The man on trial for murdering his 2-year-old stepdaughter told police he was "110 per cent" innocent and her death left him heartbroken.
Michael Joseph Martin, 25, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Leilani Mary-Jane Lotonu'u at their Manurewa home in June 2012.
He is accused of hitting the little girl so hard an internal organ ruptured, resulting in a fatal infection.
The defence says Martin is innocent and the child's mother Amy Lorigan must be responsible.
On the seventh day of Martin's trial in the High Court at Auckland today, the jury was shown a DVD of him being interviewed by police shortly after the death.