Tears flow as jury hears of mate's hunting death

Bernard Lee

The tears flowed yesterday when Taupo man Bernard Lee, who shot dead his hunting companion of 35 years, heard a recording of his 111 emergency call played in court.

The jury in the Rotorua District Court heard how Lee, 50, made the call from the Pureora Forest Park in the central North Island.

Lee told an operator at the police northern communications centre he had accidentally shot his mate William Gillies. Asked how bad the victim was, he replied, "No, dead."

Lee, 50, is on trial for carelessly using a firearm causing the death of Mr Gillies, 55, on April 2 last year.

It was to have been Mr Gillies' last time in the bush because of trouble with his knees and, the court heard, Lee wanted his mate to get a deer.

Lee repeatedly mopped his eyes with a handkerchief during the replay of the crackly cellphone call from the rugged Hauhungaroa Range about 15km west of Lake Taupo, where he mistook his mate for a deer.

But for most of the first day of the hearing Lee, sitting behind his lawyer Kevin Ryan, QC, held his composure.

The trial, before Judge Phillip Cooper and a jury of seven women and five men, will continue today when the defence will present its case.

Judge Cooper cautioned the jurors that Lee must be tried only on the evidence. They must put out of their minds any publicity they had read about the incident last year.

Crown prosecutor Fraser Wood said Lee and Mr Gillies began a planned four-day hunting trip on March 31. Since 1970, they had gone deerstalking together most years, usually during the roar [the mating season for deer].

About 9am on April 2 they had been tracking for about three hours when they heard a stag roar. The pair separated and Mr Gillies moved out of Lee's sight.

Less than 20m from what he thought was a deer with antlers, Lee took aim, although it was raining and his scope was not 100 per cent clear.

Unfortunately, the brown colour he mistook for the stag was Mr Gillies' face and the "antlers" were moss-covered twigs, Mr Wood told the jury.

Mr Gillies was hit in the head from a .308 rifle and died instantly. He was 16m from the accused in thick bush.

"Had the accused followed the golden rules of hunting then this tragedy wouldn't have happened," said Mr Wood.

Lee had failed to identify his target and had no idea where his hunting partner was.

There was no dispute about the fact that Lee had caused the death of his friend with a single shot to the head.

"He was careless. He failed to meet the standard of a prudent firearm user in the circumstances."

But, Mr Wood said, there was "no suggestion whatever" that Lee intended to cause Mr Gillies' death.

"He meant to fire the shot; he was just mistaken in the way he fired it. All that is required for the Crown to prove is that the firing of the shot was careless."

One of 11 witnesses for the prosecution, Detective Sue Douglas, said Lee told her at the shooting scene on the day of the fatality that he and "Willie" had been chasing the same deer.

"He knows my methods and I know his."

When they heard the stag roar, he sent Mr Gillies to flush it out.

"Willie would always tag back and let me take the shot," he reportedly told the detective.

Lee said he lined up the patch of brown and what looked like antlers and fired.

"Your first shot is your best shot," he said to Ms Douglas. He told her that when he ran down the slope and found his friend lying face down, dead, "I just went to pieces".

Under cross-examination by Mr Ryan, Ms Douglas said Lee was quiet and co-operative.

She did not ask him how he felt or whether he was wet or cold.

Inspector Joe Green, responsible for national arms control, was called as an expert police witness and talked of the well-publicised research paper he had written analysing the factors in 33 hunting incidents in New Zealand between 1979 and 2002.

Mr Ryan: "Have you ever hunted for deer yourself in your life?"

Mr Green: "Yes, the last time was yesterday morning."

Another expert witness, New Zealand Mountain Safety Council trainer Michael Spray, spoke about what was commonly known in the industry as "buck fever".

It was the emotion "when you stop thinking logically about what you are doing and there is the potential to make poor decisions".

Said Mr Spray: "The roar of the stag is pretty awesome in the bush, or just seeing a deer can make your heart rate soar."

- NZPA