Samuel Pou gave his partner CPR unsuccessfully for about 30 minutes before dragging her body wrapped in a blanket towards a creek.
Samuel Pou gave his partner CPR unsuccessfully for about 30 minutes before dragging her body wrapped in a blanket towards a creek.
Warning: This story discusses graphic details of domestic violence
A Northlander accused of killing his partner resuscitated her for 30 minutes after bashing her and contemplated ringing an ambulance but decided not to, thinking paramedics would not believe his story.
Samuel Pou told police in his confession he beat Bridget Simmonds around her legs one evening in March 2019 after she spilled wine in their hut and wouldn't stop singing that she hated him, and dancing at the same time.
Pou is accused of killing Simmonds and burying her body in a shallow grave on a property on Wilson Rd in Parakao, some time between February 23, 2019, and March 16, 2019.
It's alleged he punched Simmonds more than 100 times for over an hour which led to her death.
A Northlander accused of murdering Bridget Simmonds is on trial in the High Court at Whangārei. Photo / Supplied
His nephew, Te Koha Samuel Pou, is also on trial in the High Court at Whangārei on charges of dishonestly using Simmonds' bank card and helping his uncle avoid arrest.
Simmonds' body was excavated about 15 months after she was reported missing in early 2019.
The officer in charge of investigation, Detective Sergeant Aaron Crawford, took the witness stand yesterday
and the jury was played the video recording of an interview he conducted of Samuel Pou at Whangārei police station on June 11, 2020.
Crawford said he received a call from an officer at the station's front desk and was told Samuel Pou had arrived and wanted to confess that morning.
He said Samuel Pou told him to get the police divers out of the water as it was a waste of time and gave a description of where he had buried Simmonds' body.
"I wanted to tell you the other day but I wanted to see my mother to say goodbye," he told Crawford.
When asked how did she die, Samuel Pou said: "Oh, tricky one because I never bashed her really, not in the body anyway. Her legs I did, thinking that I shouldn't hurt her because she kept spilling the wine.
Samuel Pou gave his partner CPR unsuccessfully for about 30 minutes before dragging her body swapped in a blanket towards a creek.
Photo / Tania Whyte
"All I remember was she went quiet all of a sudden and so I lay down, and then I looked around and I, oh, her eyes are open, so I checked that she was breathing. She wasn't. I tried resuscitating her but it didn't work.
"I thought about ringing an ambulance or something, then I thought, 'Oh nah, they're not going to believe my story'. So I sat there for a bit contemplating what I should do.
"I had a cry first. And then I sort of rolled her on the blanket. I couldn't lift her, you know, coz of my legs, so I had to drag her on top of the blanket."
Samuel Pou said because of sore legs, it took him an hour to get the body to the creek.
That night, Samuel Pou said he said a few prayers for her and had a cry and then went to sleep.
He said he rang Te Koha Pou to pick him up the next day. When he was asked where Simmonds was, Samuel Pou said he told his nephew: "Oh, the cuzzies kicked her off."
His nephew, he said, didn't ask any questions and just laughed.
Samuel Pou took police the same afternoon as his confesssion to the area where he buried Simmonds' body.
The trial continues. Where to get help: • 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7) • https://www.lifeline.org.nz/services/suicide-crisis-helpline • YOUTHLINE: 0800 376 633 • NEED TO TALK? Free call or text 1737 (available 24/7) • KIDSLINE: 0800 543 754 (available 24/7) • WHATSUP: 0800 942 8787 (1pm to 11pm) • DEPRESSION HELPLINE: 0800 111 757 or TEXT 4202 • NATIONAL ANXIETY 24 HR HELPLINE: 0800 269 4389If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE - DO YOU NEED HELP?
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you're in danger now:
• Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours of friends to ring for you.
