Desert Rd murder trial begins

A 7-year-old murder case has begun with the Crown alleging the victim was either shot or hit in the head with a weapon by a fellow drug dealer.

Palmerston North man Nicholas Pike, 22, was murdered near the Desert Rd in the central North Island on March 18, 2002, the Crown says.

His body has never been found.

Stephen Thomas Hudson, 39, appeared in the High Court at Wellington yesterday charged with Mr Pike's murder.

Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk said the two men had met in Palmerston North where Hudson had supplied Mr Pike with cannabis to sell.

They were often in each other's company but the relationship became tense in late 2001 when Hudson was on the run from police, wanted for selling and manufacturing cannabis oil.

Hudson began to suspect Mr Pike was a police informant. He was also anxious for Mr Pike to pay him back money he owed for cannabis, Mr Vanderkolk said.

On March 18, 2002, the two men were travelling down the Desert Rd with a woman when Hudson ordered her to get out of the car.

Hudson then drove down a side road with Mr Pike and returned on his own about 10 to 15 minutes later.

"[Mr Pike] was murdered either by a blow to the head with a weapon or shot with a revolver," Mr Vanderkolk said.

Defence lawyer Steve Winter said Hudson could not have killed Mr Pike because he had been staying with family in Masterton from March 15, 2002, three days before the alleged murder took place. "The Crown's evidence on its own is not enough to convict Mr Hudson," he said.

The trial is expected to last five to six weeks.

- NZPA