CHRISTCHURCH - The man who picked up Timaru woman Lisa Blakie says a serious assault on him on the day she was murdered is not connected with her death.
Timothy David Taylor, aged 30, unemployed, admits picking up Lisa Blakie on February 2 when she was hitchhiking on the outskirts of Christchurch.
But his lawyer, Tony Garrett, said yesterday that his client denied any involvement in her death.
An assault in which Taylor received a broken arm and a laceration on February 5, when Ms Blakie is believed to have been killed, was "totally unconnected" to the homicide, Mr Garrett said.
Taylor was arrested in Christchurch last Wednesday after a long interview with police and appeared on charges unrelated to the Blakie homicide in the Christchurch District Court on Thursday.
He did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody.
Mr Garrett said Taylor told police in a 61-page statement that after picking up Ms Blakie near the Shell Yaldhurst service station on the outskirts of Christchurch he dropped her at a rest area near the Kowai No 2 bridge, about 15 minutes' drive from Springfield, central Canterbury.
The bridge has emerged as a key landmark in the case because Ms Blakie's dog, Kaos, was found there about 2 pm on the day she went missing.
Ms Blakie's mobile telephone was found at the nearby Kowai No 1 bridge and her body was recovered from the Porter River about 10km from the No 2 bridge on Waitangi Day.
Mr Garrett said that after dropping off Ms Blakie, Taylor had returned home to Darfield.
His client had provided a blood sample for DNA testing purposes about 11 days ago and had been cooperative with the police, who had asked him about a wide range of issues, he said. Taylor had not sought legal representation for his interview on Wednesday.
The homicide inquiry head, Detective Inspector Rob Pope, said it would be dangerous to assume that police had established the identity of the offender or offenders responsible for Ms Blakie's death.
Mr Pope said police had confirmed that Taylor had been travelling towards Christchurch when he did a u-turn to pick up Ms Blakie.
He then carried on along Old West Coast Rd until returning to State Highway 73 via the Waddington turnoff.
Police and forensic teams have continued their search of the Darfield house in which Taylor and two other men lived at the time of Ms Blakie's disappearance.
One of them has been charged with inflicting the wounds Taylor received on February 5. The assault is alleged to have occurred in Christchurch.
- NZPA
Driver denies he killed Blakie
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