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The occupants of the Kaitangata house where homicide victim Michael Hutchings was staying say they found him staggering along one of the roads leading into the town with stab wounds six days before his weighted-down body was found in the Clutha River.
Wayne Paterson said yesterday, that he and his partner, Nicole Field, saw Mr Hutchings on the road outside Kai Auto Dismantlers in Clyde Terrace Kaitangata at about 8.30pm on January 7.
He was staggering and they thought he was drunk.
When they got him home they found he had two stab wounds.
Mr Paterson said Ms Field, tended the wounds - one of which was to the back of his neck. Mr Paterson did not believe they were life-threatening.
Police say an autopsy found Mr Hutchings "died from stab wounds to his neck and stomach".
Mr Paterson said Mr Hutchings refused to tell them how he came to be stabbed.
"He wouldn't tell us a damn thing. He told us the more he told us the more danger we would be in."
Mr Paterson said about 11.30pm that night, Mr Hutchings left the house in Old Coach Road intending to hitch-hike to Balclutha and then Dunedin.
Asked why Mr Hutchings did not want to stay the night, Mr Paterson said: "Because he said he was putting us in danger. He was freaked, mate. You ask anyone since he quit his job [at a Clydevale dairy farm]."
Mr Paterson said Mr Hutchings had had death threats and feared for his life. He regretted now letting him leave but "at the time, I was thinking ... I don't need this ... "
He said Mr Hutchings left with his passport and a one-way ticket to Brisbane on a flight scheduled for 3.30pm on Wednesday, January 9.
Mr Hutchings' body was found in the Clutha River on January 12. Police have said they found blood in Mr Paterson's house and are having it analysed.
On January 7, Mr Paterson said he and his partner had taken Mr Hutchings to Dunedin where he had spent $550 on the plane ticket.
Mr Hutchings' parents moved to Western Australia more than a year ago but he could afford a flight only as far as Brisbane.
He described Hutchings as quiet. "He wouldn't hurt a fly, mate. He didn't deserve what happened to him."
Mr Paterson said he was speaking from a "safe house" and was under 24-hour surveillance.
Clutha District Council property records confirm Mr Paterson jointly owns the Kaitangata house which has been the scene of an exhaustive forensic investigation since Sunday night.
He claims that last Friday he was attacked by a man who "nicked" his throat with a two- bladed knife.
The man claimed by Mr Paterson to be his attacker quit his job on Sunday and left his residence.
Mr Hutchings' most recent boss, a Clutha Valley dairy farm manager, said he worked on his property until December 21 and then spent time in Kaitangata.
"He was an honest individual but very gullible, easily led and he was mixing in the wrong company."
A memorial service for Michael Hutchings will be held on January 19 at 2pm in St Mark's Anglican Church in Balclutha.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
