Warning: This story contains details that might be distressing for some readers.
Jay Christopher Lingman has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Auckland man Denver Chance in 2019.
Denver Chance, whose body was found at a property in Kingseat two weeks after his disappearance in February 2019. Photo: Supplied
He pleaded guilty, however, to three charges of possession of drugs, including cocaine and MDMA, for supply as the trial in the High Court at Auckland began today.
Lingman is accused of fatally shooting Chance in February 2019. The Crown argues he shot Chance three times in the head before storing the body in a chest freezer.
Chance was last seen on 24 February 2019. He told friends at his flat in Mairangi Bay that he was popping out and would be back soon, but his body was found two weeks later at a property in Kingseat, south of Auckland.
It was the Crown's case that Chance went to visit Lingman at the property, and when Chance was standing at the front door to the house he was shot at by Lingman from the side of the house, who was armed with a Ruger .22 semi-automatic rifle fitted with a silencer.
Crown prosecutor Gareth Kayes said Lingman fired at least at least six bullets at Chance and three bullets hit his head.
Lingman then dragged the body from the front door down to a carport, Kayes said, before purchasing a chest freezer the next day.
He said Lingman used a chainsaw to fit the body in a freezer and left it there until police found it two weeks later.
The Crown said Lingman attempted to clean up the blood using a water blaster and bleach, but luminol testing revealed the bloodstains.
"The forensic scientists' opinion is that the area of probable blood staining was likely caused by the movement of a blood-stained item along the ground. The Crown says that blood-stained item was the deceased, Denver Chance. The defendant dragged him from the front steps where he was shot and killed along the driveway there and into the carport before placing him in the freezer the following day."
Jay Christopher Lingman at the High Court. Photo: RNZ/File photo
Lingman's defence lawyer Steven Lack said both men were drug dealers.
He said Chance had a history of drug offending and would import drugs and sell them to Lingman, who would then sell them on further.
The defence said Chance believed Lingman was ripping him off and he was angry.
Lack said Chance was armed with a shotgun when he came to see Lingman.
He said the accused took a rifle and went around the side of the house to either escape or try to reason with him.
"Lingman made another attempt to try and reason with Chance to resolve the situation. But in that split second, Chance raised the shotgun as if to aim it towards him. Lingman fired a volley of shots in Chance's direction, some striking Chance, others hitting the front door or the area around the front door."
Lack said Lingman only fired his weapon in self-defence.
"What's critical is that Lingman was left with no choice in that moment but to fire his weapon. If he didn't fire his weapon, then there can be no doubt, I suggest, that he would have been killed instantly if he had been struck by a shot from the shotgun that Chance was holding," he said.
The Crown argued the shooting was not self-defence and firing three shots was not a reasonable use of force.
The trial before a jury of eight men and four women continues.