Christchurch serial rape trial: First complainant adamant accused violated her as she slept

John Hope Muchirahondo on trial in the Christchurch High Court, July 29, 2024 on multiple counts of rape. Pool picture supplied

WARNING: This story references sexual assaults.

“I remember the rape... I know he raped me... not ‘having sex’, raped.”

This is what the first of 15 complainants has today told the jury at the High Court trial for alleged serial rapist John Hope Muchirahondo.

Muchirahondo, 38, is on trial in Christchurch before Justice Lisa Preston and a jury.

He has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges of rape, nine of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and one charge of failing to assist police with a search of his computer.

The charges relate to 15 women who were allegedly assaulted between 2009 and 2021.

It is alleged he filmed many of the assaults he has been charged with.

John Hope Muchirahondo allegedly raped or sexually violated 15 women. Photo / Facebook

Several of the charges against him are representative. This means police believe Muchirahondo has committed multiple offences of the same type in similar circumstances.

Yesterday Crown prosecutor Will Taffs spent two hours outlining the allegations against Muchiranhondo in detail for the first time.

“He had sex with them at different stages of intoxication - including unconsciousness,” he said.

“Some didn’t even know sex occurred til later when videos or images were shown to them by police.

“Some woke up and found [Muchirahondo] inside them as they went in and out of consciousness.”

Defence lawyer Anselm Williams said Muchirahondo admitted having sexual contact with many of the complainants, but he said every occasion was “with consent”.

“His defence is very simple,” he said.

“Mr Muchirahondo has never engaged in sexual activity as the Crown has described where a person has not consented.

“He has never committed rape and he has never committed any other offence amounting to sexual offending. That’s his defence.”

Defence lawyer Anselm Williams. Photo / Pool

Yesterday the first complainant’s call to 111 was played to the jury - followed by recordings of two interviews she gave to police.

She was in court today in person to speak more about the alleged assault.

The woman had been drinking at home with a friend in February 2021 before they went to a central city bar.

They continued drinking and ran into Muchirahondo.

He purchased the woman a drink and they later left together in a taxi.

“She thought she was catching a taxi home - instead it was to Mr Muchirahondo’s house,” said Taffs.

“She’ll say there are parts of what happened next that she doesn’t remember. She does remember going to sleep on the couch and woke up to Mr Muchirahondo on top of her, having sex with her.”

The woman was confused about what was happening.

The woman said she told Muchirahondo “over and over”: “I need to go home, I want to go home”.

“She told him stop, which he did. She began to cry and he said: “Why are you crying? Stop crying.”

Muchirahondo took the woman home and asked to come inside. She lied and said her mother was home and he left.

She then rang police and reported she had been raped when she was “very drunk - the blackout kind of drunk”.

During cross-examination, Williams grilled the woman on how much she’d had to drink the night of the alleged rape and how much she remembered.

She admitted there were parts of the evening she had no recollection of including kissing Muchriahondo at the bar.

“I can’t remember to this day (kissing the accused)... I remember the rape,” she said firmly.

Williams asked if she recalled Muchiranhodo touching her intimately at the bar.

“That did not happen. I think I’d remember if he put his hands down my pants,” she said.

As Williams continued, she corrected him every time he referred to his client “having sex” with her.

“Raping me,” she interrupted.

Justice Lisa Preston. Photo / Pool

She was adamant she had woken up, recognised Muchirahondo and then when the attack stopped allowed him to walk her home - too scared to refuse him.

“It was him. I know he raped me. It was a traumatic experience... I remember being raped.”

A woman who was having a casual relationship with Muchirahondo was at the house the same night.

She had arrived earlier in the night, planning to have dinner and spend the evening with him.

He left her alone at his flat, saying he had to go to town - for “some business”.

When he got home he had a number of other people with him including the first complainant.

The woman saw her lying on the couch, noting she was very drunk and throwing up.

The woman went to Muchirahondo’s room. He soon joined her and they had consensual sex.

She explained it was over relatively quickly and they lay and talked for a while.

At some point, he left the bedroom. He did not return and the woman got up to find him.

She noticed the complaint was no longer on the couch. Muchirahondo was nowhere to be seen.

The trial continues.

It is expected to take up to 10 weeks. The jury will hear from 108 Crown witnesses.

It is not yet known if Muchirahondo will give evidence in his defence, or call his own witnesses.

Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years with a particular focus on family violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz