P addict truckie and quiet killer

Anthony Paul Doyle, 40, will be sentenced in October.

Anthony Paul Doyle gives little hint of the violence that lurks beneath his solid exterior when he appears in court.

He is silent and impassive, occasionally sneaking glances at the public gallery or press bench, but looking more like a deer in headlights than a man who murdered two people under a bridge last year.

On Thursday, after almost eight months of maintaining his innocence, Doyle admitted shooting Michael (Mikaere) Douglas O'Sullivan and Toni-Anne Nathan on October 31.

The families of the victims expressed relief that the 40-year-old truck driver had finally pleaded guilty, knowing he had already confessed the murders to police and a friend soon after they happened.

But his change of plea brought no change in Doyle's demeanour and he opened his mouth just twice, to utter the word "guilty" to both charges of murder in a clear, firm voice.

Among his friends and fellow truck drivers, Doyle is known as Tony or Willie.

Mr O'Sullivan, who was involved in dealing large quantities of methamphetamine with Doyle, called him Truckie.

Emma Lewis, a former prostitute who had sex with him once and met him on other occasions, said he was "very quiet" and had "limited interests".

"He knew a lot about trucks because he drove trucks. He knew a lot about drugs because he was doing drugs. But he couldn't have a conversation about gardening."

Trucks and drugs appeared to rule Doyle's world, with guns and motorcycles also high on his list.

And although he may have been quiet, witnesses in the investigation told police he was obsessive, paranoid and prone to intimidation. He was also addicted to P.

Doyle, who came from the South Island, was in trouble with the law as a teenager. He received a conviction for intimidation and injuring with intent at age 16 for involvement in an extortion campaign involving drugs. Evidence shows he maintained ties with a Christchurch motorcycle gang, the Templeton Riders, after moving north.

He had a "Templeton" tattoo and Mr O'Sullivan's son, Shayhann Henry, said he saw Doyle buy an ounce of P costing $10,000 from his father to give to the gang.

Doyle had been based in Rotorua for several years, working as a truck driver for TD Haulage and Mainfreight. He was about to begin a new job for a company based in Napier on the morning of the murders.

Doyle and Mr O'Sullivan began buying and selling drugs from each other in November 2004, but a dispute arose when Doyle claimed Mr O'Sullivan owed him $5000 for a drug debt paid one day late.

Mr O'Sullivan became increasingly fearful of Doyle and warned his sons he was "a dangerous man".

Ironically, Doyle once offered Mr O'Sullivan and a relative $500 to intimidate someone else into paying a drug debt.

"He just wanted us to mess him up a bit," Kristov Davis said in evidence.

Doyle's guns included a double-barrel "under-over" that he kept in the saddlebag of his Harley Davidson motorcycle and a pump-action shotgun he wore under a trench coat.

He lived in a sleepout at a property belonging to a fellow truckie, Neil Rodgers, to whom Doyle confessed the murders.

Mr Rodgers recalled having to take Doyle to hospital once when his arms swelled up from using dirty needles.

"He wouldn't go and get any help because he was ashamed of it."

Doyle had been a sickness beneficiary in the past and police found seven used needles in the sleepout.

Other items included a copy of the Rotorua Daily Post with the headline "Murdered man comes home to Rotorua" (in reference to Mr O'Sullivan).

Doyle, who was single, used a combination of drugs and money to pay prostitutes.

Mr Rodgers' former partner said he had a constant stream of escorts and other visitors to the garage "at all hours", and Emma Lewis said the sleepout had a toxic smell like a garden shed.

Doyle's paranoia and obsession with the debt Mr O'Sullivan owed him appears to have increased in the weeks leading up to the murders.

Doyle will be sentenced on Friday, October 13.