Michael Murray appears in the Auckland High Court accused of murdering Connor Morris. 3 August 2015 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Jason Oxenham.
Michael Murray appears in the Auckland High Court accused of murdering Connor Morris. 3 August 2015 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Jason Oxenham.
All week the jury in the Connor Morris murder trial has heard about what happened before and after the 26-year-old was fatally struck in the head with a weapon.
This afternoon, they heard for the first time from people who saw the blow - and the man who did it.
Michael Thrift Murray, 33, is on trial accused of murdering Mr Morris, 26, by striking him in the head with a sickle-like garden tool during a violent street brawl on Don Buck Rd in west Auckland last August.
Mr Morris was at attending his sister Cymmion's housewarming party at 425 Don Buck Rd. Three of his mates went to get juice and cigarettes just after midnight on August 3 last year. As they walked the encountered the accused and his mates.
Murray lived 150m down the road and was socialising with his brother, cousin and others outside his house in the driveway of 401 Don Buck Rd. There had been 21st for his cousin at number 403c, down the same driveway, earlier that night.
One of the accused group kicked one of Mr Morris' mates, and a brutal street fight ensued.
During the fight Murray went to his property, retrieved a sickle-like took and swung it at Mr Morris, hitting him in the head and killing him almost instatntly.
He has admitted this, but denies the charge of murder, saying he hit Mr Morris to defend his younger brother, who was being severely assaulted.
Much of this week's evidence has been around the lead up to the altercation, the kick that resulted in Mr Morris being beckoned from number 425 and the brawl that followed.
Karli-Ann Haenga was heavily pregnant at the time. She went with her partner and young child to her friend Sharlene Norman's house at 407 Don Buck Rd.
The women were upstairs in a lounge minding their children while their partners and other mates watched the Super Rugby final downstairs.
They heard a commotion in the street, and ran to the window. They could see outside clearly, a streetlight illuminating the brawl.
Ms Haenga told the court she saw a number of fights break out on the road.
As Ms Haenga stood at the window, Ms Norman exclaimed 'he's got a crowbar'.
She said she soon saw the man her friend was referring to, and the weapon.
"It was a long object. It could have been a stick but from the way the blow was thrown and from the outcome of the blow it couldn't have been a stick," she said.
"There was a man walking... he had a pretty staunch walk... I saw him attack a person over the head who was in another brawl with some other people. Then he fell to the ground," she recalled.
Crown prosecutor David Johnstone asked Ms Haenga if anything could have obstructed her view, including branches.
She said no, her view of the alleged murder was "pretty clear".
When she first saw the man with the weapon he was walking towards the road.
"I saw take two or three steps him before he struck. From my point of view the way he walked he looked like he knew what he was going in to do."
He did not pause, and showed no sign of trying to get anyone's attention before he swung the weapon.
"My partner was one of the first out. Me being heavily pregnant I didn't want him to do something stupid. I ran downstairs to see if there was anything I could do to deter him." Ms Haenga's partner was heading towards Mr Morris as others from her group discussed who would go in and try to do CPR.
She saw man walking in her direction with "fury" in his eyes. That put off going any further into the street.
She then saw a woman "cradling" Mr Morris' head.
"She was yelling for him," Ms Haenga said.
"What I heard was her screaming 'my baby, my baby, where's the ambulance'."
During cross examination by the defence Ms Haenga conceded it was possible that there were more people on the street than she could see from the window, and during the chaos it was hard to tell who was fighting who.
Defence lawyer Kathryn Maxwell also suggested it was not Mr Morris that Ms Haenga saw get hit.
"What I'm suggesting is this. You may have seen people getting hurt in the street... but the incident you describe didn't involve Connor Morris, it was a different assault," she said.
Ms Haenga was sure that the attack she saw was on Mr Morris. She said the incident happened very quickly but she was certain of what she witnessed that night.
Ms Haenga's friend Sharlene Norman, who lived at number 407 and was with her watching the incident from her upstairs window also gave evidence this afternoon.
She told the court she could see 20-30 people in the street brawl from her vantage point.
"I heard screaming coming from outside, I stood up had a look out the window and saw some fighting," she said.
"I could see... who I now to be Connor, struck on the head, fall to the ground, and he didn't get back up."
In evidence Ms Norman said after Mr Morris collapsed, "people were kicking and stomping him" and a dog was biting him. He was not moving.
"We just heard screaming.... At that point I was on the phone to police, telling them what I could see at that stage.
"From there his partner was screaming 'somebody call the ambulance'," Ms Norman said. The defence also challenged Ms Norman's evidence.
"You may have seen an assault that night but what you saw didn't involve Connor Morris as a victim. What I'm suggesting is you got that wrong and you wrongly attribute that assault to Mr Morris.
"Do you accept it's possible you might have got things a little bit muddled? You did your best to try and reconstruct what you thought might have happened to him?"
"No... I just explained what I saw," Ms Norman responded.
She then told the court she was sure it was Mr Morris because she stayed at the window watching him as she called 111 and spoke to the operator.
She did not take her eyes off him and he did not move.
The ambulance arrived and paramedics loaded Mr Morris into the back of the vehicle.
Alleged killer "calm, nonchalant"
The jury also heard evidence today from police who attended the scene of the fatal fight, and carried out searches of relevant properties including the house where the accused was at the time and the properties where the two parties had been held.
Constable John Klooster knocked on the door of 401 Don Buck Rd where the accused Michael Murray lived. He spoke with Murray, taking his name and date of birth and asking him about what had taken place on the street.
"I asked him why he didn't go up the road to find out what the commotion was about," Mr Klooster told the court.
"He told me he was 'too chicken' and his mrs went up while he stayed with the kids... he was pretty calm, nonchalant, like nothing had happened."
Just after 3am police were searching number 425 where Mr Morris had been attending his sister Cymmion's housewarming.
His father Chris Morris pulled into the driveway in a car. He had others with him including Ms Elder-Holmes.
A cordon had been put up, preventing anyone outside the investigation team from entering the crime scene.
Detective Sergeant Todd Bartlett said he believed the Chris Morris had driven through a police cordon. He did not see this happen but assumed after hearing shouting at the top of the driveway and then seeing the car appear.
He recognised Chris Morris, a senior member of the Head Hunters gang, and spoke with him. He then agreed to retrieve Ms Elder-Holmes' handbag from the property.
Cymmion Morris was also allowed into the house to change her clothes, accompanied by police.
The family then left.
Mr Bartlett told the court that during the search a metal knuckleduster was found on the ground near the front door of the house.
Detective Constable Scott Foster gave further evidence about the search, saying the main focus was on the garage where the party had been held.
Among the property found was a jersey with the Head Hunters logo, a red crowbar about 60cm long and a metal stake. The crowbar was at the back of the house and the stake on the berm at the top of the driveway.
Connor Morris and Millie Elder-Holmes. Photo / Supplied via Facebook
The items were taken as evidence, but Mr Foster said at the time he did not know if they were relevant to the investigation.
Ms Dyhrberg asked Mr Foster about poles found at the property. He said there were some in the garage and house "consistent" with the stake found at the top of the driveway.
There were five scene examinations carried out - four at properties considered part of the crime scene, and the road area where the fight had taken place.
Each scene had it's own officer in charge and team of police working on the examination. Detective Geoffrey Patterson oversaw all five scenes and liaised with staff to ensure examinations were thorough. Searches of properties took several days and the longest was at the accused's home.
"Each day we methodically went through all of the things that we identified needed to be done," Mr Patterson explained.
"As the investigation unfolds... further things become relevant. That often means you have to spent more time there."
Mr Patterson said once the scene examinations had been reviewed in depth by senior police staff the properties were handed back to the occupants.
Trial moving faster than expected
The trial is moving faster than anticipated and may not take the four weeks it was set down for.
The Crown has 45 witnesses on their list to give evidence and the trial was initially set for four weeks.
However they are now half way through, and have heard from all major witnesses. It is day four of the trial.
The first witness today was Millie Elder-Holmes, Mr Morris' girlfriend. She became emotional while giving evidence about his violent death and how she tried to save him.
The jury have now heard from all Crown witnesses who attended the two parties on Don Buck Rd the night Mr Morris was killed. He and his friends had been at his sister's housewarming and were involved in a street fight with a group who had been at a 21st down the road when he died.
The court will continue to hear evidence from police that were involved in the investigation into Mr Morris' death, witnesses from a house on Don Buck Rd that are not connected to either party, a pathologist and forensic expert.
Ms Elder-Holmes has remained in court after giving evidence and is sitting in the public gallery with her mother Hine Elder and Mr Morris parents Chris and Julie.
Her brother and Mr Morris's sister are also in court, along with some of the couple's friends who also attended the party and gave evidence early this week.
Police officers have given evidence about what they saw when they arrived at the scene. Mr Morris was lying on the road and there were still a lot of people milling about, with several fights ongoing.
They have described seeing people wearing Head Hunters gang jackets and t-shirts.
Mr Morris was a member of the gang and there were others at his sister's party. However today Ms Elder-Holmes described the event as a small "family housewarming" with lots of food, drinks and music and a "very chill" atmosphere.
WHO'S WHO?
THE 21ST PARTY AT 403C DON BUCK RD • Held by Iesha Teiho for her brother's 21st birthday at her home • Attended by her other brother Trevor Morunga, cousin Shamus Wira and his cousin Stan Murray, who is the brother of the accused. • Mr Morunga allegedly sparked the fatal street fight when he "kicked out" at a man who was attending a housewarming down the road.
401 DON BUCK RD • The accused Micheal Thrift Murray lived in a sleepout at the back of this house. The driveway to Iesha Teiho's home, number 403C, runs alongside the house. His children and partner also spend time at the property and were there on the night Mr Morris was killed. • The court was told Murray did not attend the party but came out when it broke up to see his brother Stan, who also lives at the house.- Zane Williams, a flatmate of the Murray brothers. Lived a the house with his partner, ran outside to the fight after he heard a scream and then saw the fight and barricaded himself inside with his family.
THE HOUSEWARMING PARTY AT 425 DON BUCK RD • Held by Cymmion Morris, sister of the victim. • Attended by Connor Morris and his girlfriend Millie Elder-Holmes and parents Chris and Julie Morris. • Chris and Connor Morris were patched members of the Head Hunters gang, and other members were also at the party. • Obe Porter, friend of Connor Morris • John Akavai, workmate of Connor Morris • Josh Feagai, friend of Connor Morris • John Faapoi, his partner is a good friend of Cymmion Morris and he knew Connor through her.
407 DON BUCK ROAD • This house is across the road from where Mr Morris was allegedly murdered. The people here are not connected with either of the parties that were going on in the street. They did not know Mr Morris or the accused. • Karli-Ann Haenga, visiting her friend for the night so their partners could watch the Super Rugby final, heavily pregnant and was not drinking, watched the street fight from an upstairs window • Sharlene Norman, lived at number 407 and was watching the fight from upstairs also. She called 111 when she saw Mr Morris collapse and stayed on the phone to the operator while watching him until the ambulance arrived.
THE SECURITY GUARD • Matthew Brown was on a routine patrol in Massey when the fight started. • He called 111 from a nearby carpark after driving through the initial fracas.
