Love triangle murder trial: Accused denies any knowledge of the crime

Amandeep Kaur and Gurjinder Singh appear in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Supplied

A man accused of stabbing to death his lover's husband says it was the woman at the centre of the love triangle that was responsible.

Gurjinder Singh, 27, is on trial before the High Court at Auckland accused of the murder of 35-year-old Davender Singh as the victim sat in his car on the side of a south Auckland road on August 7 last year.

The victim's wife, 32-year-old Amandeep Kaur, is jointly charged with murder.

Gurjinder Singh's lawyer, David Niven, told the jury this morning that his client would swap the "relative sanctuary" of the dock for the witness box, opening himself up to cross examination.

He told the jury his client arrived at the scene on Norman Spencer Drive after the victim had been stabbed but had nothing to do with the killing.

"He has denied he had any knowledge to commit the crime or any intent to commit the crime," Mr Niven said.

"He did not stab or kill Davender Singh and was not part of a plan to hurt or kill. He did not assist or encourage."

Kaur was inside the car with her husband as he bled to death but also denies plotting or carrying out the stabbing.

She and Gurjinder Singh were colleagues at Sistema Plastics plant in Penrose and the defendant told the court today how an affair developed.

After three months of a "strictly work relationship" the pair began taking their breaks together with other colleagues.

"It gradually became more romantic," Gurjinder Singh said.

Events came to a head when they each took the day off work and arranged a rendezvous at the Allenby Park Hotel, where they spent several hours.

But they were rumbled on July 11 when Gurjinder Singh's wife saw the hotel payment on his bank statement and uncovered intimate Facebook messages between the two.

The defendant said a hasty half-hour meeting was set up between the two couples during which they decided there would be no further communication between the workmates.

While he said he was content with that course of action, allegedly Kaur was not.

Gurjinder Singh told the jury she asked him to leave his wife, prompting an enraged outburst from Davender Singh.

"I said I was not willing to leave my wife," he said. "If I do, I will have to separate myself from my entire family and at no cost will I allow that to happen."

Electronic communication between the co-accused stopped but they continued to talk via handwritten notes.

Gurjinder Singh said she would write him about five a day -- in which she would profess her love for him and spoke of beatings dealt to her by her husband -- but he would only reply to some of them.

"He told police where to find those notes," Mr Niven said.

"He was suggesting if you look at those notes, they'll tell a story and that story is: he did not kill Davender Singh. Those notes will tell you Ms Kaur was the one who planned it and carried it out."

The Crown says the messages proved the couple planned and executed the murder together.

But the defendant will spend this afternoon putting the notes in chronological order, which Mr Niven said provided a different context to that which the Crown asserted.

The trial, before Justice Graham Lang and a jury of nine men and three women, is expected to conclude this week.