KEY POINTS:
A 16-year-old friend of slain tagger Pihema Cameron heard him cry out, "He got me, he stabbed me," after a confrontation with South Auckland businessman Bruce Emery, a court heard yesterday.
The witness, who has name suppression, told the High Court at Auckland that Mr Cameron had been tagging properties in Mahia Rd, Manurewa, on January 26 this year when Emery, armed with a knife, chased them 300m into Southview Place.
The Crown alleges Emery, 50, murdered Mr Cameron because he was furious his garage door had been tagged.
Emery has pleaded not guilty, saying he was acting in self-defence. His lawyer, Chris Comeskey, told the court Mr Cameron's death was tragic but accidental.
"It's about not having any intention to kill or be reckless," Mr Comeskey said.
The witness said it looked as if Emery's fist went into the right side of Mr Cameron's chest and he immediately dropped to the ground.
"He said to me, 'He got me, he stabbed me."'
Mr Cameron lay on the road on his back with his legs bent, his clothes turning bright red from the amount of blood he was losing.
The witness said Mr Cameron got up and stumbled before falling to the ground again. He died at the scene.
The court was told the knife had collapsed his right lung before entering one of the two major pumping chambers of the heart, causing major blood loss.
The pair had left Mr Cameron's Mahia Rd home about 10.15pm, carrying four spraypaint cans between them. "We were going to go for a walk and do some tagging," the witness said.
Mr Cameron stopped to spray a tag on a fence when they heard a male voice call out, "Oi. What are you doing?"
The pair ran off, but were chased into Southview Rd. When Mr Cameron became tired, the witness said he tried grabbing his T-shirt to pull him along.
Mr Cameron stopped to catch his breath in the middle of the road.
"I saw the guy catch up to Pihema. He [Mr Cameron] kept backing away. He got to the kerb and tripped up but got up quickly."
Mr Cameron said, "Let's rush him," and held his clenched fists up in front of him.
The pair sprayed paint at Emery in an unsuccessful attempt to stop him advancing on them. The witness said it was then he noticed Emery was holding a knife.
Crown prosecutor Aaron Perkins said Emery was taking the law into his own hands.
"Emery was extremely angry with what had gone on and vented that anger by using the knife. This killing was quite unnecessary."
When Emery returned to his home he cleaned blood off the knife and placed it under his mattress.
He later told a police officer he had chased some kids up the street. He said he thought he was being attacked and put the knife in Mr Cameron's shoulder because he had a family to protect.
