A witness says a Dunedin doctor sounded "angry and quite stressed'' just minutes before he is accused of stabbing a teenage girl to death.
Venod Skantha (32) is on trial before the High Court at Dunedin after allegedly murdering 16-year-old Amber-Rose Rush in the bedroom of her Corstorphine home late on February 2 last year.
The Crown says the defendant's motive was the protection of his medical career, which was in jeopardy because the victim was planning to make sexual allegations to police and the man's Dunedin Hospital bosses.
Amber-Rose Rush died in her Dunedin home on February 2, 2018. Photo / Supplied
Skantha was allegedly driven to and from Amber-Rose's house by a teenage boy - the prosecution's key witness with whom he spent the next couple of days before police intervened.
Moving into the third week of trial, the jury heard from two of the teen witness' friends who were with him the night of the killing.
A 23-year-old woman whose name was suppressed said she heard a phone conversation between her friend and Skantha about a social media post by Amber-Rose which was derogatory to the defendant.
"I remember Vinny sounded angry and quite stressed and [my friend] was trying to reassure him . . . [Skantha] was being loud and talking fast'', she said.
Defence counsel Jonathan Eaton QC confirmed with the woman she had never heard his client speak before then.
"I know what the human emotion of anger entails'', she said.
While she said the teenager appeared worried about the social media stoush, Sam Charteris-Cope (22), who was socialising with them, said he seemed unmoved.
The teenager was then allegedly picked up by Skantha and drove him to Amber-Rose's home.
Before he left, friends said he told them if he died he wanted his ashes pressed into a vinyl record.
Shortly after, at 11.54pm, the teen called Mr Charteris-Cope.
"Hey guys, I don't want you to panic but I think I might be an accomplice to murder'', the key witness told them.
The woman said he sounded "upset and confused'' and hung up after saying he had chosen the wrong words.
Skantha and the teen then spent two nights in Balclutha before returning to Dunedin where they met the victim's mother, Lisa-Ann, at a motel.
Detective Constable Amy Stewart - who posed as the woman's friend - told the jury the defendant gave Ms Rush flowers and a card, told her he was "so sorry'' about Amber-Rose's death, and hugged her.
Skantha asked Ms Rush what had happened to Amber-Rose and when she told him, he suggested possible suspects including her step-father, and an ex-boyfriend who had broken Amber-Rose's arm.
