The partner of Angela Blackmoore has told the High Court in Christchurch that the night she was killed was the first night she had spent without another adult in the house.
Blackmoore was bludgeoned and stabbed 39 times in her Wainoni home, while her 2-year-old son slept in a nearby room.
David Hawken and Rebecca Wright-Meldrum are on trial in the High Court on charges of murdering Blackmoore.
A third person, Jeremy Powell, pleaded guilty to the 21-year-old’s murder in 2020.
Powell said he and Wright-Meldrum were offered $10,000 by Hawken to kill Angela Blackmoore.
Hawken and Wright-Meldrum said they were not guilty of the charges.
In the High Court in Christchurch on Tuesday, Angela Blackmoore’s partner at the time of her death, Laurie Anderson, told the court that on the night of the murder he had been asked to fill in for a workmate in the University of Canterbury library working from 8pm to 11pm.
He said Angela was not pleased he was working during the evening, both because they had plans, and because she was anxious about being home alone at night.
“She had from her childhood a lot of insecurities and she always feared people were coming after her,” Anderson said.
“So the last thing I did, to give her confidence, was check the house was safe, windows were closed, the place was secure, just to give her confidence. It was unfortunately the first time I’d left her alone, because there was normally someone around, or go to a friend’s place or she would come to work with me. But since she was pregnant I was trying to give her confidence that it was okay to be by herself, that she was still safe.”
On his return home from work, Anderson found Blackmoore dead in their kitchen. Anderson said when he spotted her, he called an ambulance to try to get her help.
“I was in a little bit of shock at that stage, then I went over to see if she was still alive and shook her tummy but ...”
After a poignant silence, Crown prosecutor Pip Curie asked if there had been any response. No, he said, no response. He soon realised she was dead, and that rigor mortis had set in.
Anderson also spoke about threatening phone calls Angela had received in the weeks leading up to her death.
He told Curie he had dismissed the calls as crank calls.
Blackmoore had thought she recognised the voice on the calls, and told him it was Hawken, he said.
In the calls the person said they knew Blackmoore was on a benefit and they threatened to call social welfare on her.
Hawken had been living in a house in Cashel St, which was one of two properties owned by Blackmoore and her estranged husband, William.
Hawken had also been assisting William Blackmoore to sort financial issues relating to mortgage arrears on the properties and the division of the matrimonial properties following the pair’s separation.
Under questioning by Hawken’s lawyer, Anne Stevens, Anderson agreed Blackmoore had been scared of her estranged husband.
Anderson said William Blackmoore had previously worked as a taxi driver for him, but had been let go because of bad driving. He had met Angela Blackmoore because of the connection with William Blackmoore.
Anderson agreed they thought William Blackmoore would be unhappy to learn that Blackmoore was getting extra visits with her son, who was in foster care, or that she was pregnant. They had endeavoured to keep that information from him.
In response to questioning from Wright-Meldrum’s lawyer, Philip Shamy, Anderson agreed Blackmoore’s marriage to William Blackmoore had been difficult, and had involved domestic violence.
This summer will be critical to discover if the sharks have started returning.