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Former flatmates of a man on trial for the murder of his ex-wife have spoken about his fixation on getting even with her after a property deal turned sour.
But Manchao Li denies murdering Zhimin Yang in West Auckland's Massey in July last year.
Yang was a mother, a university professor and the victim of a brutal murder.
Ex-husband Li is on trial for the fatal stabbing that happened near a bus stop in broad daylight last year.
His former flatmates say he'd been threatening to attack her for years.
"From almost day one, he was fixated with the fact that his ex-wife had done the dirty and he was somehow, one day going to get even with her," Garrick Protheroe said.
The accused lived with two flatmates in the years leading up to Yang's death, and as time went on the threats allegedly became increasingly confronting.
"He showed me a hunting knife and he showed me a meat cleaver," Protheroe continued. "The interesting thing with the meat cleaver was that he asked if this would be enough to kill somebody with."
They say he even detailed what he planned to do with the weapon.
"He put his hand on the kitchen bench and the next thing he goes 'chop, chop', he said - 'and then she won't be able to steal from anyone else'," said another witness, Theresa Bushell.
These are just two of the 47 witnesses who will take the stand during this three-week trial.
Yang's son told the court how his mum moved from China to New Zealand in search of a better life, but after a few years felt threatened by the man she had married.
He said she carried pepper spray and personal alarms, and intentionally bought a house away from the road with locked gates and security cameras to hide from the man she feared would kill her.
Li denies the charge of murder and the accusation he breached a protection order.
The trial is set down for three weeks.
