Accused killer Yang Zhao ‘had sex’ near body of flatmate after allegedly murdering her, putting her in ‘body box’: court

A man charged with the murder of his female flatmate – who was found 10 months after her death stuffed into a large “body box” on an apartment balcony – has admitted he “had sex” close to where the woman had died. Yang Zhao continued to deny he killed his flatmate, Chinese national Qiong Yan, as his trial at Brisbane Supreme Court trial entered its eighth day on Thursday. Mr Zhao has pleaded not guilty to Ms Yan’s murder in September 2020 but guilty to a single count of misconduct with a corpse. The 29-year-old’s body was found by police in July 2021 – some 10 months after she was allegedly killed and put inside the “body box”. The Crown contends Mr Zhao used his flatmate’s phone to impersonate her, transferring thousands of dollars from her accounts to his and convincing Ms Yan’s mother Rongmei to transfer even more money to her daughter. It is alleged he kept up the appearance that Ms Yan was alive by replying to messages on the social media app WeChat, including sending messages to police using Ms Yan’s phone. During cross-examination Mr Zhao told the court that he had decided to put Ms Yan’s body inside a large toolbox, which was stored on the balcony of his Hamilton unit in Brisbane’s northeast, but he “dared not touch her”. “You had sex with someone within metres of where her (Ms Yan’s) body was and also within metres of where she died?” Crown prosecutor Chris Cook asked. “Yes,” Mr Zhao replied. Mr Cook put to Mr Zhao that he went on “living his life” as if nothing had happened following Ms Yan’s death, to which he said “yes”. The exchanges – with Mr Zhao aided by an interpreter – at one point prompted Mr Cook to say: “Do you want to do this in English Mr Zhao?” Over the afternoon, Mr Zhao told the court he “felt relieved” at his arrest because he didn’t feel he need to “pretend” anymore. After Mr Cook accused Mr Zhao of being unable to keep his story straight, Mr Zhao responded: “You’re playing word games with me.” “You need to answer the question please,” Justice Martin Burns interrupted. “There’s no story here,” Mr Zhao told the court. He denied thinking it was “funny” when pressed further by Mr Cook, who suggested it was Qiong Yan’s blood which was found on a couch in the Hamilton unit on the night Mr Zhao killed her. “No,” Mr Zhao said. The Chinese national denied cleaning the unit with dettol wipes after allegedly killing Ms Yan. Mr Zhao told the court he thought some of the blood was “animal blood” - attributing it to his dog throwing up raw meat he had fed to his pet. Mr Zhao recalled his flatmate’s body was “extremely heavy” and he struggled to move it, at times falling over. “Mr Zhao, you’re struggling with this because you’re lying,” Mr Cook said. “I’m not lying,” Mr Zhao replied, reiterating he put Ms Yan’s body inside the box. “What I do remember is her body was extremely heavy, and that in moving the body (it) fell a few times.” “You let her rot forever on your balcony Mr Zhao,” Mr Cook said. “I admitted to the mistake, and I’m willing to accept the consequences,” Mr Zhao responded. “I only thought of myself.” Mr Zhao said he initially did not want to touch Ms Yan’s body, telling the court he drank alcohol to “muster up the courage”. “So you’re just drinking alcohol with a dead body next to you?” Mr Cook asked. “Yes,” Mr Zhao answered. Mr Zhao went on to say his “selfish” reason for not informing authorities was because he was afraid he would be in trouble for giving her “a lot of (nitrous oxide) gas and alcohol”. “I thought that might had been her cause of death,” Mr Zhao said. The trial continues.