Emma Field's body was found after a fire that ripped through her New Plymouth flat on May 27, 2022. Now, her partner Leigh Matthew Frederick Beer has been found guilty of her murder.
WARNING: Some readers may find the details of this story distressing
The man who murdered his “soulmate” by setting fire to the bed she was asleep on and then leaving her to burn to death has a history of violence, damaging property and losing his temper when drinking.
Leigh Matthew Frederick Beer’s criminal offending can now be revealed after he was found guilty of murder, arson and injuring with intent to injure earlier today.
Beer defended the charges in a four-week trial in the High Court at New Plymouth after the death of his partner, Emma Field, 21.
Her body was found on the bedroom floor of the couple’s New Plymouth flat after a fire tore through the property on May 27, 2022.
Six weeks later, Beer, 33, was arrested and charged with her murder and has been in custody since.
But this was not the first time he had been locked up.
While it was not heard at the murder trial in order to avoid prejudice, Beer has a history of violent offending, including against a vulnerable family member, and has previously admitted to police that he often flew into a rage and had memory blanks when drinking.
Beer was previously convicted and jailed on two charges of wounding with intent to injure and one each of assaulting a child, assaulting police and wilful damage stemming from offending in 2012 and 2013.
According to an earlier Stuff article, Beer was drinking with a man at a New Plymouth property in December 2012 when an argument developed and he was asked to leave.
Beer punched the man in the head while holding a glass, which smashed and cut the man’s face.
He then continued to punch his victim in the head, resulting in the man requiring 25 stitches.
Then in August 2013, while on bail and awaiting sentencing for the previous assault, Beer, who had been drinking, became angry with a 3-year-old relative.
Beer backhanded the boy across the face, causing his lip to bleed, and then returned to drinking with his friends, Stuff previously reported.
The boy’s mother later discovered he had been assaulted and confronted Beer, who became enraged and told her to leave.
He then smashed wooden panels in a door and punched a police officer twice in the face as he was being arrested.
Beer went on to tell police that when he was drunk he would go into a rage and often did not later remember what he did.
At the 2013 sentencing, the prosecutor told the court jail was the only option and that Beer had significant alcohol issues to face up to.
The judge agreed, noting alcohol was the common denominator in all of Beer’s offending, and sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment on all charges and a strike warning.
After three days of deliberation, the jury indicated at 1.45pm today they had reached verdicts in the murder trial.
Justice Karen Grau addressed the packed public gallery, thanking Beer and Field’s supporters for the “grace and dignity” they had shown throughout the lengthy trial.
She acknowledged the heightened emotion and urged everyone to remain calm as the verdicts were heard.
As the foreperson delivered the unanimous verdicts of guilty to the three charges, Beer, dressed in the same black suit, mauve-coloured dress shirt and white skate shoes he had worn for the duration of the trial, stood still, his eyes fixed forward and his face flushed red.
With each verdict, gasps were heard from the family and friends of Field. Many were seen overcome with emotion. Beer’s supporters sat quietly.
Before discharging the jury, Justice Grau thanked the jurors for their service in what she described as a difficult and distressing case.
“Thank you on behalf of the community. You can now get back to your lives.”
Beer was remanded back into custody ahead of his sentencing on September 11.
Immediately after the verdicts, Field’s family and friends gathered outside the court and released purple balloons in her honour. Some wore black hoodies featuring a photo of Field with a purple butterfly and the words “justice for Emma” emblazoned on the back.
Detective Senior Sergeant Gerard Bouterey acknowledged the toll the past two years had taken on Field’s family and said once Beer was sentenced, they would be able to focus on their grief.
He also acknowledged Beer’s family, saying there were no winners in such a tragedy.
Bouterey praised the Crown’s prosecution and police investigation teams, particularly detective sergeants Paula Drewery and Mark Stanton for their efforts.
He also thanked the community, pointing out the more than 60 witnesses in the case.
Bouterey said it had been a difficult investigation.
“Every time there is a fire it makes things difficult from the outset. In some of the scene examinations, what you expect to find is destroyed.
“But all that means is we have to be really thorough in the other investigative avenues.”
During the trial, it was heard that on the night of the fire, Beer and Field had friends over and they listened to music, drank alcohol and shared an ecstasy pill.
They planned to head into town together but that never eventuated. Instead, Field went to bed after being subjected to disrespectful comments about her appearance by Beer in front of their friends.
He then, “out of the blue”, punched a glass window, causing blood to splatter throughout his doorway and his friends to leave for town without him.
Beer’s anger intensified after he was ditched, so he returned to their basement flat, in a divided villa on Devon St West, and took it out on Field and their bed.
An investigation determined the fire began at the foot of the bed and was started by a naked flame. A cigarette lighter was found on Beer and a butane lighter at the scene had his blood on it.
Field was alive but likely unconscious when the blaze took hold.
A post-mortem examination determined she was still breathing after the fire started, and her cause of death was the effects of incineration.
After the fire started, Beer waited outside for it to grow, neglecting to phone 111, pull the fire alarm, get a fire extinguisher or change his mind and save Field.
He then began a charade to save Field by hosing the flames, but did not make any real effort and resisted other people’s help.
The injuring with intent to injure charge related to a bystander who took the hose from Beer to assist, leading Beer to assault the man, which defence said was in self-defence.
Beer has maintained he was not responsible for lighting the fire or killing Field.
His lawyer Julian Hannam told the jury somebody else might have entered the flat, moved the bed and lit the fire.
Beer had no motive and he and Field were in a happy relationship, Hannam said.
Field was Beer’s soulmate and he had tried desperately to save her life, he added.
Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.
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