Sister of Coral's killer admits to manslaughter

The sister of convicted murderer Steven Williams is facing jail after killing her partner in another death linked to the drug P.

Anamari Margaret Stone had been charged with murdering Daniel Poata, 33, but struck a plea bargain and admitted manslaughter yesterday, on the third day of a depositions hearing in the Lower Hutt District Court.

Her conviction ends a suppression order that prevented the media reporting that she is the older sister of Williams, who is serving at least 17 years in jail for murdering his stepdaughter, Coral-Ellen Burrows, in 2003.

Williams, who used and sold pure methamphetamine, killed Coral-Ellen after a four-day bender on the drug.

Stone had smoked P - laced with Ecstasy - with Mr Poata and both were drinking heavily the night of the fatal fight at her Upper Hutt flat on July 30.

Her guilty plea was barely audible and she was remanded in custody until December 9 for sentencing.

Stone, who is 40 next week, sat impassively, her arms folded, through much of the hearing but broke down when details of her partner's death were presented to the court.

The couple's six-year relationship was marred by violence on both sides.

The hearing was told that Stone stabbed Mr Poata in the leg with a 15cm knife, the blade severing a main artery. Medical experts said he would have survived had the knife missed the artery or if he had received immediate medical attention.

Members of Mr Poata's family - he has two children from a previous relationship - sat quietly in the public gallery throughout the hearing, holding hands.

Outside the court, a family spokesman said: "She can go to hell. The gates of hell are wide open for her."

- NZPA