RSA accused 'binged all night'

By PATRICK GOWER

The men accused of the Mt Wellington RSA triple murder were drinking and taking drugs all night before the fatal hold-up.

They smoked cannabis, drank beer and bourbon with friends until 5am on the day of the killings, then again smoked cannabis together throughout the day.

The friends told a court hearing yesterday how William Bell, aged 24, and Darnell Kere Tupe, 23, said they were "just going to the shop" when they skidded out of the driveway and left Tupe's house after the all-night session on December 8 last year.

The police case is that the murders happened between 7am and 8.15am that day.

The unemployed Mangere men are accused of killing William Absolum, 63, Wayne Johnson, 56, and Mary Hobson, 44.

They are also accused of the attempted murder of Susan Couch during the aggravated robbery of $13,000 in cash and cigarettes from the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA.

The court also heard how Tupe wept as he watched the television news about the killings and told his partner, "There was no need for that".

The depositions hearing at the Auckland District Court is to decide if there is enough evidence for the two men to go to trial before the High Court.

Tupe's partner, Hikitea Hikutai, told the court how they were drinking in the kitchen of their Mangere home with their friend, Rangi Rore, who had just been released from prison, on the Friday night before the killings.

She and Tupe, who met when they were 14, lived in the house with their children, aged 6 and 3, and drinking sessions throughout the night were routine on the weekends.

They had known Bell since they were at intermediate, and although he had "been away" for three years, he moved back to the street last year and renewed his friendship with Tupe.

Bell turned up to join the trio at about 2am after he had been at a Manukau league club. He brought some beers with him and they continued drinking, as the others had finished "more than one" bottle of bourbon.

Mr Rore, nicknamed "Yarn", described how he kept drinking "till he dropped" and fell asleep on the doorstep of the house.

Ms Hikutai recalled how, as they sat around the table, Bell had asked Tupe if he wanted to go do a "job" - meaning crime - with him.

"I told him [Bell] to shut up," she told the court, "because Darnell [Tupe] had already been to jail and I didn't want him to go back.

"Willie [Bell] told me to shut up and told Darnell: 'Don't listen to your missus'."

Ms Hikutai said Tupe just went quiet and she turned the music up, and Bell called him a "poofter" because he would not go.

The two later left together, saying they were off to the shops.

Ms Hikutai denied that the drug methamphetamine, known as speed, had been smoked during the drinking session.

Mr Rore said he was woken later that morning when Tupe, who was still half-drunk, returned with a man who now has name suppression and immunity from prosecution in exchange for his evidence against the pair.

The court heard earlier how Tupe was seen drinking at the secret witness' house after the killings and how the witness believed Tupe was on speed at the time.

He said the four men then went for a drive to drop something off, smoking five joints of marijuana, before returning to Tupe's house.

Ms Hikutai said Tupe had told her later that day that he and Bell had been somewhere in Panmure, but told her, "I didn't do anything".

He later reiterated from prison: "I didn't go in, babe."

The police case is that Tupe waited outside the RSA while Bell, who had worked as a barman at the club, was inside committing the murders and robbery.

Ms Hikutai said she first heard of the RSA murders when they were watching television together on the Monday and Tupe began crying.

She told the court that he talked about going to the police but she talked him out of it, "because he had been in jail and the police might think he was involved".

The court also heard how Bell had a sound system installed in his car after the murders and that both men had their cars windows tinted with what police allege was money from the RSA.

Ms Hikutai was unable to describe what kind of person she thought Bell was, but said she did not like him and thought he was "a bad person for Darnell to hang around with".

Bell is kept handcuffed and guarded by four police officers during the hearing, which will end today.