A man accused of murdering another man in the Auckland suburb of Western Springs has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Gabriel Yad-Elohim (pictured) is alleged to have killed 69-year-old Michael David Mulholland. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Gabriel Yad-Elohim is alleged to have killed 69-year-old Michael David Mulholland, who was found dead in the stairwell of a block of flats on Great North Road last September.
Yad-Elohim, 30, this morning entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of murder in the High Court in Auckland, with his lawyer Annabel Cresswell adding that this was by way of insanity.
Lawyers had been scheduled to give their opening addresses today, but this was delayed until tomorrow while evidential matters are finalised.
A jury of nine men and three women was empanelled, and a Japanese interpreter was sworn in to assist Yad-Elohim.
The trial, before Justice Gerard van Bohemen, is expected to take about two weeks.