After more than three weeks of evidence and hearing from more than 80 witnesses, the Crown made its closing address at the murder trial of Ewen Macdonald.
Macdonald is accused of murdering his brother-in-law and business partner Scott Guy with a shotgun on the morning of July 8, 2010. He denies the charge.
Crown Prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk presented his summary at the High Court in Wellington, saying Macdonald killed Mr Guy in a carefully planned murder after stewing and fermenting over his increasing role and presence on the farm.
Mr Guy’s supposed sense of entitlement to the farm and his wildly different plans for its future drove Macdonald – who managed the dairy operation - to kill him, the Crown says.
In their summary, the Crown alleges Macdonald woke early, biked to Mr Guy’s driveway at 293 Aorangi Rd and closed the gates. When Mr Guy drove down the driveway, he went to open the gates when Macdonald shot him twice at close range with a shotgun at 4:43am.
Macdonald stole and killed three puppies from a nearby shed – either before of after the murder - to make the death look like a botched robbery, the Crown says.
He biked back to his house at 147 Aorangi Rd – which they say is his “safe haven” – and carried on his morning farming routine as usual, the court heard.
“He had a limited number of things to do having shot Scott Guy, having to put the things away somewhere and he later had 300 hectares to dispose of them and any number of opportunities to do so,” Mr Vanderkolk says.
“He had to make it appear like he had just got up for milking, make it look as if he was suspecting Scott wasn’t going to be up, make it appear that he wouldn’t and carry on like he was covering for Scott Guy’s lateness.
“All he had to do was change his boots for milking and walk out of the laundry like it was the normal start to his day,” he says.
Watch the video for excerpts of the Crown’s summary
3 News
source: newshub archive
