During our inquiries, we kept hearing from the Chinese community that they thought this guy Chris Wang was untouchable. And to some extent, he was.’
It may be regarded as incredible that Wang had only ever been held in custody for six weeks after his arrest on two charges of murder. His former lawyer, David Jones, successfully applied for Wang to be released on bail. The police appealed, wanted him kept banged up until he came to trial, but got nowhere.
When the first trial was abandoned, the man accused of butchering two people with a hunting knife left the court with my business card, and went home. I called around the next day.
9
Chris Wang said grandly, ‘I live good quality.’ We met at his own house on Salisbury Road in St Lukes. ‘Here, you can see.’ He waved his hand in a broad gesture, taking in the oak table, the faux Victorian chairs, the pompous grandfather clock. They looked very expensive. ‘Of course! I never live poor quality. I always live very nice quality.’
He was vain, trim, small, muscled, fit, shrill, and very courteous. A handsome man, with a kind of regal bearing. His hair was cut short. He had a nice smile. He talked a lot. He was likeable, a good host, quite charming. He stayed on the move; there wasn’t anything languid about him. It was hard not to stare at his hands.
We drank green tea, and sat at his kitchen table. An old lady who didn’t speak a word of English watered a pot plant. The clock bonged. It was a dark house, dimly lit — bizarrely, Wang was arrested four months after the killings, accused of stealing $164.96 of light switches from Bunnings in Mt Roskill. No doubt they were quality switches.
Wang talked about arriving in New Zealand from Shanghai with only $50 in his pocket. ‘I do everything. Mow lawn, cut the tree, do the painting, the plumbing, the carpentry. Then I bought a house for $10,000 in Beach Haven and sell it for $150,000. I think I’m very clever! I think, “Oh, I’m rich!” New Zealand give me everything.’
He loved it here, he said. Fishing, and hunting, and bush walks. ‘But very bad memories here. I will probably move back to China.’
First, though, there was the matter of his criminal trial for double-murder. Was he worried that he’d be found guilty? He said, ‘Worried? Why you think I worried? I tell the truth. The evidence tells the truth.’
The story he told about the killings on Stilwell Road began with his claim that Michael Wu and Tom Zhong had threatened him for months, demanding repayments, and blithely walking in and taking his furniture.
‘I say to Michael, “I can get your money back, but give me a bit of time.” I scared. I want to keep him away. He play rugby. He very strong. He say, “Chris, you start from nothing to now you have plenty. I can make you nothing again.”
‘They just come into my home, my gate all broken, it happen all the time. Yes, they take furniture! Of course! All the time! Michael take one container — all the nice furniture. Beautiful, much better than that!’ He waved a hand again at the somber grandfather clock. ‘I always get nice furniture. The best. I pay millions of dollar. Michael take and say, “Oh, got anything else?” And reach out and grab things. Just like that!’
He told another story. He said he came home one day and found Tom having sex with his wife in the movie room. ‘I was quite angry with that. At that time Tom was quite good friends with me. I tell Tom, “We never ever be friends. You just out.” I angry with my wife. I say, “You are so bad! Why you do that?” She think she divorce me, she get the lot. She have no money! Poor! She from very poor family. I pay everything. We meet in China. At that time she so nice to me. So nice! Even I put my shoes on, I never need to — she will kneel down and do it. Just like that . . .’
But his wife owned four houses in Auckland, including Stilwell Road. They were in her name. Police believed that she had all the money, that Wang was penniless.
As the only one of the three men left alive after the killings at Stilwell Road, he told the same story he gave to police. Michael and Tom appeared at the top of the stairs. Michael attacked him with a knife. ‘I push the knife away. Because I learn kung fu a long time ago. No one know.’ He ran and grabbed his WILD WOLF. ‘I scared. In shock. I in my pyjama.’ There was a struggle. Michael was impaled on the knife. ‘He get two cuts. He [the pathologist] say 23 cuts. But the others just scratch. Real cuts, just two.’
The maths is false. The postmortem carried out on Michael identified a stab wound above the hip which entered the peritoneal
