Man accused in murder told police he used power saw to cut up body

A man accused in the murder of West Vancouver millionaire Gang Yuan confessed to police that after he shot the victim, he used a power saw to cut up the body parts.

Li Zhao told police that soon after the shooting, his wife and mother-in-law returned home from a walk to find Yuan’s body in the driveway of the British Properties home.

“They were so horrified, I think they wanted to call ... for emergency because I knew he was not going to make it,” Zhao told RCMP Const. Wilson Yung during a statement he made at the Vancouver Police Department following his arrest.

Zhao, who was a business partner of the victim, and his wife and his mother-in-law were at the time living at the home, which was owned by Yuan.

Zhao told Yung that he told his wife and her mom to “leave right away” because he felt they were going to suffer a breakdown or lose their minds, according to a videotape of Zhao’s statement played in court Friday.

After his two family members left the scene, Zhao said he dragged Yuan’s body into the garage and wanted to “discard” the corpse, but didn’t at first know what to do before deciding to use an electrical saw to cut up the body. It has previously been revealed that Yuan’s body was cut up into more than 100 pieces.

Zhao was asked by Yung what he did with the “stuff ” — an apparent reference to the body parts — after cutting up the body.

“After I cut him up, then I piled them up there, piled them up inside the garage,” replied Zhao. “After piling inside the garage, I was yet to decide what to do.”

Zhao told the cop that he placed the body parts in plastic bags and then cleaned the power saw in the kitchen. He said he also cleaned a hammer that was wielded during a fight between Zhao and Yuan that preceded the shooting.

Friday was the second day of the videotape, introduced into evidence by Crown counsel Kristin Bryson, being played for B.C. Supreme Court Justice Terence Schultes. Zhao’s lawyers are challenging the admissibility of the statement, arguing that it should be excluded because Zhao’s rights were violated.

Asked by Yung why he didn’t call the police after he started cutting up the body, Zhao responded that the victim was dead, and he was “very scared.”

“I was worried that this, this, like, in any case, I’ll leave it to fate. If I get caught, I get caught.…”

Zhao, 56, has pleaded not guilty to the May 2015 second-degree murder of Yuan, 42, and not guilty to interfering with a human body. The trial is expected to continue Monday.