The ex-husband of a woman whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase in Perth's Swan River claims his daughter was the killer and he only helped dump the body, but she alleges she was the accessory to murder.
Ms Chen’s ex-husband Ah Ping Ban and daughter Tiffany Wan appeared in Perth’s Supreme Court charged with murdering 58-year-old Annabelle Chen and disposing of her body.
A local fisherman found the suitcase containing Ms Chen’s body floating in the Swan River near Fremantle, in the early hours of July 2, 2016.
Tiffany Wan would later report her mother missing on September 1.
The court heard Ms Chen died from a brain injury after receiving about 25 blows to her head and face while at her home in Mosman Park.
Prosecutor Justin Whalley said there was no motive established in the circumstantial case and it was not exactly known when an intention to murder Ms Chen was formed or who played each role in the crime.
It’s alleged Ms Wan and Mr Ban scouted the area around the Fremantle traffic bridge before placing Ms Chen’s body in a suitcase and returning to drop it into the river.
No murder weapon has been found, but glasses similar to ones owned by Mr Ban and an old scooter believed to be Ms Wan’s were found by police divers where they say the suitcase entered the water.
The prosecution also pointed to blood splatters found in Mr Ban’s rental car and Ms Chen’s home, cell phone locations of the pair and CCTV footage of the vehicle at the river the night before and the morning the body was discovered.
In defence of Mr Ban, lawyer David Brustman said his client only arrived in Perth from Singapore after the murder.
He said Ms Wan had repeatedly called her father before he landed on June 30.
Ban did not know whether it was an accident, but he helped dispose of the body, the lawyer said.
"This is no more than a parent trying to protect his or her own child, though in an utterly misguided way," he said
Wan shook her head and looked over at her father during Mr Brustman's opening address.
The court heard Ban would testify during the trial.
Wan's defence counsel Simon Freitag told the jury Ms Chen was "essentially battered to death" and they must decide who was responsible for killing her.
Mr Freitag admitted Wan was guilty of being an accessory and had lied to police.
"Was she lying to protect herself ... or was she lying to protect Mr Ban for something he had done?"
The trial is scheduled for four weeks.
With AAP.
