Murder accused was in dispute with chopped-up millionaire, trial hears
VANCOUVER — A man accused of murdering a West Vancouver millionaire and chopping up his body was under stress due to a dispute with the victim and had been “acting crazy” just before the slaying, a judge heard Tuesday.
Li Zhao, 56, has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder of Gang Yuan, 42, whose body was found chopped into 100 pieces in his British Properties mansion in May 2015.
On Monday, the opening day of Zhao’s trial, Sgt. Aaron Kazuta, the leader of a police emergency response team, testified that before their arrival at the home, they’d been told that a body had been found in the driveway by a family member, that there was a “lot of blood” and that the suspect was at the scene.
He told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Terence Schultes that there were also reports that a man had been seen pacing back and forth inside the home at 963 King Georges Way with a rifle over his shoulder and, at one point, a hammer in his hands.
Police were told that the suspect was seen washing power tools in a sink, said Kazuta.
When the officers approached the home in a bulletproof police vehicle, Zhao came out of the home, turned around and got down on the ground before being arrested.
Kazuta was testifying during a voir dire, or a trial-within-a-trial, at which Zhao’s lawyers are challenging the admissibility of statements that the accused made to police following his arrest. They are seeking to have Zhao’s confession thrown out of court.
West Vancouver police Sgt. Tom Wolff von Gudenberg said he was told that Zhao and the victim were in business together in an agricultural company and that they were having legal problems with the company.
He said he was told the suspect had been “acting crazy lately.”