In January 2020, as Elizabeth Zhong and business partner Fang Sun were engaged in a heated civil battle over control of their multi-million-dollar company, Zhong filed a sworn affidavit to the court stating that Sun warned her he had gang connections overseas and she wasn't safe. 

Eleven months later, Zhong would be found dead – stabbed over 20 times – in the boot of her Land Rover. 

The affidavit and multiple other threat reports were read aloud to jurors today at Sun's murder trial in the High Court at Auckland. He is accused of having attacked Zhong in the bedroom of her East Auckland home on the night of November 27, 2020. 

Among the statements read today was a subsequent March 2020 affidavit at the North Shore Police Centre in which jurors heard, in Zhong's own words, the unease the alleged threats had caused. 

"During these discussions [to resolve the civil case], Fang has become angry and furious at me," she told police. "His face turns red and he starts waving his arms. He has made verbal threats and tried to intimidate me." 

Fang Sun is on trial in the High Court at Auckland, accused of the murder of Elizabeth Zhong. Photo / Michael Craig 

She described a November 2019 meeting at a cafe in which the two tried but failed to resolve their differences. 

"As no agreement could be made, Fang got excited and stated, 'You'll be in trouble'," she reported. 

"I replied, 'I don't care.'" 

She recalled Sun replying: "It's not me. It's the Hong Kong guys. They will be always after you." 

When Zhong replied she would wait for the civil court decision to resolve the matter, Sun is alleged to have said: "Court won't kill you, but they will." 

Fang Sun appears at Manukau District Court in February 2021, charged with Elizabeth Zhong's murder. Photo / Alex Burton 

"I am already more than 50 years old, so I don't mind," Zhong recalled saying in response. 

Sun, she said, responded: "No, no, no. It's not only you. It involves your whole family." 

Zhong also described in the police affidavit having received over 10 phone calls at a time from the defendant, which she described as harassment. 

"Now my whole family have started to have their lives interrupted by some private investigators engaged by Fang," she said. "I feel very stressed and scared. 

"The threats make me very scared."