The fiancee of a man charged with strangulation and injuring with intent to injure has given evidence in the Wellington District Court.
The fiancee of a man accused of strangling two women says it took her time to accept her partner was having sex with other people.
But the woman - a sex worker - maintains those relationships were “commercial” and “transactional”.
In contrast, she told the Wellington District Court she and the man lived together and had a vested interest in each other.
“It wasn’t like they were planning on spending the rest of their lives together,” she said.
The court earlier heard her fiance met the women on Tinder and the trio all had an interest in BDSM. He’s now accused of strangling them both and injuring with intent to injure.
The two women said they didn’t consent to being strangled to the point of unconsciousness, but the man said the events they have described never happened.
His fiancee, who is giving evidence for the defence, was asked about an incident at a post-Covid party at an inner city apartment, which the man and one of the complainants were running as a venue for sex workers and sex parties.
The complainant earlier told court she saw the man mistreat his fiancee at the party, dragging her from the room. She further claimed the woman had told her she’d taken medication before she arrived and the man was withholding his fiancee’s anxiety medication.
The fiancee denied those allegations, but admitted crying towards the end of the evening, because she was drunk and had become emotional while talking about her relationship.
Crown prosecutor Tim Bain suggested that during a conversation that night the complainant had raised concerns that her relationship with the man was different than what the fiancee thought it was.
The woman agreed polyamory - a non-monogamous relationship - was discussed, but said the complainant hadn’t raised any concerns with her.
But the court heard the conversation was left hanging and in August the fiancee texted the woman saying,
“Goddamit, I finally got my head around s*** and feeling at peace and then things change.”
She admitted that related to her fiance having sex with other people, which made her feel insecure and jealous.
She told the court a “scene” she and the man had filmed with the second complainant was the first time they’d included another woman.
She admitted feeling insecure and anxious because it was a new experience for them, but said she got used to it.
“Our bond got stronger,” she said.
Earlier the second complainant told the court she ceased contact with the man after receiving multiple messages from his partner and becoming aware he was allegedly hurting other women.
But the fiancee said she recalled sporadic interactions on social media with the woman. She said she had no concerns about her welfare and the couple talked openly about their interactions with other people.
But she said the case had hung over them for four years.
“As a result of these allegations, we’ve been ostracised from many of our community groups, sadly we have stepped away and begun other ventures,” she said.
Asked by Bain if the events of the past four years had coloured her experience and her evidence in court, the woman denied that and said she was confident in her testimony.
Bain also suggested the only way the woman could know what had happened between her fiance and the two women was through him, the fiancee replied, “I could talk to them.”
Tomorrow the Crown and defence will give their closing addresses before Judge Bruce Davidson sums up to the jury on Thursday.
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.
The couple were respected Auckland entrepreneurs, but the drug trade fuelled their wealth.