Last June, Chinese national Gaoxiang Yu had just been paroled following consecutive prison sentences for his role in a methamphetamine syndicate and for helping to dump fellow syndicate member Ricky Wang’s body in a shallow grave near Tongariro National Park.

But with his post-parole deportation just one day away, police decided to arrest him again - this time for the more severe charge of murder - after concluding his role in Wang’s death was more substantial than he initially let on.

Yu, 26, returned to the High Court at Auckland today as he was ordered to serve a 15-year prison term for murder, which he pleaded guilty to last month. Justice Simon Moore also ordered Yu to remain incarcerated for at least eight years before he can apply for parole.

Today marks the first time since his murder arrest that the media has been allowed to report his previous guilty pleas and sentences. Other aspects of the case, however, remain temporarily suppressed.

The remains of Bao Chang Wang, known as Ricky, were found in a shallow grave covered in concrete near the Desert Rd and Tongariro National Park in March 2020.

Authorities say the father-of-two was killed roughly 370km away in Auckland in 2017, but he had never been reported missing, with his family having been told he had moved overseas.

Police discovered the grave and began unravelling the case after Yanlong Piao, who helped dump the body, went to police saying he was consumed with guilt. He was sentenced in 2020 to 14 months in prison for being an accessory to murder after the fact.

Months later, Yuzhen Zhang was sentenced to six months’ home detention for the same accessory charge after the civil engineer said he only helped dispose of the body out of a displaced sense of loyalty to his friend Piao.

Yu eventually pleaded guilty to the same accessory charge and was sentenced in May 2021 to one year, seven months and two weeks’ imprisonment. But that sentence was ordered to be served back-to-back rather than concurrently with a six-year sentence imposed in the district court in 2019 for his role in a major commercial methamphetamine operation.

Another co-defendant, admitted meth syndicate boss Jian Qi Zhao, was sentenced last November to life imprisonment with a minimum term of imprisonment of 12 years and three months after pleading guilty to Wang’s murder.

Murder usually carries a sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years unless such a sentence is found by the judge to be manifestly unjust. Crown prosecutor Matthew Nathan argued today that a life term would be just given the pre-meditation involved and the high level of depravity, cruelty and callousness involved.

But Justice Moore agreed with defence lawyer Nick Chisnall, KC, that such a sentence for Yu would be unjust when taking into consideration his lesser role compared to Zhao, the time he has already served for the related accessory charge, the additional time he spent in jail while the charge was still pending and other factors.

“You did not play a principal role in the offending,” Justice Moore said. “Your role was nonetheless instrumental.”

Chisnall also submitted to the judge a letter in which Yu described his “internal conflict” about remaining silent for years about his true role in the murder. In addition, the judge reviewed a psychological report and two victim impact statements - all of which were initially submitted at Yu’s previous accessory sentencing.

Yu came to New Zealand for tertiary studies but abandoned them due to an injury, and his recreational cannabis use to ease the pain quickly morphed into a methamphetamine addiction, the judge noted from the psychological report.

Justice Moore described today’s sentencing as “the most difficult” he had ever encountered because of the many technical issues related to the time Yu has already served for the related charge and what it means for his eventual parole. The legal complications, he said, “are novel and far from straightforward”.