McNee killer wanted to admit murder

By LOUISA CLEAVE

The man found guilty of the manslaughter of interior designer David McNee had wanted to plead guilty to murder to avoid having to talk about their sexual encounter.

Phillip Layton Edwards said he never wanted to give evidence about what happened the night he killed Mr McNee at his St Marys Bay home in July last year.

But his lawyers said they convinced Edwards during his trial to tell the jury his version of the night Mr McNee picked him up in Karangahape Rd.

The jury spent almost 30 hours deliberating before finding 24-year-old Edwards not guilty of murder but guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Before delivering the verdict, the jury sought clarifications and asked to watch the last hour of Edwards' interview with police, in which he discussed the killing.

In a statement read outside the High Court at Auckland, Edwards expressed his "real and deep remorse" to Mr McNee's family.

Edwards, just out of prison, was living rough on the streets of Auckland and had prostituted himself to men for survival, the court heard during the two-week trial.

Edwards said he had gone with Mr McNee to perform a "puppetry of the penis" or to masturbate in front of him on a "no-touch basis".

His lawyers said that despite Edwards telling Mr McNee he was not homosexual, the interior designer sexually violated him with his fingers, causing him to lose control.

The Crown called Edwards' claim of being violated by Mr McNee a fabrication designed to tarnish the dead man and justify the use of violence.

Cross-examined on the witness stand, Edwards said he did not tell police the full story because he did not want people to think he was homosexual.

In the statement, read by lawyer Roy Wade, Edwards said: "I have never wanted to give evidence about what really happened the night that he died and for a time I wanted to plead guilty to murder simply to avoid having to give my account."

Mr Wade paid tribute to co-counsel, Adam Couchman, for his work in convincing Edwards to testify.

There were times that Edwards did not want to leave his cell to meet his lawyers, let alone discuss the circumstances of his encounter with Mr McNee, said Mr Wade.

The turning point came when family members gave evidence about Edwards working in male prostitution, Mr Wade said.

Detective Senior Sergeant Lance Burdett, who headed the police investigation, said Edwards had been charged with murder and that was the verdict the Crown had wanted.

"There's no winners in this situation at all," he said. "It's a tragedy for everybody."