KEY POINTS:
A key witness in the trial of a man accused of murdering Hawke's Bay farmer Jack Nicholas today rejected suggestions she spoke out only to try to claim a reward.
The suggestions were made in the High Court in Napier today by Bruce Squire QC, defence counsel for Murray Kenneth Foreman, 51, who denies the dawn shooting of 71-year-old Mr Nicholas on August 27, 2004.
Donna Kingi lived next-door to Foreman at the time, and moved about a month later to Australia from where in November 2005 she sent an email to the Sensible Sentencing Trust saying she had information about her friend "Moe" in relation to the killing.
She eventually told police, and repeated in court, that on the same day as Mr Nicholas died on his Kaweka Range foothills farm Foreman told her over their fence 80km away at Haumoana, 10km northeast of Hastings he thought he had shot someone.
Asked if her story was made up, and if she had only done it to help claim a reward announced by the trust, she told Mr Squire during cross-examination: "No Sir."
Re-examined by crown prosecutor Russell Collins, she read to the court an email sent to trust head Garth McVicar in February 2006 saying she was "shocked" to learn a reward was being offered by the trust, and that Mr McVicar was involved.
"What if people think that I want to make money from this?" she wrote. "Will people think that I am genuine with my intentions? How will I deal with people's reactions?"
Ms Kingi told the court that she kept the information to herself because of a fear of not being believed as she had - under pressure - withdrawn a series of complaints of domestic abuse.
But her silence was interrupting her life, giving her sleepless nights.
Despite having been a longtime friend of the accused, her cousin's partner, she decided she had to speak-up, a decision which ultimately led to her agreeing with police to return to New Zealand to carry-out bugged conversations with Foreman.
She said she had never been offered the reward, and has never asked for it.
But she admitted to Mr Squire that police had paid an estimated A$30,000 ($36,350) of her living expenses in Australia, in addition to the cost of bringing her and two children to New Zealand for 15 days at the time she met Foreman in March 2006.
It included power and telephone bills, and continuing weekly rent of A$270 for accommodation after she, her partner and children were evicted from their home in Australia in October 2006.
The trial continues tomorrow with more than 20 of the crown's 90 scheduled witnesses still to be heard.
- NZPA
