The man accused of murdering Blessie Gotingco told the court he freaked out after he hit her with his car.
The man accused of murdering Blessie Gotingco told the court he freaked out after he hit her with his car.
The man accused of raping and murdering Blessie Gotingco has launched a barrage of expletives in court while under cross-examination.
The 28-year-old man refused to answer questions from Crown prosecutor Kieran Raftery regarding his state of mind when he stabbed the victim, prompting an intervention from Justice Timothy Brewer.
Thejudge reminded him it was important to explain himself to the jury but the defendant reacted angrily when Mr Raftery pursued the point.
"You can take anything you want from my answers, bro, I don't give a f***," he said.
He explained his actions as being in "survival mode" but the prosecutor said it was more likely Mrs Gotingco was in that position.
Earlier, he told the court it was like "I jumped out of my body and something else took over".
Blessie Gotingco was found dead last May. Photo / Supplied
For the first time the defendant - surrounded in the witness box by security staff - admitted to the jury he stabbed Mrs Gotingco as she lay in the back of his car."I was high on methamphetamine at the time so I just wasn't thinking straight, you know," he said.
"It definitely wasn't me, it was the f***ing drug I was on. Going back as straight as I am now, things would be different."
He also apologised to the Gotingco family who were in court to hear his testimony, which at times was interrupted by his tears.
"I'm just real sorry, eh. I know it doesn't mean anything."
The man said he stabbed the victim, who he believed was dead, to make it look like she was the victim of "a random attack".
He told the jury in the High Court at Auckland today he was aware of the scrutiny he was under while being monitored by a GPS anklet and he knew the police could track his movements to the site where he hit Mrs Gotingco if he left her there.
The man, who has name suppression but whose image can be published, said Mrs Gotingco "just came out of nowhere" when he hit her in May last year on Auckland's North Shore.
It was only when he got out of the vehicle that he realised he had hit someone."She wasn't moving or making any noises," he told the court.
"I just sort of panicked and decided to get her out of there as well ... I was just absolutely freaking out. I didn't know what to do."
He was particularly adamant he had no sexual contact with the victim."I did not rape Mrs Gotingco. I didn't sexually assault her in any way at all," he said.
Crown prosecutor Kieran Raftery in cross-examination asked the defendant about how he "dumped" the body in the cemetery.
"I don't know why you have to be so disrespectful. I placed her in the cemetery," the defendant said.
"You weren't very respectful of Mrs Gotingco when you stabbed her, were you?" Mr Raftery asked.
The 28-year-old man refused to answer and said it was a "stupid question".
He was also quizzed on how his semen was found inside the victim if he denied raping her.
"I believe it got there by police malpractice," the defendant said.
The man took exception to the use of the term "slitting her throat".
"Can I just make it clear I did not slit her throat. When I inflicted the injuries to Mrs Gotingco I didn't look what I was doing," he said.
He also denied strangulation.The back and forth between witness and prosecutor has already been tense and Justice Brewer had to intervene at one stage, warning Mr Raftery not to "argue" with the defendant.
