Dimetrius Pairama was found dead at a derelict house in July 2018. Photo / Supplied
Dimetrius Pairama was found dead at a derelict house in July 2018. Photo / Supplied
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A former child witness whose testimony in 2019 helped convict two adults of murder following the torture and forced hanging of 17-year-old Dimetrius “Precious” Pairama has given significantly different testimony in the ongoing murder trial for the third and final defendant, jurors have been told.
The third defendant, who has name suppression, seemed “hesitant” to go along with the plan to kill Pairama, the witness said last week. But at the previous trial four years ago, she described the same defendant as “keen”.
Prosecutors today read back to the witness, now 19, what she said at the joint trial of Ashley Winter, who was 27 at the time of the killing, and Kerry Te Amo, who was 24. The current defendant, a now 21-year-old who was 16 at the time of Pairama’s death, did not start her own trial until last Monday.
The witness, who also has name suppression and was granted immunity in exchange for her truthful testimony at both murder trials, has been present in the High Court at Auckland since Thursday - testifying via an audio-video feed from another room so she and the defendant can’t see each other.
She was 14 when police made the grisly discovery in July 2018 of Pairama’s body inside a rusted steel drum in the overgrown backyard of an abandoned, derelict Māngere home.
The young teen admitted in a series of police interviews that she was present as Pairama was repeatedly punched and stomped, forced to disrobe and tied naked to a chair with soiled underwear stuffed into her mouth, burned on sensitive areas of her body with a makeshift blowtorch, had Janola poured in her eyes and was ultimately forced to choose the method of her murder: via hanging or stabbing.
Winter and the current defendant were each described as having different motives for the attacks; the current defendant was angry about “Facebook drama” she accused Pairama of having stirred up, the 14-year-old told police. But while testifying last week, the now-adult witness downplayed the significance of Facebook.
A woman with name suppression is on trial in the High Court at Auckland, accused of having helped kidnap and murder 17-year-old Dimetrius Pairama in July 2018. Photo / Michael Craig
“It wasn’t a big deal to [the current defendant],” she testified, suggesting that, rather than angry about Facebook, the defendant appeared “confused, like she’s trying to remember what Ashley’s talking about”.
She told jurors that Winter was the ringleader of the attacks, threatening the other participants with gang violence if they didn’t go along with it.
“To me, they looked hesitant,” the witness said of Te Amo and the current defendant. “It was their body language that gave it away.”
The witness said she hadn’t known Te Amo very well prior to the killing and she had only met Winter the night before. But that wasn’t the case with the current defendant, who looked after her when they both lived on the street.
Today, prosecutor Claire Robertson read aloud multiple passages of the witness’ testimony from the previous murder trial.
“Did [the current defendant] say anything about why she was doing this to Precious?” the witness was asked in 2019.
“Like I said, it was all about Facebook - something that happened on Facebook ... that Dimetrius had said something to another girl, and it caused that girl to ask [the current defendant] for a fight,” she responded.
The witness also said at the 2019 trial that she tried to talk Te Amo and the current defendant out of helping Winter with the torture, but her words “came in through one ear and out the other”.
“I tried telling her to help me stop [the attacks], but they didn’t care,” she added at the prior trial.
Ashley Winter, left, and Kerry Te Amo were both found guilty of murdering Dimetrius Pairama. Photos / NZME
That contrasts with what the witness said last week, the prosecutor pointed out.
“Can you clarify for us, was it that they didn’t care and wanted to do it or they wanted to stop?” Robertson asked.
“I don’t remember,” she replied.
“Do you know why it was at the last trial you said … they didn’t care?” Robertson asked, requesting that the witness think about it again and describe the defendant’s reaction to being asked to stop the attacks.
“Careless,” the witness responded, so quietly that she was asked to repeat the word.
Prosecutors also focused on the witness’ testimony from 2019 about how the current defendant reacted during a meeting that day to discuss with Pairama how she wanted to be killed. At the previous trial, the witness said the current defendant had been “on board” with the killing.
“That’s when all those Facebook things came up,” she previously testified. “That’s when they were keen.”
The witness acknowledged today that had been her testimony in 2019.
“Can you help us understand why you described [the current defendant] and Kerry as being ‘keen’ in the first trial and you described them as being ‘hesitant’ on Friday?” Robertson asked today.
“I can’t explain,” she responded.
“Thinking back now, were they keen or hesitant?” Robertson continued.
“I can’t explain,” she said again.
But after repeated questioning today, the witness agreed with the prosecutor that there was a change in the current defendant’s attitude during the meeting when the Facebook drama was brought up.
“If that wasn’t brought up, their mood wouldn’t have changed and they would have never participated,” she said.
Defence lawyer David Niven acknowledged to jurors at the outset of the trial that his client was present for “the catalogue of horrible things that happened to Ms Pairama” and participated in some of the torture. But he said she did not aid or encourage the murder and she was not a willing participant.
During cross-examination by Niven this afternoon, the witness described the current defendant as someone who struggled with learning disabilities and was overly trusting of others. The defendant was vulnerable to being taken advantage of, she agreed.
Winter was much older than her and the current defendant, she said, agreeing with the defence’s suggestion that Winter would at times act domineering.
The witness’ cross-examination is set to continue tomorrow, when the trial resumes before Justice Kiri Tahana and the jury.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
