Man threatened kidnap victim with death 'rampage'

A man accused of murder told a woman he abducted that he would go on a killing rampage if she tried to escape.

Farm worker Craig Ross, 31, is charged with murdering his employer, 53-year-old farmer Robert Green, at his home near Kaikohe on August 12 last year.

Ross pleaded not guilty to the charge in the High Court in Whangarei.

The prosecution says Ross, who worked on Mr Green's farm, took a single-barrelled shotgun and shot him at close range in the back of the head.

The defence says it is a case of manslaughter, not murder, because Mr Green had provoked Ross by making unwelcome sexual advances.

The 30-year-old woman allegedly kidnapped by Ross told the court that the accused had called her at home on two occasions in the afternoon and evening of August 12.

Both calls were made from Mr Green's cellphone.

Some time after 8pm, Ross arrived at her house in Mr Green's ute. He told her he had done something stupid and she was going to be involved.

After a short discussion, he grabbed her and taped her hands and face. She noticed he was carrying a knife.

Ross then dragged her into the passenger seat of the ute and drove north of Kaikohe.

The accused sexually assaulted the woman at a number of places around the Far North between August 12 and August 14, the court heard.

Ross said it did not matter what he did because he was going to rot in jail. The woman said she noticed a firearm and shotgun shells in the car.

She said Ross told her he would "go on a rampage killing people if I did anything stupid".

Shortly after 7am on August 14, Ross drove to a quarry in Taheke, west of Kaikohe, where he was later arrested.

The court was told it was extremely likely that blood found on a shirt worn by Ross had come from Mr Green and that parts of a sawn-down shotgun were found in Ross' house.

- NZPA