Slain teacher's injuries detailed in court

John Rowe. Photo / Supplied

A 78-year-old Opotiki man bashed to death in his bed had severe injuries to his head and face, a court was told today.

A Whakatane detective described in the High Court at Rotorua how he found a wooden staff and length of grey rod, beside retired schoolteacher John Rowe's bed. The rod was bloodied at its sharpest end.

There were obvious injuries to Mr Rowe's head, with a small piece of tubing lodged beside a wound close to his right ear.

Wooden chips and flakes were scattered on the bedding and there were bark fragments elsewhere in the room.

Mr Rowe's bed clothes were heavily blood-stained and there was blood on the bedroom wall.

A bedside lamp had been overturned and a pillow lay on the floor. The light above the bed was on.

Documents were strewn around the lounge and dining area, and a medical alarm system was unplugged, despite a sticker on it saying it was not to be.

On trial are Courtney Churchward, 18, and a 15-year-old girl whose name is suppressed.

They have pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Rowe at his Opotiki home on November 25 last year.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.

- NZPA