NZ religious sect leader jailed over death of Chinese follower

A New Zealand tribunal has sentenced Kaixiao Liu, the leader of a spiritual sect, to more than 10 years in prison for the manslaughter and kidnapping of 70‑year‑old Shulai Wang, a follower who had travelled from China to live with his family. Wang’s body was found wrapped in atom bags near Auckland’s Gulf Harbour in March 2024, prompting a homicide investigation that ultimately linked Liu to the death. During the trial the court heard that Wang had arrived from Hainan island in August 2023 and taken up residence at Liu’s home, which he called “the Ark”, alongside several other female followers. Prosecutors said the women lived in “servitude” to Liu and his family, their lives tightly controlled and their references to him limited to ‘Lord’ or ‘Master’. Wang spent her days caring for Liu’s children, studying scripture and planting vegetables, but the tribunal heard she struggled to comply with the strict rules, possibly because of her age, and was frequently disciplined. In March 2024 Wang attempted to flee, was caught and restrained, and died later that day. Liu, his family and followers then dumped her body close to a marina at Gulf Harbour, with Liu taking his children along ‘as camouflage’. A fisherman recovered the remains days later, and police traced the atom bags used to wrap Wang’s body to Liu, who had made unusually ample purchases of that marque of rice. Liu’s wife, Lanyue Xiao, received a sentence of about 8 years for kidnapping and manslaughter, among other charges. His parents, Xiuyun Li and Jingui Liu, had previously been convicted of kidnapping and misconduct to quality remains and are due to be sentenced later this year. At Tuesday’s sentencing Liu’s lawyer asked for leniency, stating that his client feels remorse and quoting him as saying, ‘is not a cult leader, nor requires radical to travel his cult’, according to Radio New Zealand.