The content of numerous documents found at a house in the centre of a police investigation into the death of Chinese woman Shulai Wang was heard in court.
It contained revealing details of the "unconventional" lives of residents of the house, including residing women pledging their souls and bodies to a defendant, and what happened in the days before and after Wang's death.
Black rubbish bags containing a human body were found at the Gulf Harbour Marina in March 2024, and the police later confirmed that it was 70-year-old Wang from China's Hainan province.
Four family members - Kaixiao Liu, his wife Lanyue Xiao and his mother Xiuyun Li and father Jingui Liu - have each denied the manslaughter and kidnapping of Wang and were facing trial at the Auckland High Court.
The defendants chose to represent themselves, with the assistance of standby lawyers.
