The judge overseeing Tingjun Cao's 's murder trial - has asked the jury not to take any negative inference from his absence today

The Chinese national is charged with killing Christchurch realtor Yanfei Bao in July last year.

Her buried body was found with stab wounds more than a year later.

Cao yesterday interrupted evidence, audibly frustrated, and left the court room for the second time in just over a week.

He'd been noticeably lethargic until that point, and had arrived in court with a large plaster on his neck.

Cao is listening to translated evidence outside court this morning.