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A woman who was in a relationship with a Wanganui bouncer at the time he allegedly murdered a 20-year-old barmaid has been accused of committing the crime herself.
The lawyer for 28-year-old accused Shane Randle questioned Crown witness Dana Perry, 26, over her involvement in the sexual violation and murder of Tania McKenzie at the High Court at Wellington today.
Ms McKenzie's naked and brutally beaten body was found floating in the Whanganui River on January 7, 2005.
Randle, Ms McKenzie and Ms Perry all worked together at Wanganui's Red Lion Inn - Randle as a bouncer and the two women as bar staff.
Ms Perry was in a relationship with Randle when Ms McKenzie was killed, although he was also living with another woman.
Randle's lawyer Greg King put it to Ms Perry today that she had gone to Randle's house on the day of the murder in a silver Subaru vehicle with a smashed rear windscreen.
Mr King suggested to her she had told Randle that she had "done something really stupid" and "I thought you were f**king her".
Mr King suggested she had said to Randle that "what had happened to Tania started in that Subaru".
Dressed in a white shirt and jeans, with plain make-up and her dark hair pulled back, Ms Perry said none of that had happened.
When Mr King asked her if she had showered and washed her clothes at Randle's house, she said,"No."
Police allege traces of Ms McKenzie's blood were found inside Randle's washing machine, and on a towel in his bathroom.
A tape was played to the court of a bugged conversation between Randle and Ms Perry, in the weeks after Ms McKenzie's death.
In it, Randle raised the possibility that Ms Perry could go to jail.
"Would I go straight away or would it take ages to go through the courts?" Ms Perry asked.
Randle told her if she were arrested she would be remanded in custody straight away.
When questioned about the tape, Ms Perry said they had already discussed the possibility she could be arrested in connection with the murder.
"People could think that I had something to do with it if he went to jail for it ... Because we were close. That I had hidden something or cleaned something up."
When Mr King asked Ms Perry if she wished to make any comment about the suggestion she had also sexually violated Ms McKenzie, she shook her head and said no.
Crown lawyer Andrew Cameron asked Randle's then partner, 24-year-old Adele Thompson, about a conversation they had on January 8, in a central city park.
She said Randle was upset about being suspected of murder, but then told her he and Ms Perry killed Ms McKenzie.
"Then he looked at me and said 'Do you really think I could do that? I could never hurt a female'.
"I didn't say anything, I just looked at him. I couldn't believe he'd say that."
Randle said a rock could have been used to kill Ms McKenzie, and there was no way the police would find it if it had been thrown into the river, Ms Thompson said.
She said her relationship with Randle had been breaking down in the months before the murder because she suspected him of cheating, and they stayed together for less than two weeks after Ms McKenzie died.
The trial before Justice Ronald Young is expected to conclude next week.
- NZPA
