Weatherston called victim 'horrible person' in letter, court told

Murder accused Clayton Weatherston. Photo / Dean Kozanic

An ex-girlfriend of Clayton Robert Weatherston received a letter from him after Sophie Elliott's death saying, "I am sorry that such a horrible person has been glorified in the media. That is our society".

The woman, who has name suppression, was giving evidence in the High Court at Christchurch at the murder trial of 33-year-old Weatherston, before Justice Judith Potter and a jury.

She said Weatherston was very conscious of his image, and looked in the mirror a lot. He liked to keep his public image extremely controlled, and was the same about his appearance.

She said that Otago was a special place for him, and he moved back from Wellington because he wanted to be closer to his family, especially his mother.

She said his mother came around to their flat a lot and did his washing, and did housework for them.

She said it was a typical student flat, a shock to all mothers.

Waetherston thought she would be special to him forever, but when he knew she had moved on he was upset, the woman said.

She said she had received a message to go to his office. When she got there he was crying and very upset. He told her his life was a bit of a mess and that he had messed up.

She said she was trying to calm him down when Sophie Elliott walked into the room.

She walked into an awkward situation, she said, as she and Weatherston were both upset. She said Weatherston perked up and didn't want to show he had been crying. He suddenly appeared quite normal and chatty. He switched persona and chatted away.

She thought Miss Elliott knew something had gone on.

Her evidence will continue tomorrow.

Another girlfriend of Weatherston said that on a day in late December 2007 when he picked her up from the airport he talked about Sophie Elliott.

He told her it was very complicated between them, that the relationship was finished and he didn't want to see her again. He said he had a very strong feeling of hate towards her.

He said he wanted to get rid of her, but she kept chasing him.

The woman, who also has name suppression, said she told him that he had to choose between her and Miss Elliott. He told her he would break up with Miss Elliott the next day, because their relationship was quite insane.

He described Miss Elliott as nice, attractive, intelligent, a little too serious but brilliant, she said.

Then he said it didn't work between them and they had lots of fights, she was jealous and possessive and wanted to control his life. She was manipulative sometimes, and every time they got together there would be stress.

He told her he didn't break up with Miss Elliott earlier because she was one of his students and he didn't want a scandal.

The woman said she wrote to him in prison saying he was the best boyfriend she had ever had. She said she was proud to be his girlfriend.

In court today, she said she wrote that because she thought he was innocent.

- NZPA