Lanyue Xiao and her husband Kaixiao Liu.
Officers investigating the death of Chinese woman Shulai Wang found the body wrapped in five layers of plastic bags and tied to stones weighing more than 15 kilograms.
The Crown said Wang, 70, came to New Zealand in 2023 from China's Hainan province to seek religious instruction from one of the accused, Kaixiao Liu.
Liu, his wife Lanyue Xiao, mother Xiuyun Li and father Jingui Liu have been accused of the kidnapping and manslaughter of Wang and were facing trial in the Auckland High Court.
The Crown said Wang was one of six women who lived "in servitude" to Liu's family at a house in Orewa, and that Wang was starved and punished after breaking the rules of the house and attempting to escape.
