A number of criminal trials captured public attention in 2010. Court reporter Edward Gay revisits some of the high-profile cases
CASE 4: NUTTIDAR VAIKAEW
It was the smell that alarmed a prostitute's landlord.
Nuttidar Vaikaew had been dead for nearly a month. Her body lay beneath sheets and blankets on her bed inside her Western Springs flat. A fan had been set up close by and incense had been burned, but nothing could mask the smell from her decaying corpse.
Her boyfriend, Gordon Hieatt, was convicted of her murder in the High Court at Auckland last month. Hieatt's jaw dropped slightly as the verdict was read out.
The jurors heard of Hieatt's appetite for prostitutes, and details of the violence he had used to kill Ms Vaikaew.
They were told Ms Vaikaew's landlord called police when he became concerned that he had not seen his tenant for about a month and noticed a bad smell in the air.
Two constables visited the Western Springs flat that day. They knocked on the door several times before Hieatt opened it and confessed to killing Ms Vaikaew.
Constable Kym Lam Sam told the court of the gruesome discovery that he made in the couple's bedroom.
He said he saw a mound on the bed, covered in blankets. Larvae could be seen on the blankets and dead flies were on the floor. There was a terrible smell.
Nearly a month before the discovery of her body, Ms Vaikaew and Hieatt had fought. The tension started when Ms Vaikaew asked Hieatt to leave their small flat because she had to see a client. That night, he returned and the couple had dinner together, but there was little conversation.
Hieatt went to the back room of the unit, and smoked some marijuana to relax.
About 10pm, after Ms Vaikaew called for him to come to bed, the pair began arguing about rent payments.
Hieatt told the jury that he "lost it" and punched Ms Vaikaew.
"I couldn't take it any more - being shouted at, ordered around, talked down to, treated like crap - I just wanted her to shut up," he said.
Hieatt had earlier told the jury that Ms Vaikaew had told him on three occasions: "You want to kill me."
"It's like something happened and all of a sudden I heard my voice saying: 'Yes, I'm going to kill you' ... I watched my hands, I couldn't stop it, it was like I was watching a movie, I couldn't stop it happening."
Hieatt strangled Ms Vaikaew with a rope the pair kept in a box by the bed as a sex aid. He broke a bone in her neck and killed her.
Defence lawyer Peter Kaye said the killing had disturbed his client, who was suicidal in the days after it. Hieatt had loved Ms Vaikaew very much, he said. "He was addicted to her."
Justice John Priestley called for a psychological assessment of Hieatt, and will sentence him in February.
GORDON HIEATT
* Where: High Court at Auckland.
* When: Last month.
* Charge: Murder.
* Verdict: Guilty.
