Emma Field's body was found after a fire ripped through her New Plymouth flat in 2022. Her partner Leigh Matthew Frederick Beer is on trial for her alleged murder and arson.
WARNING: Some readers may find the details of this story distressing
A man accused of burning his partner to death claims to have no recollection of the lead-up to the blaze at their home but has given a detailed description of the fire and his own efforts to save the woman’s life.
Leigh Matthew Frederick Beer, 33, put his head in his hands and appeared to be sobbing as he told police detective Glen Bosson he was struggling to piece together the full events of May 27, 2022.
That night, his partner, Emma Field, 21, perished in a fire at their New Plymouth flat, and Beer has since been charged with her murder.
“I’ve already told you everything I know, man”, “There’s absolutely nothing else that I remember,” and “I have no bloody idea” were common phrases used by Beer when pressed by Bosson in a recorded police interview.
On Wednesday, that lengthy police interview was played at Beer’s trial in the High Court at New Plymouth.
It showed Beer sitting on a two-seater couch next to Field’s father, Erin Field, who attended the interview to support him.
“I just want to know why I wasn’t inside and Emma was,” Beer, who had a bandaged hand and was still wearing a hospital bracelet, said as he wiped his eyes with tissues.
Erin, who earlier explained in evidence he had stood by Beer before he was charged, comforted him.
On the evening of the fire, Beer and Field were at their Devon St West flat where they partied with visiting friends, Qwintin Tuari and Te Oke Taylor.
The four drank alcohol, listened to music and shared an ecstasy pill.
They planned to head into town together but that never eventuated. Instead, Field went to bed after being allegedly subjected to derogatory comments about her body from Beer in front of their guests.
The Crown says by that stage, Beer was in an angry mood, talking about suicide and “out of the blue” punched a glass panel in his front door.
Tuari and Taylor allegedly witnessed this and decided to leave shortly after with two others who arrived at the flat.
The Crown alleged that Beer wanted to leave with them but was left standing on the footpath as they drove off.
Beer allegedly returned to the flat and, in a fit of anger, overturned the bed Field was asleep on, set fire to it, and “left her to burn to death”.
Field was alive but likely unconscious when the blaze took hold of the century-old property, which was separated into four flats.
In his police interview, Beer told Bosson he was having a good night with Field and their friends and could recall singing.
“I’m always singing,” he said.
Beer and Field were “awesome” that night, he told Bosson, adding they were “always awesome” and rarely argued.
He remembered snorting his second line of ecstasy, a drug he said he took around once a month, and then went outside for a cigarette.
That was where it went blank for him, he said.
But his next memory, Beer claimed, was of him standing on the stairs outside the flat, seeing smoke and hearing a fire alarm.
He didn’t know why he was outside, he said.
Beer said the flat’s front door was closed and locked so he punched the glass panel before smashing other windows at the property.
He went on to recall details about the fiery scene including the glow of the blaze, its heat, the “crackling and popping” sounds, the “bad” smell, and the thick black smoke he said suffocated him and singed his hair.
Beer said he heard a female voice telling him that Field was in the bedroom and that he grabbed a hose and worked to put the fire out.
“I was hosing for a long time.
“I was screaming and screaming and screaming Emma’s name.”
Beer appeared upset when Bosson told him he had physically assaulted a bystander who arrived to help.
He said he never went inside and did not know what happened to Tuari and Taylor.
“That’s all I know, that’s all I bloody know.”
Last week, Tuari and Taylor said in evidence they were not there when the fire broke out and they had seen Beer punch the glass panel in the front door before they left his house.
They said his hand was bleeding as a result, and his front door was open when they left.
The pair who arrived at the flat and then left with Tuari and Taylor also gave evidence and said they had been made aware that Beer had earlier broken the glass panel.
Earlier in the police interview, Bosson asked Beer questions about the flat’s layout, electrical sockets and their appliances.
Later in the day, the woman who called 111 on the night of the fire gave evidence and described “a male with the hose” as being hostile towards another bystander, and aggressive towards police.
Beer is defending charges of murder, arson and injuring with intent to injure.
The trial before Justice Karen Grau is in its second week and is estimated to take up to one month.
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.
Rod Emmerson's take on the week.