Samuel Pou has been found guilty for a second time in the retrial for the murder of Bridget Simmonds. Photo / Tania Whyte
Samuel Pou has been found guilty for a second time in the retrial for the murder of Bridget Simmonds. Photo / Tania Whyte
WARNING: This article discusses graphic domestic violence and may be upsetting to some readers.
A jury returned a guilty verdict in three hours for a Northlander granted a retrial for the murder of his girlfriend, whose remains were found buried on his land 15 months after she disappeared.
Samuel Pou, 60, of Whangārei has been on trial in the High Court at Whangārei for the past two weeks before Justice Tracey Walker and a jury of seven men and four women.
The court heard for the second time the tragic details of Bridget Simmonds’ relationship with Pou, whom she had met in late 2018.
By early 2019, Simmonds, 42, had moved in with Pou but the brief relationship was scattered with violence and the jury heard of two occasions violence inflicted by Pou had been reported to police in the weeks before her disappearance.
Simmonds had suffered a lacerated ear in one incident, a torn eye retina in another and police described her as having “bruises on bruises, some old, some new”.
After the last beating where her eye was severely damaged, Simmonds retreated to her mother’s in Kerikeri to recover only to return days later to Whangārei on February 23, 2019, where her mother dropped her at Countdown in Regent.
As she walked away, her mother recalled Simmonds yelling out to her “Don’t forget my headstone” in what was the last time her family would see her alive.
A taxi driver later dropped Simmonds at Pou’s cabin on a rural property on Wilsons Rd, Titoki, 45 minutes west of Whangārei.
That evening Pou delivered 100 blows to Simmond’s body, fracturing her legs so she couldn’t walk. He buried her 100 metres from his campsite.
Months later, Pou would tell his drinking buddies: “I wasted her and knocked her off”.
Witness David Erihe said Pou had done it because Simmonds was going to take him to court for a previous assault and that he “told the whole ‘hood”.
Bridget Simmonds' uncle John Callen said at the first trial, her murder was the worst chapter in his family's history. Photo / Michael Cunningham
“That wasn’t the first time he blabbered it out,” Erihe said.
When first brought in for questioning in 2019, Pou said he did not know where Simmonds was or what happened to her but as police investigation started intensifying on the Titoki property 15 months later, Pou confessed to what he did.
Pou will reappear in early August to set a sentencing date.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/Ngātiwai/Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked freelance in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
FAMILY VIOLENCE
How to get help:If you're in danger now:• Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours or friends to ring for you.
• Run outside and head for where there are other people. Scream for help so your neighbours can hear you.
• Take the children with you. Don't stop to get anything else.
• If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay.
Where to go for help or more information:
• Women's Refuge: Crisis line - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 (available 24/7)
• Shine: Helpline - 0508 744 633 (available 24/7)
• It's Not Ok: Family violence information line - 0800 456 450
• Shakti: Specialist services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and children.
• Crisis line - 0800 742 584 (available 24/7)
• Ministry of Justice: For information on family violence
• Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga: National Network of Family Violence Services
• White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women.
How to hide your visit:
If you are reading this information on the Herald website and you're worried that someone using the same computer will find out what you've been looking at, you can follow the steps at the link here to hide your visit. Each of the websites above also has a section that outlines this process.
