Connor Morris with Millie Elder-Holmes. Photo / Supplied
Connor Morris with Millie Elder-Holmes. Photo / Supplied
Today, after four hours of deliberations and a two week trial in the High Court, Michael Thrift Murray was found guilty of murdering Connor Morris. How did a quiet night in West Auckland - Mr Morris with his family and his soon-to-be-murderer at home with his kids - turn fatal?
August 3, 2014. Midwinter in West Auckland. Two unrelated parties started 150m apart on Don Buck Rd in Massey.
It was a standard Saturday night in suburbia until soon after midnight. Within minutes one man was dead and another had become a killer as violence raged around them.
The confrontation robbed parents of a son, three young children of their father.
How did a night of fun go so wrong? It all started when the juice ran out at number 425.
THE HOUSEWARMING: 425 DON BUCK RD
KEY PLAYERS: • Connor Morris • Millie Elder-Holmes • Obe Porter • John Akavai • Josh Feagai
The three-bedroom property, a back house down a long driveway, was home to Cymmion Morris, her partner and kids. They had moved in a few weeks earlier and were throwing a housewarming.
Among the guests were her brother Connor Morris, 26, and his partner of six years Millie Elder-Holmes.
Connor Morris and Millie Elder-Holmes in a photograph posted online by Hinemoa Elder. Photo / Facebook
Ms Morris' parents, Chris and Julie, were also at the party.
They cooked a barbecue, had a few drinks and listened to music. Videos taken by Ms Elder-Holmes show a low-key affair with about 10 guests. There had been a few more people at the party, held in the garage, earlier but they came for a feed and didn't stay late.
Just before midnight the mixers for the drinks started to run out. Mr Morris' mates Obe Porter, John Akavai and Josh Feagai decided to go to a nearby service station and buy some more. As they left Mr Morris asked them to get some cigarettes because he had run out.
The trio walked up the driveway and turned left, heading towards the intersection of Don Buck Rd and Triangle Rd. There are a few shops there including the service station, which was still open.
As they made their way down the road they spotted a group of men standing at the top of a driveway. They didn't know them but as they walked past, one of the men shouted out a greeting. He approached them and looked like he was about to shake Mr Porter's hand - but instead kicked him in the head.
Mr Porter reeled backwards and his hands flew to his face to check if he had lost any teeth. Mr Akavai went to him and Mr Feagai darted back towards number 425, shouting he was going for help.
Connor Morris. Photo / Facebook
He sprinted down the driveway and said the group had been "jumped". Mr Morris was the first to run towards the road.
Ms Elder-Holmes followed - she followed her boyfriend everywhere - and was 15m behind him.
The brawl was on. She tried to stop Mr Morris but Mr Porter dragged her away from the fray to the footpath. He then raced across the road to help Mr Akavai who was fighting two men, and when he turned around again seconds later he saw Mr Morris collapse. Ms Elder-Holmes screamed and Mr Morris was dead.
At about the time Ms Morris' party kicked off, guests were arriving at number 403c for a 21st. Iesha Teiho lived at the house with her young child and 17-year-old brother Trevor Morunga. She had organised the party for another brother, Jason "Karl" Teiho, and his girlfriend, who share a birthday.
People started showing up at the party from 7pm. Like the housewarming at Ms Morris' there was drinking and music. Unlike the housewarming, the 21st became violent.
Mr Morunga was intoxicated and started to play up. He wrestled with Mr Teiho and his behaviour later earned him a "twack" in the face from cousin Shamus Wira. Mr Wira was older and felt he had to pull his teenage cousin into line.
Ms Teiho at that point decided she'd had enough and shut the party down. She kicked her brothers and cousin out and went inside. The party was over as far as she was concerned.
The group did not want to end their night so early so they walked up the driveway, stopping at the house at the top. Mr Wira's cousins Michael and Stanley Popata-Murray lived in a sleepout at the back of number 401 Don Buck Rd and they joined the group from the party, having a few drinks on a deck.
They chatted, some got more intoxicated and eventually became too noisy for those inside number 401.
Zane Williams was inside watching movies in his bedroom with his partner and a couple of mates. His partner became annoyed by the noise from the men outside and send Mr Williams out to move them along. The group did move, to the top of the driveway.
They'd not been there long when they spotted three guys walking towards them.
Mr Teiho said to Mr Morunga, "look watch this, I'll kick them". But his younger brother got in first. He shouted out to the men, something like "what's up". The passers-by responded and Mr Morunga walked over to them, saying he wanted to shake hands. He reached one of the men and kicked him in the face.
As the attacked man stumbled backwards, bleeding, his mate ran for help. He called back that Mr Morunga had messed with the wrong people, that he was going to get "the boys".
Mr Wira and Murray reprimanded Mr Morunga, they were annoyed he'd caused trouble. They had little time to do anything else - the next thing they knew, Mr Morris was charging down the street yelling "who did it?".
The fight was on and would end only when Murray retrieved a sickle-like garden tool from behind the sleepout and swung it full force into the side of Mr Morris' head.
Mr Morris crumpled to the road. He did not move again. Screams cut through the noise of the fight.
• Based on evidence given at Michael Murray's High Court trial by Crown witnesses
THE CHILLOUT IN THE SLEEPOUT: 401 DON BUCK RD
KEY PLAYERS: • Michael Murray • Stanley Popata-Murray • Zane Williams
Michael Murray had spent the day at Rainbow's End with his kids. He had a 3-month-old daughter with his partner but had his kids aged 10 and 12 from a previous relationship for the weekend. He stayed at 401 Don Buck Rd in one room of a sleepout on weekends he had the older children. His brother Stanley Popata-Murray lived in another room in the sleepout.
The family left Rainbow's End about 5pm and made their way back to Massey. They called into McDonald's to pick up dinner and returned to the sleepout to eat and play Guitar Hero on the PlayStation. As they arrived home Mr Popata-Murray came out to chat.
He wanted to know how the day out had gone, and hit his brother up for a burger. Zane Williams, who lived in the main house, also said hello and asked about their day.
Murray and his partner and kids ate their dinner and played their game for a bit. He popped next door to see his brother briefly and smoke a bit of cannabis, and then went back to his room.
Later that night he heard some noise outside and went out to find his brother and cousin Shamus Wira on the deck. Mr Wira's cousins Trevor Morunga and Jason Teiho were there too. They'd been at Mr Teiho's 21st at a house down the driveway. Murray stayed out with the men, having a couple of beers and catching up. He'd been invited to the 21st but decided not to go - he wasn't a big drinker anymore and didn't get his kids often so wanted to spend quality time with them.
At some stage Mr Williams came out and told the group to bugger off up the driveway, they were being too noisy. Off they went. Murray was standing with Mr Wira when he saw a group of three men approaching. He didn't know them and wasn't interested in them. He didn't want any trouble while his kids were staying with him.
But Mr Morunga was drunk and behaving badly. He approached the group, kicked one in the face and sparked a chain of events that would change Murray's life.
A friend of the man who was kicked ran off, he was going to get back-up, he mentioned the 88s, another name for the Head Hunters. When back-up came, it was more than Murray expected. At some point he decided he needed a weapon. He had not seen anyone else with one but felt his group were outnumbered and overpowered by the men from up the road. He ran down the driveway and found a sickle up against the hedge. He had been using it to slash grass along the side of the sleepout so he could put a kennel there for his dog. The tool was rusty, and its handle long and wooden.
He ran back to the road and saw Mr Popata-Murray being bashed. He saw his baby brother being thrown around, punched and thought he was going to be seriously hurt or killed. He thought that by waving the sickle around it would scare off the man attacking his brother.
Murray said he had no intention of hurting anyone, he just wanted to get his brother out of there. He shouted "leave my brother alone" and when the attacker ignored his plea, he closed his eyes and swung the sickle.
He didn't see the tool hit, or what it hit. All he saw was his brother and he helped him up, then they ran. Murray threw the slasher back into the garden and went back into the sleepout.
"I think I've just killed someone," he said to Mr Popata-Murray.
