The lawyer for the man accused of murdering his former girlfriend and her daughter says another man carried out the killing.
Juwairiyah Kalim - known as Jojo (left) - and a photo of her and her mother Pakeeza Faizal, also known as Mubarak Yusuf. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
Kamal Reddy is giving evidence in his own defence at the High Court in Auckland where he's denied charges of murdering his ex-girlfriend Pakeeza Yusuf and her three-year-old daughter, Juwairiyah Kalim in 2006.
They went missing in 2006 and their bodies weren't found until eight years later - buried under a motorway bridge on Auckland's North Shore.
Today Mr Reddy told the jury that he met Ms Yusuf's new boyfriend, he knew only as James, while supermarket shopping in Botany Downs.
He said James was with Ms Yusuf and her daughter.
Mr Reddy described him as a tall, well-built part-Indian man and said he worked as a security guard but he did not know his surname or where he lived.
Soon after the meeting in late 2006, he visited Ms Yusuf's home in Howick but only James was home. James told him Ms Yusuf was out visiting friends.
But the following day James visited Mr Reddy's home in Otahuhu and told him he had killed Ms Yusuf and her daughter, known as Jojo.
He said when he suggested to James that he go to the police, James and his friends threatened him.
Mr Reddy said James suggested he bury the pair at a spot in Albany where he'd been growing cannabis and there was construction going on.
He said he had a short sleep before deciding to visit his uncle, Bal Naidu, who works in construction.
Mr Reddy said he asked Naidu to show him the spot James was describing.
Naidu, who is serving a sentence of 12 months home detention for being an accessory after the fact to murder, has told the court Mr Reddy said he had killed his girlfriend and her daughter and had the bodies in the back of his car.
Mr Reddy's lawyer Jonathan Krebs asked him about that evidence today. Mr Reddy said his uncle was incorrect.
He said he visited the site with Naidu and passed the information on to James.
Earlier, Mr Krebs opened the case for the defence and said his client was not guilty of murder and had only helped in disposing the bodies.
He said if his client was guilty of any crime, it was being an accessory after the fact to murder.