By Lloyd Burr and Angela Beswick
The owner of two trophy stags Ewen Macdonald admitted to stealing “for a challenge” has given evidence at the Scott Guy murder trial this afternoon.
Deer farmer Craig Hocken lived more than 7km from Macdonald and told the High Court in Wellington this afternoon he had 16 stags in his front paddock at the time of the theft.
Mr Hocken says he kept them there so he could keep an eye on them.
On December 31, 2006, Mr Hocken says he noticed his stags were grouped together by the road-side fence, looking like they had been spooked.
Upon investigation he found only 14 stags.
There were two areas of flattened grass in his front paddock and tyre tracks in a u-shaped pattern, leading from an unlocked gate on the roadside of the paddock.
One of the missing stags, named Blue, “usually ran up and down the road fence line. He didn’t like others and kept to himself”.
Macdonald has since admitted being responsible for taking the stags, despite initially denying it.
The court has this afternoon heard how Macdonald killed the stags, chopped off their heads and buried them in a hole he had pre-prepared on the back of the Guy family farm.
‘Animated’ Macdonald alerted police to puppy theft
Kylee Guy has been giving evidence around a litter puppies she and her husband had attempted to sell at local farming shops in the Feilding area, including the shop owned by Ewen Macdonald’s father Kerry.
She says she and her husband put up flyers at various farm-related shops and gave one to Kerry Macdonald, who owned the local Hunting and Fishing shop.
Three puppies disappeared around the time of Mr Guy’s murder, with Ewen Macdonald calling an off-duty police detective to report them missing.
Detective Sergeant Gary Milligan said Macdonald called him after feeding the puppies, a day after the murder.
“I received a phonecall from the accused and he advised me that there were only four pups there and there should have been seven,” he says.
Mr Milligan says Macdonald also told him there were originally eight puppies but one had died. It had actually been gifted by Scott and Kylee to their family friend Jo Moss.
The Crown alleges Macdonald killed the puppies to distract police and make Mr Guy’s murder look like a botched burglary.
- Ewen Macdonald police interview - Part 1
- Ewen Macdonald police interview - Part 2
- Ewen Macdonald police interview - Part 3
In evidence giving this morning, Mr Guy’s sister Nikki said she visited the home of Macdonald and his wife Anna and the trio discussed whether the missing puppies could have had anything to do with the murder.
“We were theorising about who would have taken the puppies,” she said, adding Macdonald was “very animated” when he told them he had been to tell police of the missing pups.
The police told Macdonald and Nikki Guy not to tell anyone about the puppies, not even Kylee.
‘Come over, Scotty’s been killed’
Kylee Guy was hysterical when she called a close family friend and told them her husband had just been killed.
Jo Moss was the first person Kylee rang when she realised something had happened to her husband on the morning of July 8, 2010.
Ms Moss says Kylee was hysterical but coherent on the phone.
“She said I had to come over because Scotty had been killed,” Ms Moss told the High Court in Wellington this morning.
“I was still in my PJs. I asked my husband if he would come, asked if he would follow me out in ute.”
She says she was stopped at the cordon and couldn’t make it to the Guy’s house, adding that Ewen Macdonald – the man who would later be charged with Mr Guy’s murder - came up to her while she was in her car.
“I remember saying to him ‘Is Scotty dead?’ and he said ‘yes he is dead’.”
Ms Moss was the recipient of one of the Chocolate Labrador puppies that Mr and Mrs Guy had on the farm. She had first pick of the litter and didn’t have to pay for it.
The court has heard the puppies had a price tag of $700 each.
Dad’s last words: ‘I’ll see you in the morning’
Bryan Guy’s last words to his son before he was murdered at the end of his driveway were “I’ll see you in the morning”.
Giving evidence in court this morning, Bryan Guy recalled the last time he saw his son alive; after he had helped him move a kennel and some Chocolate Labrador puppies into the old cowshed.
“The last thing I said to Scott was ‘I’ll see you in the morning’ and then I drove down the driveway,” he said, voice trembling.
The pair had walked around the old cowshed and discussed repainting it and replacing the gutters.
Macdonald used puppies to fake botched robbery – Crown
The jury in the Scott Guy murder trial has heard the accused admit to crimes of intimidation that targeted Mr Guy and his wife Kylee.
But Ewen Macdonald maintains he did not murder his brother-in-law two years ago.
In a police interview shown at the High Court in Wellington yesterday, Macdonald admitted to a series of crimes of intimidation including arson and wilful damage.
But he said there wouldn’t be any reason for him to kill Mr Guy, and he’d had to work harder on the family farm since his death.
The jury will today hear evidence about three Labrador puppies at Mr Guy’s house that the Crown says Macdonald killed to distract police and make the murder look like a botched burglary.
3 News
source: newshub archive
