Family give evidence in Whanganui murder trial

The jury trial of six men charged with murdering James Butler continues in the High Court at Whanganui. Photo / Bevan Conley

Kemp Rippon swore on the daughter he shares with wife Louise Sorenson that he didn't hurt anyone on an April night in 2018, Sorenson told the High Court at Whanganui as the second week of the trial of the six accused or murdering James Butler got under way.

Rippon and five others, Mark Robert Audain, Dwayne Anson Tewhenua Fore, Wayne David Reardon, Daniel Shane Whareaorere and a man whose name is suppressed, have all pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, the grievous bodily harm of James Butler's brother Brent, and being members of an organised criminal gang.

The jury trial is in its second week in the High Court at Whanganui, before Justice Cooke, with prosecution continuing to present it case on Monday.

The Crown alleges Rippon was one of at least six men in Black Power bandanas who went to Butler's house that night to take "whatever they could get", including drugs.

Sorenson gave her evidence by video link.

When Butler was killed by a gunshot at his Wikitoria Rd home on April 22, she was a patient in a Salvation Army programme for people with drug addictions.

She and Rippon had two conversations after the April murder. The first was a Facebook one, in which he showed her a hammer with claws at unusual angles, and there was blood on it.

He told her had "done something dumb" in relation to a "standover".

The two had a second conversation some time later. That time a police officer was with Sorenson, and Rippon didn't know he was there. Her phone was on speaker and the officer heard everything.

He prompted Sorenson with questions to ask, which she said she "wasn't too happy about".

Sorenson asked Rippon to swear on their six-year-old daughter that he didn't hurt anyone, and he told her he didn't, and didn't use a weapon.

She later told a detective she hadn't seen the hammer, was trying to get the hammer out of the case, and trying to get out of going to court.

"So you lie to police, do you?" Rippon's counsel Simon Lance asked.

A seventh man, Manuel Wynyard, is charged with perverting the course of justice by changing the appearance of Audain's car, allegedly used in the incident. His partner Tamara Whenuaroa told the court she was in frequent text and phone contact with some of the six accused, and their partners or girlfriends.

On April 23 she was looking for her partner, and at 3.27am got a text from one of the accused, saying they needed to talk urgently. The text must have been for her, she said, but said she didn't know what was urgent.

The parents of accused man Mark Audain, Anita and Paul Audain, appeared next. They described how Audain had taken ownership of his mother's car, one of those allegedly used in the incident, and how he returned from a night out on April 20 without it.

When they next saw the car on April 27 it had different wheels, which were inferior to the originals.

Mark Audain had mowed the lawn on April 22, before going out at about 1.30pm. He returned just before 7pm, without the car, and not seeming anxious or jittery.

He did seem stressed on April 30 when police arrived to ask questions. His dad asked him then what the questioning was about, and Mark Audain said he hadn't been involved in anything.

The trial is set down for six to eight weeks.

Defence lawyers have said their clients weren't present at the incident, or that details are "hazy".

The Crown is relying on evidence from two witnesses, from CCTV cameras and from cellphones. There are many more witnesses to appear.