Updated 4.03pm: The crown has opened its case in the trial for the murder of Cissy Chen in 2012.

The Crown alleges he did it for her money.

Details differ between what the accused, Jack Liu, told police, and crown evidence.

The accused told police he turned right out of their road when he went looking for Ms Chen, after she failed to return from a walk.

But the crown says CCTV footage shows him turning left on the way to dispose of her body in the Totoravale reserve on the North Shore.

The crown also alleges the relationship between Jack Liu and Cissy Chen was unstable.

Prosecutor Brian Dickey says the calls to her two brothers on the afternoon Ms Chen went missing are telling.

"She told them, and this is consistent with the evidence, that she had a furious argument with the defendant, and she intended to make a will of her property, and cut him out of those property interests."

But defence lawyer Mickael Kan says there was no greed and therefore no murder.

"Mr Liu and Ms Chen had been together for more than 8 years. They jointly owned properties, and their finances were intertwined."

The trial could last up to eight weeks at Auckland's High Court.