Sao Yean, also known as Sao Young, was allegedly murdered by a group of four people in Hamilton in March 2020.
Sao Yean, also known as Sao Young, was allegedly murdered by a group of four people in Hamilton in March 2020.
A man who was attacked hours before the alleged murder of a Hamilton man found dead in a water trough says he’s feared for his life while in custody and on home detention.
Jesse Whitiora returned to the witness stand in the High Court at Hamilton today in the trial for the murder of Sao Yean, but this time he was quizzed by the accused’s defence counsel.
Mihingarangi Tynneal Rameka, Neha Wiremu Grey and Daniel James Payne are all defending multiple violence charges against Whitiora and a second victim, and together with Anton Rite, are defending a charge of murder in relation to Yean’s death.
Yean was found dead in the trough on a Gordonton property on April 13, 2020, exactly one month after he was last seen.
Police say he was murdered by the foursome at Rameka’s Byron Rd property in the Hamilton suburb of Enderley as payback because Rameka claimed he supplied a party drug that killed her friend on New Year’s Eve 2019.
Grey’s counsel Jessica Tarrant questioned Whitiora about why a statement he gave to police in September 2020 varied from what he told the jury on Wednesday.
In particular, he’d said he had a hood put over his head as he was beaten at Rameka’s Byron Rd property and then transported to a nearby Casey Ave house with Payne allegedly behind the wheel and a masked man holding a shotgun to his head.
The 35-year-old said he made up only the bit about the hood as he feared for his safety; he was serving a sentence of home detention at the time and felt he was a target.
He said he also felt pressured by police into making a statement as he was often being contacted by them.
Stuck at home on home detention, Whitiora said he was a sitting target.
Tarrant suggested he simply wanted to “ramp up” his complaint.
“I was fearing for my life. So I said I was hooded… I’m not trying to hide anything,” he said, adding he didn’t want to be a “nark”.
Tarrant put to Whitiora that he told police he willingly went to Byron Rd to “clear the air” about the New Year’s Eve incident.
“No. I don’t remember saying that. If I did, I have had a head injury. I’m finding bits and pieces a bit hard to put together.”
During questioning by Payne’s counsel, Scott McColgan, Whitiora agreed he knew Payne and said he was a “pretty straightforward kind of guy”.
Sao Yean, aka Sao Young, murder accused (from left) Mihingarangi Tynneal Rameka, Anton Rite, Daniel Payne and Neha Grey in the High Court at Hamilton. Photos / Belinda Feek
As for the assault he suffered at Rameka’s house, Whitiora agreed it wasn’t Payne who hit him with the hockey stick or hammer, he didn’t taser him, and he wasn’t in the house at the time.
Whitiora said he first saw Payne as he sat waiting in the foyer area of the front door for some people to turn up.
He said he was assaulted again, and although Payne didn’t take part he was standing nearby.
Whitiora was then put in a car, with Payne driving, and told he was being taken to Casey Ave, with a man wearing a mask holding a shotgun to his head.
McColgan also clarified with Whitiora that when he arrived, he didn’t have his legs or hands bound - Payne had given him a cigarette, and he didn’t have any stab wounds, although he did have blood across the front of his jersey from a head wound.
“Mr Payne never threatened you at all, did he?” McColgan asked. “No,” Whitiora replied.
Asked if between March and September 2020 “there was a lot of talk” going on about Yean’s death, Whitiora said it was “absolutely crazy”.
McColgan had hired a private investigator on behalf of his client and Whitiora told him a lot of the stories were “absolute bull****”.
Asked if he’d told police Payne used a taser on him until it went flat, Whitiora replied, “nah”.
As for eventually providing a statement to police, he agreed they were persistent but because he was stuck at home, “they knew where to find me”.
He said he decided to tell the truth this week because he’d been granted bail and his family was now more important than being labelled a “nark”.
However, he now suffered PTSD and anxiety from the incident.
McColgan put to Mongrel Mob affiliate Whitiroa that he was assaulted by the Mob and saved by Black Power, who Payne was associated with.
“I was not saved by Black Power,” he replied.
McColgan also questioned him heavily about the assistance he received from police while awaiting to give his testimony to which Whitiora said he had received real threats while behind bars.
