A Waikato man accused of the murder of his partner whose body was found in a lake has had the opening of his trial postponed by a day. / Video by Alan Gibson
A jury has begun its deliberations over whether a Waikato man had murderous intent when he killed his partner in a drunken rage on their way home from a party.
Cory Jefferies admits killing his partner of 26 years Kim Louise Richmond, 42, but he denies that it was intentional.
In homage to their loved one, Richmond's family and friends either wore or held a red rose - her favourite flower - as they sat in the public gallery.
Raywynne and Matt Richmond pictured outside the High Court at Hamilton today after the jury retired to consider their verdict in the Kim Richmond murder trial. Photo / Alan Gibson
In her hour-long summing up in the High Court at Hamilton today, Justice Sally Fitzgerald told the court the onus of proof fell on the Crown who had to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
She told the jury a reasonable doubt would leave them with an honest and reasonable certainty left in their minds after giving consideration to all of the evidence.
She also reminded them not to feelings of sympathy or prejudice influence their decision.
"Your job is to base your decision solely on the evidence you have heard dispassionately and fairly."
She said submissions made by both counsel in their closings yesterday was not evidence but "commentary".
The evidence was also not the questions that they asked, rather the answers the witnesses gave.
Cory Scott Jefferies pictured in the High Court at Hamilton on Monday. Photo/Alan Gibson.
As for the witness testimony, she told the jury not to throw away their "fact finding tool kit" which included not only common sense but also the ability to sift through what was said.
They could do that by assessing any inconsistencies or contradictions and whether what they said was plausible.
"Did it have a ring of truth about it … did it stack up?"
As for Jefferies' 11 month-long lie about her death, the jury had to give as much weight to the defence's submissions of the actions of a "desperate man" as to that put by the Crown, that it was the actions of a murderer.
The Crown did not have to prove a motive but had submitted that the couple's relationship became so strained that Jefferies became "extremely angry" after a build up of ill-will and carried out the attack on her as he didn't get what he wanted.
However, the key aspect the jury had to decide was whether Jefferies had murderous intent at the time, that he meant to kill that person and "consciously running the risk that the person could die as a result".
She also went over the evidence including the Crown's submission about how Richmond's body was found with the front of her bra unclasped and her singlet and rugby jersey pulled up over the back of her neck, exposing her torso.
The Crown said there was an element of "considerable malice", she said.
The defence submitted her death was a spontaneous event and nowhere in the evidence was there trouble brewing the night she died.
The jury were sent out to begin their deliberations at 10.40am.
Kim Richmond and Cory Jefferies.
Meanwhile yesterday in his closing submissions, Crown prosecutor Ross Douch said the level of disdain an alleged murderer had for his partner was so strong that he continued his ruse by letting his daughter text her mother - despite her being trapped, dead in a vehicle in the bottom of a lake.
"It's contemptuous to leave that woman exposed like that to rot in the utility."
As for the threats, a one-off threat could be forgotten. However, repeated threats to various people showed it was having an effect on his state of mind.
Douch also urged the jury to remember the lengths Jefferies, 46, went to hide what he'd done for 11 months by lying to the faces of his family including his own children.
"He allows his daughter … on the first day to get on the phone and text a dead person. Her mother. That's what he was driven to by what he'd done."
