Latest news with #PaulGooch
RNZ News
12-06-2025
- RNZ News
Tingjun Cao to be sentenced for murder of Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao
Tingjun Cao in the Christchurch High Court wearing a bandage on his neck. Photo: NZME/George Heard Chinese national Tingjun Cao will today be sentenced for the murder of Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao. Cao lured the 44-year-old to a Hornby home under the pretence of wanting to view the property before attacking her, putting her in the boot of his car and killing her on a remote rural road near Lincoln on 19 July, 2023. He buried her in a shallow grave along the treeline of a farm in Greenpark where police found her remains almost a year later. Missing Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao Photo: RNZ / NZ Police Bao's husband Paul Gooch reported her missing the day she vanished after discovering his wife had not collected her daughter from an after-school programme, had not come home for lunch and calls to her phone went unanswered. Police found Bao's phone in grass beside the Christchurch Southern Motorway two days later. Cao was arrested at Christchurch Airport in the days after her disappearance with a one-way ticket to Shanghai. He was initially charged with Bao's kidnapping but the charged was later dropped. Cao was charged with murder in September 2023. A jury found the 54-year-old guilty following a seven-week High Court trial, during which he sacked his defence lawyers and represented himself with the help of a trio of interpreters. Justice Lisa Preston repeatedly warned Cao about asking irrelevant questions, making meandering and repetitive statements, and accusing witnesses of lying. The prosecution described the case against Cao as an "absolute slam dunk" with compelling and overwhelming evidence demonstrating his guilt. An abundance of digital data placed Cao and Bao together at the time of her disappearance and death and, ultimately, where her body was found. DNA also linked the pair to the Hornby property from which Bao disappeared. Cao's palm print was found on her broken cellphone, including on the internal battery, and there was a photo of a naked woman's body taken by Cao's phone and later deleted. His defence centred around a conspiracy and alternative perpetrator named Mr Tang, who Cao was unable to prove existed. Cao claimed police officers had lied, fabricated, planted evidence and doctored images and videos to frame him. In delivering his closing argument, he regularly turned and spoke to the glass panes of an empty dock and at other times rambled through measurements and minutiae which were difficult to link to his innocence or the case. Following the guilty verdict Gooch yelled at Bao: "You might want to get a refund on that plane ticket you scum bag." Tingjun Cao in the dock of the Christchurch High Court facing the jury on a charge of murder relating to real estate agent Yanfei Bao. Photo: The Press / Peter Meecham Outside court, Gooch detailed the enormity of his family's loss. "Coming to terms with this devastating loss has been an incredibly challenging journey, especially considering the complete lack of remorse displayed by the individual responsible," he said. "His actions throughout this trial have highlighted a profound absence of humanity." Detective Inspector Nicola Reeves paid tribute to Bao's family. "This was no ordinary case and it will leave a lasting impact on all staff involved including myself," she said. "We would like to acknowledge the strength of Yanfei Bao's family who have endured a terribly distressing experience. "Our thoughts are with Yanfei's family and while the verdict has been reached, this is just one part of the healing process. I acknowledge the strength they have shown and, while the outcome does not bring Yanfei back, I hope they take some comfort knowing that the person responsible will be held accountable." Justice Preston will sentence Cao at the High Court in Christchurch. The Sentencing Act contains a presumption convicted murderers will be sentenced to life imprisonment unless such a sentence is manifestly unjust. If sentenced to life, Cao would spend no less than a decade behind bars, but Justice Preston could also engage section 104 of Sentencing Act allowing judges to impose a non-parole period of at least 17 years for particularly egregious murders. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Daily Mirror
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'I worked behind the scenes on huge TV show - syphilis was our biggest challenge'
EXCLUSIVE: Behind your favourite TV shows are a team of creatives who work tirelessly to produce the biggest and best episodes. We chat to some of the experts... You sit in front of the TV and look for something to watch - do you choose Baby Reindeer on Netflix or maybe a historical series like Mary & George? Perhaps you want to tune into the latest series of Industry or sob at One Day? Whatever you choose, you'll be watching the work of a team of creatives who work long hours to ensure the end product is visually compelling. Ahead of the BAFTA Craft Awards this weekend, we spoke to the creatives behind some of this year's most captivating and exciting shows. Fake pox, tattoo bruises and wigs Paul Gooch, who worked on Sky's hit series Mary & George, shared details on what went into creating the elaborate hair styles and make-up for the historical drama. "We needed to create a form of Pox for our lead actor," he explained. "It could have been syphilis, a skin disease of a form of small pox. In the script it was non specific. "And for another character a full blown case of syphilis which are away at the soft bone tissue of the face. To do these effects we used a combination of tattoo transfers and pro bondo sculpted prosthetics. It took five of us an hour to achieve, along with a red rash, as it had to cover the actor's whole body. "Fun to do but very time consuming and man power heavy, for speed. Death, disease and ageing were a large part of this shows remit." In order to help with continuity, Paul shared bruising would be created as tattoo transfers so they're "fast to apply and always identical". Unfortunately when it comes to continuity, the weather can prove challenging for the hair and make-up team as Paul explained: "Maintaining elaborate hair styles in these conditions is a major part of our work alongside continuity, making sure things stay the same, so we don't give problems to the editors. "When using wigs and facial hair these require gluing to the skin. Damp weather will affect this too. Long working hours are also a factor. An average filming day for the makeup/hair department is around 16 to 18 hours long so maintaining these highly stylised looks is a long game. We use heavy duty hair products to help keep these sculptural styles." 'Electric' performances and 'tricky' scenes Industry writers Mickey Down and Konrad Kay had the job of showcasing Sagar Radia's character Rishi Ramdani's struggle with gambling. Reflecting on why the episode focussing on Rishi's downfall had such an impact, they shared: "Because of its relentless pace and the fact the script turned the screws on the character at every available opportunity, married to Sagar's electric performance. Very hard to take your eyes off him. Very volatile. Very unpredictable." Meanwhile, writer of Netflix hit One Day, Nicole Taylor, detailed how creating the script was much harder than she anticipated. "The greatest challenge was probably figuring out what the 'motor' of each episode would be," she explained. "In a story like this about people and a relationship over time, without any particular 'plot' as such, without traditional TV 'hooks', how could I lock viewers into this story? How could I make sure they never looked away? "The hardest scenes to write were those in episode 14 and the opening scenes were tricky too. It was all quite tricky! Trickier than I expected – ha. With material that brilliant, one might have hoped it was a cut and paste job but alas no!" The scenes you'll never see Baby Reindeer took Netflix by storm when it quietly dropped on the streamer in early 2024. It had viewers gripped from start to finish but fans might be surprised to learn key scenes were cut from the series. Editor Benjamin Gerstein divulged: "I think scenes that end up on the cutting room floor mostly end up there for a reason. Sometimes you have to lose moments you love in order for the whole episode or series to work best. Having said that, there was a bar-fight I really liked that we ended up losing. "It was tragic and funny but didn't fit the overall thrust of the episode as we accelerated towards the end." Reflecting on the challenges he faced when editing, Benjamin shared: "There were some pretty traumatic sequences in the show, and cutting them was challenging on an emotional as well as technical level. "I found it meant making yourself both emotionally available and objectively distant at the same time so that you could feel what the audience might feel in watching and also have the capacity to make creative decisions that were more measured." The BAFTA TV Craft Awards are on 27th April
