The jury in the trial of a man charged with murdering his girlfriend by shooting her with a shotgun has retired to consider its verdicts.
Turiarangi Tai, on trial in the High Court in Auckland for the murder of Chozyn Koroheke. Photo: RNZ / Laura Tupou
Turiarangi Tai is on trial at the High Court in Auckland where he's denied murdering 22-year-old Chozyn Koroheke but admitted to illegally having the gun that killed her.
Chozyn Koroheke, a mother of two, was shot and killed in her Pakuranga home last April.
Police searched for Mr Tai, Ms Koroheke's boyfriend, who handed himself in after nearly two weeks.
Moheofo Manulevu is also on trial charged with being an accessory after the murder.
After a three week trial the jury has retired to consider its verdicts.
The Crown alleges Mr Tai deliberately shot Ms Koroheke with a 12 gauge double-barrelled shotgun.
"He loaded the fire arm, disengaged the safety catch, put his finger inside the trigger guard on the shotgun and deliberately pulled the trigger and fired the shotgun at Chozyn with a clear intention to kill her, or at the very least injure her, and being reckless in whether she died or not," crown prosecutor Mark Williams said.
Mr Williams said Mr Tai and Ms Koroheke had a short relationship but it wasn't the first time Mr Tai had been violent towards Ms Koroheke.
There had been an incident a week earlier, he said.
"It was on this occasion, the Crown say, that Mr Tai had assaulted Chozyn in the head with a rock. He'd also stabbed her on another occasion in the month prior to that."
But Mr Tai's defence lawyer, Peter Kaye, said his client thought the safety catch was on when he fired the fatal shot.
"It was never deliberate and I stand by that," Mr Tai told the court.
Mr Williams questioned Mr Tai heavily about any prior threats he had made towards the victim.
But Mr Tai maintained he "can't remember" how else he had threatened her.
Evidence was presented of a text message Mr Tai sent to Ms Koroheke, saying "four bullets if you don't pay up" which he eventually admitted meant he threatened to shoot her.
He said it was in the heat of the moment but the victim owed him $30.
During the trial Moheofo Manulevu, who is charged with accessory after the fact, told the court she had no choice but to help Mr Tai.
After two weeks on the run she said Mr Tai knocked on her window early in the morning.
He asked for a phone and a ride to his mother's house, Ms Manulevu said.
She was scared and knew he wasn't "somebody you mess with", she said.
She organised a taxi instead of a friend so she "didn't get anyone else in trouble".