Murdered stepson had just proposed

James Galloway. Photo / Supplied

James Galloway was devoted to his three children and partner - he even proposed to her hours before he was stabbed to death by his stepfather.

After a six-day trial in the High Court at Rotorua before Justice Patrick Keane, Douglas Phillip Mervyn Ham, 37, was found guilty by a jury of murdering Mr Galloway near Turangi on May 23 last year.

As the verdict was read out, Ham slumped in the dock staring at the floor as members of his and Mr Galloway's family wept.

Outside court, Mr Galloway's father, prison officer David Galloway, said he was relieved by the guilty verdict - a result he had hoped for.

"It's been a long week and a half - I just want to go home now."

He planned to take a few days off and visit his son's grave at Turangi. The two had been close, he said, catching up at least twice a week.

"Nothing will bring him back. I miss him so much. He was a good friend. This has brought a bit of closure - another chapter sealed.

"You just don't expect young people to die like this. A car accident maybe, but not this way."

Mr Galloway said he was very proud of his son, who had been an up-and-coming rugby player.

"He was a hell of a good father.

His family came first and then it was sport and work."

Although Mr Galloway's thoughts are about his son, he is mindful how the verdict has affected his son's mother, Christine, whom Ham had married.

"They are all torn in the middle. I feel for them a lot," he said. "I'm glad it's over, though. Life goes on."

During the trial, the court heard that Ham lured his 25-year-old victim to a remote area beside Lake Rotoaira when he became embarrassed about a non-consensual sexual act he instigated earlier that day.

Ham said his father had become stuck while fishing there to draw Mr Galloway to the spot. The boning room supervisor then stabbed his stepson once in the chest, cutting the blood supply to the heart and damaging his lung.

Ham had carried the knife hidden in his sweatshirt pocket.

When he originally returned to Turangi with Mr Galloway's body slumped across the front seat of his vehicle, Ham told his parents, paramedics and police he had killed his stepson but had not meant to.

However, during the trial he changed his story, saying Mr Galloway took the knife from him and, while walking backwards, stumbled on uneven ground, stabbing himself.

Justice Keane remanded Ham in custody for sentencing on October 20.

- APN