‘Body box’: Court told of horror find on Qld balcony as man pleads not guilty to murder of Qiong Yan, 29

A jury has been told of a man’s alleged chilling act of deception, just after he allegedly murdered his flatmate and put her in a “body box”.

A man accused of murdering a woman and stuffing her body in a “body box” on his balcony allegedly assumed her identity for almost a year, convincing the slain woman’s mother to transfer more than $400,000 for his use, a court has been told.

Yang Zhao – who is on trial for the murder of Qiong Yan, 29 – is alleged to have stored the body of the Chinese national in the large-sized toolbox, located on the balcony of his Hamilton unit in Brisbane’s southeast, after killing Ms Yan, crown prosecutor Chris Cook told a Supreme Court jury on Monday.

The jury of 12 was shown a virtual walk-through of the apartment on Parkside Circuit in Hamilton, including the “body box”.

“That’s not my word, that’s Mr Zhao’s word,” Mr Cook said.

“Body box is how he describes what he’s got on his balcony.”

Mr Zhao pleaded not guilty to Ms Yan’s murder during his arraignment, but guilty to a charge of misconduct with a corpse.

The body of Qiong Yan, 29, was found in a large box on a balcony in Hamilton, Brisbane in July 2021. Picture: Supplied

Yang Zhao has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Yan, his flatmate. Picture: Supplied

The jury was told police opened the box and found Ms Yan’s body on July 19, 2021.

“(She had) been there for about 10 months,” Mr Cook said.

Mr Zhao – who was in Australia on a student visa which expired in April 2020 – and Ms Yan had been flatmates at the time, renting the unit for $750 per week.

Mr Cook told the court Mr Zhao was someone who “loved to gamble” on stock markets and poker games, but lost “lots of money”.

The Chinese national was weeks in arrears for rent at the time.

Mr Cook told the jury they would hear evidence Ms Yan and her Shanghai-based mother Rongmeihad received a significant amount of money from a property payout in China.

The court was told the Crown alleged Mr Zhao murdered Ms Yan in September 2020 by “delivering a blow or blows” to her head before strangling her, causing her death, then hiding her body in the toolbox – and at the time he at least had an intention to cause her grievous bodily harm.

Mr Cook said the Crown alleged Mr Zhao pretended to be Ms Yan for 10 months after her death – using her phone to communicate with friends and family.

The Crown alleges Mr Zhao (centre) assumed his flatmates identity, transferring thousands of dollars from her bank account to his own and posed as Ms Yan to convince her mother to transfer even more money. Picture: Channel 9

“He becomes her,” Mr Cook said.

“Murdering for money can be a profitable crime if you get away with it.

“And that’s exactly what Yang Zhao did for 10 months.”

The court was told Mr Zhao gained access to his former flatmate’s banking apps after taking her phone – transferring some $200,000 of dollars from her bank account to his over the 10 months.

Mr Cook said the Crown would allege Mr Zhao also convinced Ms Yan’s mother – while posing as her daughter on her phone – to transfer more than $400,000 into Ms Yan’s account.

A $302,000 Porsche Ms Yan purchased was allegedly transferred into Mr Zhao’s name.

Mr Cook said Mr Yan sold her MacBook tablet for $750 and cancelled her Anytime Fitness gym membership in October.

He told the jury Mr Zhao allegedly lied to both Queensland and NSW Police who were inquiring about Ms Yan’s whereabouts after a missing person’s report was filed in April 2021.

This included alleged claims Ms Yan had moved to Melbourne to work.

Mr Zhao was alleged to have sent messages to Ms Yan’s family while posing as her – claiming she was “too ashamed” to come home.

The jury was told Ms Yan’s mother Rongmei received a video call from her daughter’s account which purported to show a female hand patting a cat.

Mr Cook explained Ms Yan had previously owned a cat and the video was sent shortly after the missing person’s report was made.

This allegedly continued when he texted an apology to NSW Police using Ms Yan’s phone, apologising for not turning up to a police station.

The court was told upon his arrest in Sydney, Mr Zhao allegedly asked a detective if he would “get the death penalty”.

Defence barrister Andrew Hoare, in his address to the jury, urged them to pay close attention to Mr Zhao’s interviews with police.

He emphasised his client had only pleaded guilty to a charge of misconduct with a corpse and was still presumed to be innocent on the charge of murder, due to his not guilty plea.

Mr Hoare pointed to Mr Zhao’s alleged comments in those interviews about Qiong Yan’s death.

“What he’s (Mr Zhao) saying about causing the death of Ms Yan is simply not true,” Mr Hoare said.

“You might think that difference in the quality and content of his recollection, of that singular event what the Crown says is the wilful and intentional killing (of Ms Yan) is simply unclear.”

Acupuncturist Shu Ming Yeh said he last saw Ms Yan in September 2020, where she complained about ‘high stress’. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Ms Yan’s mother Rongmei and Lu Xu, who was a friend of Qiong Yan, are among multiple witnesses to be called over the course of the trial.

On Monday afternoon, acupuncturist Shu Ming Yeh gave evidence Ms Yan had visited his Coorparoo business on September 22, 2020.

He told the court she spoke of having “high stress” and had some eczema on her ankle.

Another witness, Detective Senior Constable Kelly Womersley, gave evidence of her assessment of a purchase receipt from a Bunnings Warehouse made by Mr Zhao in Newstead.The receipt, shown to the jury, listed purchases for a 240L “tough chest”, scotch duct tape and a pair of gloves, totalling $234.55.

The trial, before Justice Martin Burns, continues.

Originally published as ‘Body box’: Court told of horror find on Qld balcony as man pleads not guilty to murder of Qiong Yan, 29