Ōmanawa murder accused told police he was ‘aiming at car’ and thought visitors came to ‘shoot him’

The trial surrounding an Ōmanawa murder continues in the High Court in Rotorua.

The Bay of Plenty man accused of murdering Jamin Roemaata Harrison at an Ōmanawa property told police he thought the deceased and his associate had come to “shoot him”.

The defendant, whose name is suppressed, is on trial in the High Court in Rotorua defending a charge of murder, having shot Harrison dead in the driveway of a McLaren Falls Rd property on January 25, 2021.

The defendant does not deny shooting Harrison with a 12-gauge break-open double-barrelled shotgun.

The Crown says Harrison was unarmed when he turned up at the property to buy drugs, accompanied by his cousin Janelle Nicholas, who was driving her mother’s car about 10pm.

CCTV camera captured Harrison standing at the front gate of the property and him being shot.

The defendant, whose trial began on March 13, told police he thought Harrison had a gun and claimed to have acted in defence of himself and his partner after they were earlier violently assaulted and seriously injured during a home invasion.

Nicholas earlier told the jury that after arriving at the property, her cousin got out of the car and walked up to the video-linked security gate to alert the people inside and he was shot “within a minute” of arrival.

“He got asked twice, and before my cousin could finish the sentence, I heard the shotgun go off. I heard my cousin yell, he dropped [to the ground] almost immediately, and I thought I was going to be shot too.”

Crown prosecutor Cindy Lee yesterday read undisputed evidence from several prosecution witnesses, including from a number of police officers and medical experts.

Forensic pathologist Dr Simon Stables, who conducted a post-mortem examination of the deceased’s body at Auckland City Hospital, said in his evidence Harrison died from a shotgun injury with significant injuries to his liver, spleen, aorta and left common iliac artery, resulting in significant internal bleeding.

Seven shotgun pellets were removed from Harrison’s body during the post-mortem, he said.

Forensic toxicologist Sarah Russell confirmed methamphetamine and amphetamine were detected in Harrison’s blood and urine.

In her written statement read to the jury, Constable Megan Rossi said the defendant kept repeating “they were going to kill me” when she interviewed him at the property.

Detective Constable Joel Potaka, who gave evidence via an audio-visual link, said he also spoke to the defendant following the shooting.

Potaka said the defendant confirmed he shot Harrison and appeared “generally upset” that he had died, and told him he had been “aiming at the car”.

The detective also said the defendant said that when he saw the car coming down the driveway, he thought the visitors were “coming to shoot us”.

The trial presided over by Justice Grant Powell continues.