By Rachel Tiffen and 3news.co.nz staff
A Chinese kitchen hand on trial in Shanghai has admitted murdering Auckland taxi driver, Hiren Mohini.
Zhen Xiao eluded New Zealand police for a week after Mr Mohini was killed in January last year, and then fled to China.
New Zealand police are in Shanghai to work with their Chinese counterparts and explain any unclear evidence.
“The cooperation's been excellent,” says detective senior sergeant Hywel Jones.
Under a deal brokered between the two authorities Zhen is being tried in his home country, despite killing Mr Mohini in New Zealand.
Today he agreed with the prosecution's case.
But it is the judging panel that ultimately decides the verdict.
Inside the court Zhen said he did not mean to kill Mr Mohini. He claimed when he caught his taxi in January last year the pair got chatting, and when Zhen said he worked in a hotel, Mr Mohini was not impressed.
Zhen alleges Mr Mohini said that Asians come to New Zealand to steal jobs, and then a argument broke out in the cab.
Zhen said he asked Mr Mohini to let him out, but he refused without his fare, then things took a horrible turn.
He says he did not mean to kill Mr Mohini or stab him in the heart.
Mr Mohini's widow Falguni told 3 News she did not go to the trial for several reasons; she couldn't afford it and she didn't want to leave the girls, but mainly because she could not face it
Zhen faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and Falguni Mohini hopes he gets it, and hopes he thinks about what he has done every single day.
Apology outside court
The aunt of Zhen has expressed remorse for her nephew’s alleged actions outside Shanghai’s Second Intermediate Court today.
Zhen’s aunt Li Liping said her family has written a letter to the victim's family.
"There's a Chinese saying that if the son breaks the law, it is the father's fault. No one has the right to take someone else's life. We are deeply remorseful," she said.
Li also asked for forgiveness from Mr Mohini's family.
Chinese defence lawyer Jiang Zhengqun also spoke outside court saying:
"Whether we have the trial in China or in New Zealand, I don't think the result would be any different.”
Death penalty
China uses capital punishment – but if Zhen is found guilty he won't face the death penalty, at the request of the New Zealand police.
Doubts have been cast as to whether the Chinese will adhere to the agreement, though.
Prominent defence lawyer John Haigh, QC, told 3 News in June the agreement is “worthless”.
“If it suits the Communist Party of China or the government to not comply with any undertaking then they won’t, so in terms of reliability it’s worthless.”
An international expert in Chinese law (whom we can't name for legal reasons) told 3 News: “They won’t execute him formally, as in you won’t see an execution on this if he goes [to jail], but once he goes within the walls of the prison there is an alarming rate of 'heart attacks' amongst Chinese prisoners - people who have never had heart disease before.”
Zhen might be spared because his crime was not political – he is not a threat to the dictatorial Communist regime.
“If he were a major thorn in Beijing’s side, if he were a leading dissident or somebody who is accused of big time corruption, they might give the assurance and just see that he was taking care of in prison," the expert told 3 News.
“There are a lot of ways of doing that - they sometimes instigate other prisoners to beat and once in a while kill a target, otherwise there is just an alarming number of prominent prisoners who die in prison."
If Zhen is convicted, he will serve his sentence in China.
3 News