On the morning of September 15th 2007 at Melbourne’s train station in Australia passengers noticed a young Asian girl wandering alone and crying they immediately sought assistance from station staff during the interaction they realized that the girl did not speak English initially they thought she had been separated from her family so they brought her to the office since she was wearing clothes from the children’s brand pumpkin patch they nicknamed her little pumpkin the staff then reviewed the surveillance footage to search for the
girl’s relatives however they discovered something unusual a middle-aged man was seen pulling a suitcase and leading little pumpkin into the station he bent down to speak to her briefly then went up the escalator and never returned the staff concluded that little pumpkin had likely been abandoned by the middle-aged man and reported the incident to the police this discovery however led to a shocking case that rocked the Chinese communities in both Australia and the United States at the same time it exposed the criminal actions of a
Chinese martial arts master through further investigation the police confirmed that little pumpkin then 3 years old was a New Zealand Citizen and the man who abandoned her was her father a 53-year-old Chinese martial arts master named naay yinu his English name was Michael Australian police examined flight records and found found that on September 13th 2007 2 days before the incident Michael and his daughter flew from Auckland New Zealand to Melbourne Australia using their New Zealand passports on September 15th just 2 hours
after abandoning his daughter at the Melbourne station Michael boarded an international flight alone to Los Angeles USA his actions indicated that he had planned to abandon his three-year-old daughter however a puzzling question remained if he only intended to abandon and his daughter why didn’t he do so in New Zealand and where was the girl’s mother the Australian police passed along the information they had gathered to New Zealand authorities in hopes of locating little pumpkin’s mother 2 days later on September 17th
Oakland Police went to Michael’s house to investigate they discovered that little pumpkin’s mother had been missing for several days as a result they immediately requested a search warrant and began searching Michael’s home later that evening after 5:00 p.m. the police found a woman’s body in the trunk of Michael’s Honda upon identification the victim was confirmed to be Michael’s wife Anna andl she was wearing a night gown with no underwear and a pair of red panties had been discarded beside the body in addition a yellow tie was found
wrapped around her neck the medical examiner determined that an and Leu had been dead for about a week before her death she had not been sexually assaulted and the cause of death was determined to be Suffocation the yellow tie belonged to her husband on the panties DNA from three men was found one of whom was her husband Michael had flown with his daughter to Australia on September 13th then abandoned her and continued on to the United States all these suspicious actions pointed to Michael as the prime suspect in the
case after entering the United States no one knew where Michael had gone the case immediately caused a stir in the the Chinese community in New Zealand as Michael was regarded as an influential figure within the Chinese Community he was born in 1954 in yingo he China and grew up in leoning from a young age he developed a deep interest in martial arts he began practicing martial arts at the age of eight and later received instruction from various Masters by that time he had gained some Fame in the martial arts community in
northern China Michael later claimed to be the sixth generation successor of the taiichi style of course from a modern perspective this title doesn’t carry much weight however in that era with the presence of many martial arts Masters the title held significant meaning in 1983 at the age of 29 Michael claimed to have been ranked among the top 10 martial artists in China and was hailed as a master by the International Martial Arts Community he went on to write and publish an autobiography declaring himself the grand master of Tai
Chi with the reverence of his disciples Michael opened a martial arts school to attract more students and earn tuition fees among his students were prominent members of society and as a result he enjoyed both Fame and Fortune his career flourished and during this time Michael was able to purchase a luxury car all of this was the result of the combined efforts of Michael and his first wife gradually Michael’s students began to realize that their master was just a bragger with no real Combat experience this became Michael’s biggest
weakness as a result the number of students and the revenue of his martial arts school started to decline eventually making it unsustainable however Michael heard that his martial arts were highly regarded abroad so he decided to take a risky step in 1996 Michael immigrated to Auckland New Zealand at that time he was over 40 years old and had just divorced his first wife Michael lived in New Zealand with his daughter and opened a martial arts center there each year he held several martial arts performances he also tried to teach martial arts in
the US But ultimately it didn’t succeed the Chinese Community had mixed opinions about Michael’s martial arts skills and character many people believed that he was all talk and had no real talent in short Michael always presented himself as a distinguished master but regardless of the country he didn’t attract many students the main reason for this was his rude domineering personality and his strong need for control Michael repeatedly abused his daughter making her childhood unhappy when he traveled to the US he left his
daughter at home without any care or responsibility moreover from his previous marriage it was clear that he often attacked his wife and children which made his daughter feel unsafe once she became independent his daughter chose to leave and never returned during this time Michael met a woman from China named Anan Leu Anan Leu was born in 1980 in changa Hunan her mother was a senior manager in a business initially Anan had a very good job in China but she later decided to further her education and study abroad in 2002 she arrived in New
Zealand at the age of 22 however upon arrival a n Le discovered that she had been deceived by a recruitment agency instead of enrolling in a prestigious University she was placed in a language school she had to pass her exams within 6 months or she would have to return to China once her visa expired this made it difficult for her to improve her English especially since life in the Chinese Community rarely required speaking English after a traffic accident left her injured the 6 months passed quickly as her visa expiration loomed and she
was unable to pass pass her exams Anan Leu tried to extend her visa but was once again scammed by an agent most of the money she had brought with her was taken and facing the prospect of returning home empty-handed ananl was determined to stay the lonely and desperate young woman decided to do whatever it took to remain in the country she began living illegally without a stable place to stay by October 2002 unable to afford her rent a nanl sech for cheaper accommodations it was during this time that she met Michael a landlord offering
affordable housing in Auckland after learning about her situation Michael told her she didn’t need to pay rent all she had to do was keep the house clean and she could stay Anan Leu was deeply grateful for his generosity and moved in at the Time Michael then 48 wasn’t simply offering her a place to stay he also wanted to pursue the young and beautiful woman who was 26 years his Junior surprisingly to many Anan Leu quickly accepted Michael’s romantic advances Anan Leu was only four years older than Michael’s daughter and it’s
hard to believe this was genuine love if Michael’s martial arts school had been doing well at the time Anan Leu likely saw a relationship with him as a way to avoid financial difficulties while studying abroad their relationship developed rapidly and they began living together at the start of 200 3 when they got married ananl was already pregnant later that same year she gave birth to a daughter the girl we now know as little pumpkin in this case it seemed like ananl had found a good man in a foreign country but after their marriage ananl
discovered that her husband was jealous and forbade her from interacting with other men even minor disagreements would result in Michael physically abusing her although her life was far from what she had imagined without a card an and Lou felt she had no choice but to endure in silence in 2006 when Michael was over 50 he like many martial artists could not avoid the decline in physical abilities especially since he didn’t have any real skill the martial arts Club had become nothing more than a name without value it had long ceased to provide
Michael with any significant income that same year ananl received her Green Card she no longer had to rely entirely on her husband as she now had permanent residency this changed everything she no longer fully obeyed her husband’s orders and even refused to be intimate with him this made Michael already struggling with his failing career even more frustrated and angry he frequently used his fists against his wife forbade her from leaving the house and did not allow her to make friends freely he even hid her passport and
other documents in September 2006 unable to endure the domestic abuse any longer an nonl decided to escape she began searching for her passport but instead found a gun she panicked and was soon discovered by Michael as a result she was beaten again he even threatened her with a knife despite the hardship and loss of Freedom Anan Leu never gave up on the idea of escaping she finally took advantage of an opportunity opened the door and ran to a neighbor’s house after the neighbor called the police they came and arrested Michael in June 2007 when
the police took him away Michael was still threatening ananl saying that he would kill her ananl and her daughter were taken to a local women’s shelter the staff noticed that she had a split lip and bruises around her eyes the mother and daughter were provided with food and shelter for a month while Anan filed for a restraining order as for Michael he faced charges But ultimately ananl withdrew the case she couldn’t bring herself to send Michael to jail hoping instead that they could separate amicably in November 2006 ananl took her
daughter and returned to her hometown in changa Hunan Province China where they stayed for 4 months while she was away Michael began dating another woman but the relationship was shortlived after the breakup Michael contacted his wife several times promising that he would never use violence again and even offering to renew their wedding vows this moved her after 4 months in Chang sha ananl returned to New Zealand with her daughter at this point the martial arts center had completely collapsed Michael began looking for other ways to make
money by the end of 2006 he entered the publishing business becoming a distributor for a Chinese language newspaper called Chinatown however he didn’t know how to run a newspaper or conduct business the result was a failure leaving him with significant debts Michael quickly filed for bankruptcy after this business failure Michael found himself in the most difficult situation of his life just 3 months after ananl returned to New Zealand Michael resumed his violent Behavior he attacked and even threatened to kill her with a sword
their daughter crying ran to her mother for help but was kicked aside by Michael after reporting the incident to the police the mother and daughter were again provided with Protective Services the police confiscated Michael’s passport and sword and required him to complete a course on family relationship repair however an andl had lost hope for reconciliation and was too afraid to stay in Auckland in June 2007 she moved with her daughter to the capital Wellington and began living separately in July she registered an account on a
dating website on her blog on August 29th she wrote a journal entry about a secret romance she had in Wellington Anan L wrote he was lonely I was lonely two people burned by the fire so everything that needed to happen happened we lived happily as a family for nearly 2 months later after leaving Wellington she wrote a week after his wife returned I drove away from our love nest leaving his City this journal entry clearly indicated that she had ended a relationship with a man after some time Michael also realized something was
wrong his wife had been away for 2 months without paying any rent this made him Furious Michael complained to a fellow Chinese friend from his hometown in leoning saying in my entire life no one has ever deceived me except my wife Anan Leu she didn’t want to live with me sincerely she used me to gain benefits she has no income in New Zealand and I’ve had to cover all the expenses that’s the greatest resentment of my life it was likely at that moment that the thought of murder began to form in Michael’s mind the police confirmed that
the last time an and Lou was seen was around 400 p.m. on September 11th 200 2007 at a children’s center in the suburbs of Auckland after that no one knows what method Michael used to lure a nanlu back home on September 12th anan’s mother called Michael answered the phone and told his mother-in-law that Anna had gone to Wellington to attend a party after anan’s death Michael went to the local authorities and reclaimed his confiscated passport the next day on September 13th he flew with his daughter to Melbourne Australia he then contacted
a travel agency saying he wanted to book a same day flight to Los Angeles the staff checked and found that the earliest available flight wasn’t until September 15th 2 Days Later initially Michael planned to take his daughter with him as he fled to the us but he quickly changed his mind fleeing with a child would be a burden so Michael made the heartless decision to abandon her after the incident Michael’s eldest daughter expressed her desire to care for her halfs sister the embassy quickly intervened and assisted in
bringing Anan L’s mother from Chang sha to take custody of her granddaughter and return home with her daughter’s ashes the Chinese community in New Zealand raised money to help little pumpkin but her grandmother declined the donations her daughter’s tragic fate left the grandmother feeling guilty she had thought that sending her daughter abroad would provide a better life but she never expected such an outcome due to infrequent contact the mother was unaware of what ananl had endured over the years she also knew
nothing about her daughter’s married life and had never even met Michael after entering the US American authorities issued a nationwide arrest warrant for Michael at one point he was placed on the US top 100 most wanted list alongside leaders of terrorist organizations a year later on February 28th 2008 in College Park a suburb of Atlanta a Chinese restaurant Chef named Wu guen was reading the newspaper he saw that us police were offering a $10,000 reward for the capture of a fugitive named Michael when he saw the picture he was shocked
isn’t that Mr Tang who works at the restaurant wugu Shen recalled suspicious things about him like how his luggage was never unpacked as if he was ready to move at any moment Mr Tang was always alert while sleeping waking up at the slightest noise he also claimed to be from Hab but spoke with a different accent convinced this person was the Fugitive Wu immediately called four friends from Ching da who were also living in the US and told them about the situation among the five men three were restaurant delivery workers one was a former
provincial soccer player another was an ex Soldier and one had won a wrestling medal all of them were strong and physically fit however none of them spoke English so after three failed attempts to explain the situation to the police they had to take matters into their own hands the five men devised a plan the smallest of them queen went to alert the Police while the remaining four prepared to apprehend Mr Tang that same night they all gathered at the apartment under the pretense of going out to eat together however the fugitive quickly
sensed something was wrong and prepared to leave the four men decided to act immediately the retired soccer player moved forward to block The Fugitive while one of the men tackled him to the ground at the same time the others rushed in and tied his hands and feet with leather straps when the police arrived The Fugitive was already restrained in inside his wallet they found a New Zealand driver’s license confirming his identity the international Manhunt had finally come to an end The Fugitive was later extradited to New Zealand the five men
who captured him received a $10,000 reward but they decided to donate the entire amount to charity they were praised by both the media and the Chinese Community for their actions on June 2nd 2009 the Auckland high court in New Zealand officially opened the trial of Michael for the murder of his wife and abandonment of his daughter a case that had shocked three countries New Zealand the United States and China Michael was charged with murder the trial took a long time with over 90 Witnesses involved Michael attempted to defend himself by claiming
that he was not the murderer he stated that he only placed the body in the trunk of the car to avoid responsibility and that he fled with his daughter to escape being arrested forensic experts had found mixed DNA on Anan L’s underwear with the majority belonging to Michael but two smaller DNA samples came from two other men this introduced some uncertainty into the case while Michael’s DNA was found on the tie used in the crime DNA from another man was also discovered Michael’s defense attorney presented a startling argument claiming that the
victim’s blog and dating website activity showed evidence of her infidelity and provided a potential motive they suggested that an and L may not have been a victim of murder but instead died during rough sexual activity with others the attorney argued that it was possible Anan Leu did not die in her own home but accidentally suffocated during intimate relations with two other men the mysterious man then allegedly placed her body in Michael’s trunk forensic experts testified that DNA could spread in certain ways even saliva in the air
could carry DNA and it was possible that DNA was transferred when clothes were washed together in the washing machine they did not rule out the possibility that before her death the victim had close contact with another man however this contact might have occurred at different times and it did not entirely exclude the possibility of Michael’s involvement in the crime one undeniable fact remained before Michael murdered his wife an and Lou their marriage was filled with violence and jealousy after several weeks of trial on
June 20th 2009 a jury of 12 people reached a verdict Michael was found guilty by a majority of seven votes on July 31st the Auckland high court in New Zealand sentenced Chinese National Michael in the case of murdering his wife and abandoning his daughter he received a life sentence with a minimum of 12 years before being eligible for parole naturally Michael was not pleased with this he shouted in court that it’s unfair because all the jurors were women this was one of the reasons Michael felt the trial was
unjust for many years afterward Michael continued to insist on his innocence he wrote an autobiography while in prison titled I am not a murderer in which he portrayed his wife ananl in a negative light and continued to deny responsibility for her Murder By 2020 at the age of 66 Michael’s attitude unexpectedly changed when he admitted to killing his wife due to her betrayal he said I’ve always regretted it however it seems this change of heart came because Michael had served 12 years in prison and was seeking early release
by showing remorse but his intentions were uncovered psychological evaluations showed that he had a high likelihood of reoffending and thus his parole request was denied in life there are Stories full of tragedy and heartache and the story of Michael and Annal is one of them from betrayal to facing death it’s a tale of crime regret and the fight for justice whether or not Michael ever finds forgiveness his story stands as a cautionary reminder about the power of impulsive actions and the consequences they carry let this story remind us that
no matter what life throws our way we always have the power to choose our decisions can have profound effects on the lives of others and ourselves think carefully before making decisions and always hold on to kindness and respect for others that is the true path to happiness and peace
