P made killer 'invincible'

Double murderer Ese Junior Falealii felt invincible after taking the drug P, says a forensic psychiatrist who heard him give evidence in court.

The drug also made Falealii irritable, but improved his recall of events.

Dr Ian Goodwin listened as Falealii testified against three accomplices over five days in a 12-week case that ended in the High Court at Auckland last weekend.

The Crown had asked Dr Goodwin to assess the effects of P on Falealii's memory in case defence lawyers claimed - as had happened at the depositions hearing - that taking P made his recall unreliable.

In the end, the prosecution decided Dr Goodwin would not be needed as an expert witness.

Following the conviction of Joseph Sam Samoa and William Logan Johansson as accomplices in the murder of pizza worker Marcus Doig and ASB Bank teller John Vaughan in May last year, and the manslaughter conviction against Pago Savaiinaea over Mr Vaughan's killing, Dr Goodwin has spoken of his findings.

Falealii, who gave evidence for the Crown, told of being given P before embarking on some of the eight robberies in which he was involved.

He told Crown prosecutor Christine Gordon that the drug did not cause hallucinations or voices in his head.

"It's not like smoking pot or heroin or coke. It's a totally different drug.

"It doesn't give you a buzz. Sometimes you don't even know you are buzzing.

"It kind of takes a bit of fear away, boosts your adrenalin and makes you hyped up and keeps you up for ages and makes you do things you don't normally do when you are straight." Dr Goodwin said people took P, or crystallised methamphetamine, because it made them feel alert.

Falealii did not appear to suffer any significant "nasty psychotic effects" such as becoming delusional. Nor did the drug bring up any "dark demons" from his psyche.

"What happened to him was most likely what a lot of people who use stimulants, and in particular P, describe.

"They describe increased confidence, a feeling of invincibility, but they can also describe increased irritability as well, so they are less tolerant.

"So you can see how those individual features might combine if you are holding a gun."

Dr Goodwin noted that Falealii had become irritated during both the pizza parlour and ASB robberies.

"This guy was feeling 'up high', a bit irritable and a bit short-tempered as well, so less likely to consider anything, particularly with Mr Vaughan because he was having trouble opening the [cash] drawer."

Dr Goodwin said that he had been approached to assess the effect of P on Falealii's memory.

Research had shown that people who were not habitual users "and who have not really fried their brains - and he [Falealii] had a fairly short use - have an enhanced recall of events".

Asked if Falealii would have killed if he had not been on P, Dr Goodwin replied: "God only knows, really."

Considering his history of robberies - but without significant violence - "if you add in the P, you add in the circumstances of a couple of older guys goading him a bit, and egging him on, his deprived background, you put all that together and you have got a potent mix".

Inquiry head Detective Inspector Steve Rutherford said P was just one factor in the killings.

"It would have given him Dutch courage."

Herald Feature: The P epidemic