Victim left to die alone - Crown

Joseph Proude. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Two caregivers frequently assaulted an intellectually impaired woman in their house and left her without medical help until she died days later, a court was told yesterday.

The body of Patricia Joseph, 37, was found floating in the Wairoa River, near Clevedon, south of Auckland, by two kayakers on January 20, 2008.

Joseph Proude, 47, and Here Teinakirai, 53, both Auckland beneficiaries, are on trial in the High Court at Auckland over Ms Joseph's death.

They have pleaded not guilty to one charge each of manslaughter by causing death by assault. But they entered differing pleas to two other charges, including a second count of manslaughter by omitting to provide Ms Joseph with the necessary medical care between January 1 and 20, 2008.

Proude pleaded guilty to that and also to offering an indignity to Ms Joseph's body, which was wrapped in pieces of cloth and weighed down with a rock.

Teinakirai denied both those charges.

Both also pleaded not guilty to various assault charges dating back to October 2006, when they became Ms Joseph's caregivers.

Closing the Crown case yesterday, prosecutor Christine Gordon said the jury might ask how there could be two manslaughter charges when there was only one dead body.

"The focus is not on the body itself, but on the cause of death," she told the jury.

"The Crown says there was an unlawful act - an assault - which contributed to Ms Joseph's death. Then there was an omission to get medical care which contributed to her death," Ms Gordon said.

She told the jury the pathologist who gave evidence during the trial was unable to give an opinion on the cause of death.

"The assault contributed to the cause of death. You have all the trial evidence available to you to reach your decision on this point," Ms Gordon told the jury.

"If this had been an accident, why didn't they mention something to family members, and [why] lie about her whereabouts?" These lies had been told by Teinakirai, she said.

Proude had repainted part of the house and replaced the lino in the bathroom where Ms Joseph had lain sick before she died.

"Selected areas were repainted - Ms Joseph's bedroom, the bathroom and parts of the hallway - which were all associated with Ms Joseph. They got rid of anything connected to Ms Joseph," Ms Gordon said.

Earlier in the trial, the court was told family members, who were denied access to Ms Joseph, and neighbours reported seeing and hearing physical and verbal abuse.

Ms Gordon said each accused knew that the other was assaulting Ms Joseph, and did nothing about it.

She said that, about January 1, 2008, Ms Joseph, who was incontinent, was again assaulted after she soiled or wet herself.

She received injuries, the extent of which were not known, but which left her unable to walk or move from where she lay in the bathroom. Teinakirai later told police that, when the pair returned from a shopping trip, she went to the bathroom to check on Ms Joseph and found she had died.

Ms Gordon said a plan was then made to dispose of the body. She said the pair waited until after dark before putting it in their car and driving to the Wairoa River.

While Teinakirai stayed in the car, Proude found a 10kg rock and then carried the body and the rock to the water.

The top of the torso was covered with blankets used for the family dogs while the lower half was bare except for an incontinence nappy. When emergency services recovered the body, it had decomposed so much it was not possible to determine race or facial features, or to specify the extent of injuries.

For several days, police had no real leads until an officer found a plastic bag at the scene. In it was a social services card with Teinakirai's name.

The trial started on February 8 and is in its fourth week. The defence will make its closing address on Monday.

- NZPA