DNA evidence links suspect to Auckland couple's double murder in trial

During the ongoing murder trial in Auckland’s High Court, DNA analyst Lauren Parsons testified that the probability of Lok Fung Lorrence Li touching the victims’ car steering wheel is 6 billion times higher than that of a random person, and that blood from Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok matched a Beretta air pistol and a tomahawk recovered from Li’s North Shore home. Similar statistical evidence linked Shu Man Poon to the scene, including a bloodstain on his vehicle’s bumper and his DNA on the tomahawk’s handle.

Defence lawyer Paul Dacre, KC, highlighted contradictions in Poon’s statements and portrayed him as the ringleader of a “thrill killing.” The prosecution argued the motive stemmed from a traffic accident and subsequent Disputes Tribunal case between Li and Kwok. Pathologists Sinead McCarthy and Kilak Kesha detailed how the tomahawk caused fatal stab wounds to Kwok’s aorta and lung, while Chong died from extensive blunt-force head injuries. The trial, postponed briefly due to Justice Jane Anderson’s pneumonia, is set to run through the end of the week.