Dunedin hairdresser pleads guilty after murdering friend

Ameria Prunella Aroha Charlene Whatuira was stabbed to death by her friend. Photo / NZ Police

A Dunedin hairdresser stabbed her friend to death before dousing her body in paint and perfume and dumping her in a shallow grave, a court has heard.

Naomi Lee Morrison, 44, appeared before the High Court at Dunedin this morning where she pleaded guilty to the murder of 41-year-old Ameria Prunella Aroha Charlene Whatuira.

The victim's body was only found two months after the killing, on the second occasion the police had searched the defendant's Glenleith home.

Through July, Morrison and Whatuira had regular contact by phone and in person, the court heard.

On the afternoon of August 6, the victim left a supermarket with a box of beer, picked up the defendant and drove to the Glenleith property.

The pair drank alcohol and smoked cannabis that afternoon.

Whatuira sent a message to a friend saying she was "with a good mate".

But just hours later Morrison went from "mate" to murderer, stabbing the victim seven times in the chest and several times in the head.

One of the wounds penetrated the woman's heart, a post mortem found.

There was no evidence of defensive wounds.

Morrison then put a bin bag over Whatuira's head, secured it with tape, wrapped the body in bedding and left it on the deck beside her lounge for several days.

Ameria Prunella Aroha Charlene Whatuira. Photo / NZ Police

The court heard how she poured paint over her victim to mask the odour.

On August 14, Morrison invited her friend Tialoren Topping over for a drinking session and told her she had something to show her.

Together they rolled the body over the deck, dug a shallow grave and buried her with perfume to cover the smell.

Topping cleaned the garden tools, then they resumed drinking.

On September 1, a man approached the police alleging a murder had been committed at Tanner Rd and they applied for a search warrant the next day.

When it was granted, a team searched the house and its steep, bushy backyard but a dog was unable to trace any scent.

Morrison assured officers nothing untoward had gone on.

Two weeks later, however, Whatuira's family reported her missing and an investigation commenced.

On October 8, police again searched the property and this time found the victim.

This time when Morrison was interviewed she admitted socialising with Whatuira but said she had been picked up late on August 8 and had never seen her again.

The defendant denied any involvement in her death.

Morrison will be sentenced next month to mandatory life imprisonment. Her minimum non-parole period will be determined by the sentencing judge.

Topping was jailed for 13 months after admitting to being an accessory to the murder and later had 11 months added to her sentence on unrelated charges.