KEY POINTS:
The distraught girlfriend of hit-and-run victim Kane Wright says her boyfriend's killer is a coward and she remains haunted about the moment he was run down.
Angela Lincoln, 21, watched as her boyfriend was thrown in the air and knocked unconscious by enraged motorist Darin Gardner's Nissan Sentra.
"Going through my head was, 'Oh my god, Kane, oh my god. Oh my god. There was no response whatsoever. He was bleeding from his nose and ears... he was hurt, unconscious."
Angela was in the Auckland High Court last week as a jury found Gardner, 25, guilty of two counts of murder - for the deaths of Kane, 18, and Melissa Viall, 23, in Pakuranga, Auckland, last October. Anton DeGraaff, 25, was found guilty of two charges of injuring with intent.
Angela now wants Gardner and DeGraaff locked away for life. "I don't feel sorry for Darin and Anton, no way, not all, they deserve to be in there [jail] and suffer. It should be an eye for an eye."
She says neither she nor the Wright family has received any apologies from the pair.
"None of the guys has ever apologised to me. Their attitude is amazing. They look like they don't even care. No remorse or anything.
"I want to say to Darin he's a coward. He's a coward for what he's done. Anton's a coward as well. If it wasn't for him acting so tough and macho none of this would have happened. None of it. He's as much to blame as Darin."
Angela and Kane had been together at the Tabu Bar in Pakuranga on October 8 last year, for Saturday night drinks with friends.
They left the bar and waited for a taxi, when they saw a fight between DeGraaff and two other youths. Kane, who did not know the trio, went to intervene, telling Angela to stay put and wait for him.
"Everything was all right and then we saw Darin just coming towards us in his car out of nowhere. He was driving really fast - you could hear the revving of the car. He was speeding."
Kane was run down by the car, estimated by witnesses as travelling 80km/h. Gardner then did a u-turn, and struck Melissa on the way back. She died instantly; Kane died two days later in Middlemore Hospital. I saw Melissa get hit, she literally did three somersaults in the air," says Angela.
"I was confident as anything Kane would come through even when I was in the hospital. I had a slight gut feeling he wouldn't make it but I thought this can't happen to someone so young."
In the High Court, Gardner's lawyer argued that his client was trying to help his friend. He feared for his friend's life because of the fight. But Angela says DeGraaff was spoiling for a fight. "He was acting tough and saying things like 'Bring it on'."
Angela met Kane, an apprentice plumber, at Howick College. "He was always bubbly, smiley and never had a bad word to say about anyone. He wouldn't hurt anyone, he wouldn't harm a fly. All he was doing was making sure everyone else was okay, then he got hit."
Angela is still close to Kane's parents, Tony and Sharon, and brother, Dylan. They often have dinners together and listen to Kane's music.
Angela had to tell Sharon that Kane had been hit and was in hospital. On their way to hospital, Sharon told Tony to keep driving. "I said, 'Don't go to hospital, because if we drive to hospital our lives will never be the same'. As a mother I knew something wasn't right."
The last thing Tony remembers saying to Kane before his son headed out for the night was: "'See you mate, be safe' - that's what I always said to him."
Sharon was pleased with the murder verdict. "I mean, it won't bring Kane back but to me I always wanted to see murder against his name, I wanted his mother to see it. I hope he gets life, life should mean life."
Gardner will be sentenced on November 16, but that brings little solace to Angela, who is devastated and not looking forward to the first anniversary of Kane's death.
"We spent every minute with each other, we talked about getting engaged and buying a house together. We always said we'd have the best-looking babies. The last thing I said to Kane was, 'I love you, and I'll see you soon'. I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye."
