A jury was yesterday told the starting point in determining its verdict was the last words of a dying crime syndicate figure.
Asian crime gang enforcer Tam Yam Ah, 37, asked his killer, "Who are you?" before succumbing to a gunshot wound above the heart in July last
year.
Wan Yee Chow, 54, who was a friend of Tam, is charged with the execution-style murder.
The Crown is uncertain why Tam was killed but alleges Chow was a hired assassin.
Chow's lawyer, Peter Kaye, told the jury in the High Court at Auckland that the words suggested the killer was not his client because, as Tam's wife said in evidence, the men were "like brothers".
Tam had picked Chow up at the airport when he moved to Auckland from Hong Kong, organised his accommodation and employed him in his restaurant.
"[The killer] may have had his face covered but you still get a pretty good idea from height and build," Mr Kaye said.
With no direct evidence of who pulled the trigger, the case rested on circumstantial evidence.
The Crown said this pointed to Chow, but Mr Kaye said the only evidence pointing at his client was that of the Crown's key witness - who has immunity against prosecution and name suppression - whose evidence was self-serving.
When questioned by police, that witness had said, "Not me mate, him".
"The oldest story in the book," Mr Kaye said.
