Teen murder accused said acted alone, court told

John Rowe. Photo / Supplied

Teenager Courtney Churchward, accused of murdering retired Opotiki schoolteacher John Rowe, repeatedly told a detective she acted alone, the High Court at Rotorua was told today.

Churchward, 18, is on trial with a 15-year-old female co-accused, who has name suppression, for the murder of Mr Rowe at his home in November last year.

In a video interview, Churchward initially claimed she had gone into Mr Rowe's home and cut off his head and hands with an axe.

When the detective told her she was being silly, she admitted breaking into the house by smashing a window, but continued to insist she had used an axe to hit Mr Rowe, "but not the sharp side".

He was still alive when she left the room, she said.

She grabbed a wallet, radio, and car keys but was unable to start Mr Rowe's car.

She also took a rope from his garage but was not planning to use it on anybody - "not the old man anyway". She later burnt the rope.

Asked why she had chosen Mr Rowe to rob, Churchward said it was because she had "heard things from people".

Questioned further about how Mr Rowe was killed, she said he had been hit on the head with a stick, but continued to deny her co-accused had been involved, despite the detective saying the 15-year-old told police she had been.

A pathologist yesterday told the court Mr Rowe had suffered blows to his head, face, trunk and limbs and had multiple, jagged lacerations over his entire forehead, leaving him with multiple fractures.

- NZPA