KEY POINTS:
Video of Noel Rogers confessing to a 1994 killing for which he was later acquitted was screened last night on television.
The tape, which was broadcast on TV One's Sunday programme, showed Mr Rogers with police at the crime scene outside a bach in Mangonui.
He demonstrated how, while victim Katherine Sheffield was on her knees, he grabbed her head, pulled it back and cut her throat, at one stage comparing it to cutting a sheep's throat. He said after doing it he sat down and cried.
Mr Rogers was charged with Miss Sheffield's murder in 2004 after a conviction against his uncle, Ms Sheffield's partner Lawrence Lloyd, was quashed. Mr Lloyd had served seven years of an 11-year sentence.
Mr Rogers stood trial in 2005 and was acquitted of murder.
The videotaped confession was not seen by the jury as it was ruled inadmissible as evidence as it was obtained in breach of his right to legal counsel and to be silent.
In the videotape, Mr Rogers said Ms Sheffield had a knife and that he thought she had killed Mr Lloyd and was going to kill him too.
Mr Rogers had made previous admissions about the killing and had been cleared in two earlier police investigations, with the conclusion reached that his admissions were fantasy. But during a third investigation, after a tip off from a family member, Mr Rogers led police to a long drop toilet near Mr Lloyd's bach that contained clothing police believe Ms Sheffield was wearing when she was killed.
The Sunday programme revealed that during the initial investigation into Ms Sheffield's death the toilet was not included in a police search of the property for evidence.
The police tape showed officers reading Mr Rogers his rights, but the tape was ruled inadmissible at his trial because he was taken to the crime scene in breach of an agreement that his lawyer be informed.
During Mr Rogers' trial, his defence was that Mr Lloyd had in fact been guilty, and any admission Rogers made to family and acquaintances was because he was confused by a vivid dream. Mr Lloyd had previously admitted killing Ms Sheffield.
After his manslaughter conviction was quashed and Mr Rogers was arrested he said he could not remember killing her and had only assumed he had done so after they argued.
He said on the Sunday programme he knew Mr Rogers had killed her because he had told him he did it.
After his acquittal, Mr Rogers sought a High Court injunction against TVNZ's showing the tape which had been given to them by police about two weeks after it was filmed.
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled the videotape could be screened, upholding an earlier decision by the Court of Appeal.
In a split decision, the court said Mr Rogers' privacy interests were outweighed by the interests of open justice, which tipped the balance in favour of allowing the broadcast to go ahead. However they were critical of police releasing the tape.
- NZPA
