This article was first published on 11 May 2021.
A man has been sentenced to 19 months and two weeks in prison for helping bury a man's body in the central North Island and keeping quiet about the killing for two years.
Bao Chang Wang - known as Ricky Wang. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
Bao Chang or 'Ricky' Wang's remains were found near Desert Road in 2020.
Yu Gaoxiang acted as a "scout" when the remains of Bao Chang or 'Ricky' Wang were buried near Desert Road and entombed in concrete in 2017.
A total of five men were arrested by police after a tip-off from one of them led detectives to the Desert Road burial site last year.
The 24-year-old from China was sentenced in the High Court in Auckland this morning, after entering a guilty plea. He was already in prison for drug-related crimes and was set to be deported when released.
Crown lawyer Joanne Lee noted that Yu's efforts to conceal Wang's death happened "knowingly".
"At no point ... did he report it to the police," she said.
However, the lawyer acting for Yu, Gary Gotlieb, described him "as a young 20-year-old, lost in this country."
"On the way back [from the burial], he was so 'freaked out' that he was speeding, and he was stopped by the police," he said.
Justice Edwin Wylie noted that Yu had appeared in court five times since 2017, is currently serving a six-year sentence for drug related offending and is in a rehabilitative programme.
Yu had driven in a "pilot vehicle" while Wang's body was transported in a freezer in the vehicle behind, he said.
"When you saw the deceased, you were shocked but felt obliged to help your friend despite being very reluctant."
Justice Wylie said Wang "acted at the request of a good friend to help out."
He said Yu told authorities he felt "relieved" when he was arrested and said what happened with the body was a "surreal" experience.
However, Justice Wylie said the impacts on the Wang family were "devastating".
Two children had been left behind, he said, and Wang's father had a heart attack upon hearing of his death.
"He is struggling to accept the fact his son is dead, and he is unable to eat or sleep."
Justice Wylie said the likelihood of Yu reoffending was assessed as medium, and the offending was premeditated and "relatively serious".
"There are no mitigating factors to the offending," he said.