Ex says Zhong feared for safety
A former boyfriend of businesswoman Elizabeth Zhong stayed with her during the first Covid19 lockdown because she feared for her safety, a court heard.
The Crown’s case is Zhong’s former business partner Fang Sun entered her home with a knife, then stabbed her multiple times
However, the defence says Sun, who is on trial for Zhong’s murder, is not a murderer and someone else killed the businesswoman.
Elizabeth (Ying) Zhong’s body was found on November 28, 2020, after she was reported missing.
Sun was charged with Zhong’s murder 11 weeks after her death.
On Monday, Zhong’s former boyfriend Kai Gui Zheng told the court the pair had met at a function in early 2019 before then becoming partners for six months.
The pair had common interests in the film industry and incorporated a film company together called Passion Pictures Group Ltd.
The pair remained friends after the breakup.
Zheng stayed at Zhong’s Sunnyhills home with her during the first Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020.
‘‘She was depressed, and her life pressure was quite a lot,’’ Zheng said.
‘‘She was severely depressed and didn’t feel safe and was willing to ask me to go and be with her.’’
After the lockdown, Zheng moved back out and saw her once or twice before Zhong was killed. However, Zheng recalled meeting Sun once when he dropped Zhong off at a business meeting.
While the pair were together, they took a trip to China where Zhong used Zheng’s Chinese bank account to transfer about $20,000 of her inheritance.
‘‘She did not have a Chinese account so I covered all the expenses.’’
That account was later frozen, Zheng told the court.
During the week leading up to Zhong’s death, Zheng told the jury he took a trip to Ruatoria on the East Coast.
He returned on November 27 and texted Zhong’s daughter the following day asking where she was because he had not heard from her.
‘‘I just got back to Auckland, please let me know if your mum is at home or in hospital,’’ Zheng said in a text.
Zheng told the court he found out Zhong was missing and was worried because of a previous suicide attempt in October.
At that point he was not aware Zhong was dead.
‘‘I put my mountain bike into my car and drove to east Auckland where we used to take walks on the footpath.’’
The court heard Zheng texted Zhong’s daughter wanting to start a search party.
On November 29, Zheng found out Zhong’s body had been found.
‘‘I was very sad.’’
Sun and Zhong became business partners in 2014 and invested about $28 million together into several businesses in New Zealand.
The pair then fell out and Sun claimed Zhong owed him millions of dollars.
The Crown’s case is Sun became angry about losing the money and took steps to hire a private investigator before then killing her in November 2020 – Sun is alleged to have entered Zhong’s home and stabbed her 20 times.
‘‘The killer nearly cut her head off.’’
However, Sun’s lawyer Sam Wimsett said his client did not kill Zhong, and it could have been another one of the ‘‘suspicious characters’’ involved in the trial.
The murder trial before Justice Neil Campbell and a jury continues.