One of the men accused of the infamous fatal 1987 Red Fox Tavern robbery had earlier been convicted of an aggravated robbery in Auckland.
Mark Joseph Hoggart, 60, and a man with name suppression are on trial for the aggravated robbery and murder of its publican, Christopher Bush, in Waikato.
It is alleged the two men stole cheques and cash to the value of just over $36,000 in the armed hold-up at the Maramarua tavern.
Today, the jury learned the man with name suppression had previously spent time in jail for an aggravated robbery in Auckland in the early 1980s.
One of the co-offenders in that crime - Charles Emile Augustus Ross - has been giving evidence in court.
Before he took the stand, however, the jury heard the specifics of the Auckland robbery Ross committed with the unnamed defendant and the help of a third man.
The unnamed accused had two 12-gauge double-barrelled shotguns sawed down with a hacksaw.
Ross told the court that while in prison there had been talk about how the Red Fox Tavern would be a good target for an aggravated robbery.
Back on the outside, Ross saw the unnamed defendant again.
There was a fear they would be "getting some heat" from the police investigating Bush's death because of the earlier Auckland robbery, the court heard.
Ross claimed the unnamed defendant asked for an alibi and he refused.
He did not want to be involved in any way, the court heard, and was trying to turn over a new leaf in his life.
Crown prosecutor Natalie Walker asked why Ross had not told police at the time about the alibi request or the prison talk, instead providing the information in a new statement in 2018.
Ross said back then he had been trying to distance himself from it.
During the cross-examination defence lawyer Christopher Stevenson said his client never asked for an alibi and questioned if it would be fair to described Ross as a conman.
"No," he replied.
The lengthy trial before jury and Justice Mark Woolford, continues in the High Court at Auckland.