Killer appeals conviction for brutal murder of Raymond Karl Neilson

Tihei Patuwai, left, and Reuben Gibson-Park, right, were each sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. Photo / Gisborne Herald

One of two men who brutally beat a man to death and set his body on fire because he slapped the side of their car is appealing his murder conviction.

Tokomaru Bay man Raymond Karl Neilson’s body was found inside his burning lounge in Waima on December 15, 2019 following a savage and lengthy beating.

Reuben Wayne Hira Gibson-Park and Tihei Patuwai had come across Neilson on the roadside while they were driving around with others after a social event in the early hours of that morning.

Neilson, who did not know the attackers, slapped the side of Gibson-Park’s vehicle, which angered him. The pair tried to assault Neilson on the spot, then chased him - along with two teenagers - to his home.

The two men and one of the teenagers began assaulting him, but both teenagers soon left as Gibson-Park and Patuwai continued to attack Neilson for about half an hour, including bludgeoning him with a baseball bat loud enough to alert a neighbour 100m away.

The pair left Neilson on his lounge floor, where he died of asphyxia from his injuries, drowning in his own blood.

Gibson-Park then came back and poured accelerant on Neilson’s body and set it on fire, intending to destroy evidence of the attack. The fire did not fully take hold and was spotted early by the neighbour.

Neilson’s body was found about 2am in the burning building.

Raymond Neilson's body was found in his Tokomaru Bay home on December 15 after emergency services were called to reports of a fire. Photo / File

Both men were sentenced in the High Court at Gisborne in 2021 to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.

They had admitted assaulting Neilson but not causing his death, but were found guilty of murder at trial.

Gibson-Park today took his case to the Court of Appeal in Wellington, arguing against his conviction.

His lawyer, Tiana Epati, said one of the main issues was how Gibson-Park’s lawyer at the trial tried to defend him by focusing on a “side defence” that the injuries he caused were not the ones that caused Neilson’s death.

Epati said there should have been a “clear murderous intent defence” but because the question of whether Gibson-Park caused the death was “baked in” to his overall defence, proper attention wasn’t given to the other defence point that he did not intend to kill Neilson.

“What should have happened is a clean presentation of murderous intent properly on the evidence,” she said.

She also raised issues with some of the information in Patuwai’s police interview, which was presented to the jury.

Reference to a bloodied tomahawk found beside Neilson’s body should not have been put before the jury, as it was not part of the Crown case, she said.

Sections of Patuwai’s police interview relating to the arson also shouldn’t have been put before the jury, because they only served to prejudice Gibson-Park, who was the only one charged with arson.

“There had to be a big red pen taken to that interview to ensure that it didn’t go beyond what was acceptable.”

Co-counsel Nicholas Chisnall KC also argued the judge should have made a specific direction to the jury about lies, given the Crown and Patuwai’s lawyers were both arguing Gibson-Park was lying.

But Crown lawyer Zannah Johnston said the suggestion of lies was not an “overwhelming feature” in the Crown case.

She also said it was “quite common” in joint trials for defendants to make claims about one another, and there was nothing unorthodox in this case. There was a strong public interest in trying the two men together, she said.

As for the issue around Gibson-Park’s defence at trial, Johnston said there was no evidence to show running the side defence about causation had prejudiced him.

“Every question that a lawyer asks in trial or every avenue they explore does not directly have to relate to the primary defence.”

She argued the matter was not “baked in” to the main defence, but instead was complementary.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice, and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.