Tutor 'scared, hyped' during attack, court told

Weatherston told the court Sophie Elliot accused him of trying to rape her. Photo / The Press, Pool

Clayton Weatherston says he remembers a pounding movement and a crunching sensation as he was killing and mutilating his former girlfriend.

Weatherston, 33, says he does not remember using a knife to cut and stab Sophie Elliott 216 times"but in saying that I had noticed the knife".

"I don't have any visual record of the extent of the damage," the former Otago University economics lecturer told the High Court at Christchurch today.

Asked today by his lawyer, Judith Ablett-Kerr QC, if he went to Miss Elliott's home on January 9 last year with the intention of killing her, he said: "Absolutely not".

"It's the last thing I would have expected to happen. And it's the opposite of what my goal was when I went there."

Weatherston said he went there to claim the high moral ground after a tumultuous relationship he said he felt was loaded with emotional abuse.

"I was looking forward to walking away and moving forward. What happened was the ultimate self-destructive thing."

Weatherston is on trial for the murder of Miss Elliott, 22. He admits he is guilty of manslaughter, but says he was provoked by Miss Elliott, and lost control.

The day of the killing was also Weatherston's 32nd birthday. He said he went to Miss Elliott's Dunedin home to return gifts she had given him following a break-up.

Miss Elliott's mother, Lesley Elliott, opened the door to the Dunedin family home.

Miss Elliott came downstairs and Weatherston said he said hello, and she said "happy birthday". She kissed him on the cheek and "then went to kiss him on the mouth".

He said he told Miss Elliott he had some things for her and wanted a quick chat, and she invited him in. She motioned for him to follow her upstairs.

He followed her up to the bedroom and went into her bedroom and sat on an office chair in a desk area in the room. He put his laptop computer bag, containing a knife, and a plastic bag containing the gifts on the floor near the bed.

"Sophie closed the door and she was taking things out of her wardrobe and putting them on the bed, clothes, and talking to me."

"It was 'how are you, how's it's going, how's the packing, how do you feel?' Sort of civil conversation."

"She didn't really look at what I had brought with me."

Weatherston said he wanted to cover a couple of issues, including Miss Elliott's reaction to how she had got on with Weatherston's mother.

"She said my mother hadn't created a good impression on her."

"It was getting a little testy and I didn't want that."

Weatherston said he didn't feel comfortable and was anxious being in the room.

"I felt things were getting a little tense and I got up to go the bathroom, if anything, just to alleviate any tension."

He said he basically wanted to leave, but wanted to deal with certain issues first. He was keen not to antagonise Miss Elliott further.

After going to the toilet, Weatherston said he went back to the bedroom as Miss Elliott was coming up the stairs. He recalled her carrying something white.

Weatherston said he went into the bedroom first, and Miss Elliott shut the door. He said he remained standing between the bed and the desk "and was intending to leave very soon".

They spoke further and things were okay. Miss Elliott then raised the issue of his parents not properly recognising his academic achievement.

Weatherston said he didn't take it personally. He raised the issue of Miss Elliott's infidelity while on holiday in Australia, and she was unhappy about this topic.

He said he felt he was entitled to know if Miss Elliott had used protection when having sex in Australia, because he didn't want to pass on to his new girlfriend a Sexually Transmitted Disease.

"She didn't react very well to that. The next words that I heard from her, that I could understand, were "**** you Clayton'."

Weatherston said he picked up his laptop bag to leave and as he did so Miss Elliott picked up a pair of scissors that were on the floor.

He had turned to the side, and "I just recall her coming at me with the pair of scissors from my left side".

"This happened very quickly. I remember trying to block her and I remember her hitting me around the face with her other hand."

Weatherston said he was "just scared and hyped".

"I was very scared, I didn't know where the scissors were."

He reached up to grab Miss Elliott by the neck.

"I just remember a lot of noise and pushing forward into her to push her away.

"I have memories of being very disorientated and falling on top of her."

Weatherston said he had memories of a certain movement, that may be a pounding movement, and "lots of noise".

"It's all like background stuff."

His most vivid memory was kneeling over Miss Elliott with a pair of scissors in his hand and he could hear a crunching sensation, as though he was meeting some kind of resistance.

"It's not a sound, it's a feeling. It's quite vivid."

Weatherston said he felt nauseous, and had a slight "moment of sobriety" when he thought Miss Elliott was more than likely dead.

He said he then remembered police entering the bedroom. He said he could not remember Mrs Elliott coming into the bedroom during the attack.

Weatherston said he recalled being told by a policeman to lie on the floor, and then being taken out of the house and "feeling safe".

Asked if he recalled telling a policeman that he had killed Miss Elliott because of the emotional pain she had caused him, he said his memory was that he spoke of emotional abuse.

Weatherston said he did not remember locking the bedroom door. Mrs Elliott said she had to force open the locked door to get in, before it was slammed on her by Weatherston.