Aucklander Paul Maroroa appears in an Adelaide court. Photo / Channel 10
Aucklander Paul Maroroa appears in an Adelaide court. Photo / Channel 10
A New Zealand man who killed another man in Adelaide says he pulled the trigger only after a life-or-death struggle over a stolen shotgun he was delivering under the orders of drug dealers.
For the first time in almost 20 years, New Zealander Paul Beveridge Maroroa has given his account of what happened in the Gull Rock car park, near Maslin Beach in Adelaide, the night Robert Sabeckis died.
Maroroa, who was extradited from New Zealand to Australia for the trial, told a Supreme Court jury he feared Sabeckis would rape and then murder him unless he regained control of the weapon and, once he had, ordered him to stand down.
"I yelled 'it's done, it's over, just f...ing stop', but he just came after me like he was about to grab hold of my throat," he said.
"That's when I pulled the trigger, because he was going to kill me and I had done everything I could up until that point to stop him.
Paul Beveridge Maroroa his his face when appeared in the Waitakere District Court in connection with the cold case murder in South Australia. File photo / Doug Sherring
"If I didn't pull the trigger in that instant, I knew he was going to get the better of me." Maroroa, 44, of Auckland in New Zealand, has admitted shooting but denied murdering Sabeckis with a sawn-off shotgun on January 13, 2000.
DNA evidence led to his arrest in Piha, west of Auckland, on March 15, 2018.
After his first appearance in the Waitakere District Court the following day, it was revealed DNA believed to belong to the killer was taken from several items at the 2000 crime scene.
It was never matched to anyone until a change in New Zealand legislation allowed overseas law enforcement agencies to apply for access to DNA databases.
Prosecutors have alleged Maroroa "hunted down" and "gunned down" his victim, then further "humiliated" him by striking him with the weapon and pulling down his underpants.
Taking the stand on Monday, Maroroa told jurors that two drug dealers, whom he owed $150, told him to deliver the gun to "Bob" in order to clear his debt.
Robert Sabeckis was shot and killed in 2000. Photo / supplied
"I asked them 'what the f... is this, it was supposed to be drugs' (being delivered) and they said 'it doesn't matter whether it's drugs or guns' and I said 'this is bulls...'," he said. "They said 'don't f... this up or there will be trouble'."
Maroroa said he cut off the gun's stock after "smoking some cannabis and becoming quite paranoid", and drove to the car park in the early hours of the morning.
"It was pitch black, I was extremely nervous, it felt wrong ... I had never done this kind of thing before," he said.
"Someone said 'are you looking for Bob?' and I said 'yes'.
"As he got out of his car he said 'don't mind the bathers, I've been swimming'."
He said he was surprised by Sabeckis' physical size.
"The word [for my reaction] would be 'intimidated' – 'holy s...' went through my mind," he said.
"He asked 'do you have it?' and gestured as if to say 'well?' ... he looked the gun over and said 'have you got any bullets?' [and] gestured that he wanted it to be loaded.
Police officer Mike Symonds with the modified shotgun used in the murder of Robert Sabeckis. Photo / Supplied
"When I gave it to him, he tapped me on the forehead and said 'you're a dumb c..., get in the car and pull down your pants'.
"I froze ... this was completely wrong ... I thought he was going to rape and kill me."
Maroroa said that for "under a minute, 30 seconds" the two men "wrestled" for control of the gun.
"[The struggle] was seconds, it was happening so fast ... you can't grasp what's actually happening ... it was under a minute, 30 seconds, I don't know," he said.
"I took a couple of breaths and bent over ... I was f...ed, absolutely exhausted.
"I said a prayer and I thanked God at that moment that I was still alive."
Maroroa said he went home, went into his bedroom and saw the state he was in.
"My whole face was covered in blood ... it was in my mouth, it was everywhere," he said.
"I had a cry, I also threw up ... I had a shower and just repeatedly tried to wash myself.
"I had just shot a man, I was convinced the police were going to come for me – they had to, I had left my car in the car park."
He agreed he dumped the gun alongside a nearby property, and tried to dispose of his bloody clothes and other evidence by weighting it down offshore.
"No one was going to believe me," he said.
"There was no one else there, I was young, I was black, I didn't think that would go in my favour. I didn't think people were going to believe I was just there to deliver the gun."
