KEY POINTS:
A Wanganui barmaid whose naked body was found floating in Whanganui River on the morning of her 20th birthday was brutally murdered and sexually violated before being thrown in the river, a court was told today.
Shane Daniel Randle, 28, is accused of murdering Tania Rebecka McKenzie, on January 7, 2005. He also faces two charges of sexually violating her.
Randle pleaded not guilty to all three charges as his trial began in the High Court at Wellington today.
In his opening address, crown prosecutor Andrew Cameron said a post-mortem revealed Ms McKenzie died from multiple crushing, blunt force injuries to her face and head. She suffered multiple facial and skull fractures and lacerations to her brain. Several of her teeth were "smashed out".
Mr Cameron said Ms McKenzie was punched, kicked and hit with a piece of rock.
"There is clear evidence that Tania was brutally sexually violated and brutally murdered," he said.
The only issue in the case was "who did it" and the crown's case was that Randle was that person, he said.
Randle, who worked as a bouncer at the Red Lion Inn where Ms McKenzie worked, was the last person to see her alive, he said.
She had worked on the night of January 6 then she and other staff stayed on after the bar closed around midnight to celebrate her 20th birthday, which fell on January 7.
About 1.30am Ms McKenzie, Randle and the bar's duty manager had a meal at a Wanganui takeaway bar, then were seen later at a service station.
The duty manager went home about 2.35am and, after being invited to a party, Randle and Ms McKenzie went to her flat where flatmates heard her talking to a man and getting ready to go out again.
They left not long after 3am and the next communication anyone had from her was a 111 call from her cellphone at 4.18am. Nobody spoke during the call, which lasted 27 seconds.
Ms McKenzie's body was found partially submerged in the river about 10.30am that day.
Not long after her body was discovered Randle was seen walking near the scene of the crime and around this time sent a text message to Ms McKenzie's phone saying he would bring a bottle of bourbon to work that night.
"That's an interesting coincidence of events," Mr Cameron said.
Randle was interviewed by police and denied any involvement.
He told police he had vomited outside Miss McKenzie's flat, then at several other points on his way home, but no trace of this was ever found, Mr Cameron said.
He also lied about the clothes and shoes he had been wearing, as CCTV footage would show, he said.
The crown case was that Randle was wearing a specific kind of Ascics sports shoe, the sole of which matched impressions found at the scene.
Randle told police he no longer had his Ascics shoes as they were chewed up by his two pitbull dogs.
He also blamed the dogs for a scratch on his chest and neck, but three crown witnesses - a vet, a doctor and a professor of animal behaviour - would say the scratch was inconsistent with being caused by a dog and was a human scratch.
Randle said abrasions on his knuckles were caused using a punching bag at home, but no punching bag was found by police.
Police investigating the murder planted bugs at locations frequented by Randle, Mr Cameron said.
Conversations recorded during that operation corroborated the crown case and contained "telling statements" by Randle, he said.
DNA evidence would show that a bloodstain on one of Randle's rings was highly likely to be a mix of Miss McKenzie and Randle's blood.
Ms McKenzie was punched during the attack and her face "severely bloodied".
DNA evidence would also show that blood found in Randle's washing machine was highly likely to be Ms McKenzie's. There was also blood found on a towel.
"So how did her blood end up in his washing machine?" Mr Cameron asked. "He's cleaning up."
The victim's father, Garry McKenzie, told the court his daughter had been indecently assaulted when she was 11 and had been wary of men since then.
"She was just a bit more careful."
The crown plans to call about 80 witnesses and the trial is expected to last around three weeks.
In the afternoon Justice Ronald Young discharged one of the jurors, but the trial will continue with a jury of 11.
- NZPA
