The six crimes Ewen Macdonald committed in the years before his brother-in-law Scott Guy was killed can be published today after suppression orders lapsed.
Macdonald has pleaded guilty to the charges, three of which were suppressed until today.
Macdonald’s list of offending:
- Criminal damage: Slaughtering 19 calves belonging to Himatangi dairy farmer Paul Barber on the night of August 9, 2007. The calves had been struck on the head with an object.
- Criminal damage: Emptying 16,000 litres of milk from a vat belonging to another Himatangi farmer, Nigel Sexton, on the same night the calves were culled.
- Arson: Burning down an historic Maori whare built in 1888 which was on Mr Sexton’s farm. Macdonald used an LPG bottle and boat fuel to start the fire. The whare was used as a family sleep out and a duck shooter’s shelter.
- Theft: Driving to a nearby farm and shooting two trophy stags. He put them on his trailer and buried them in a pre-dug hole on the Guy family farm, where he was a manager.
- Criminal damage: Burning down an old farm house on the back of removal trailers at the site of Scott and Kylee Guy’s new home. The house and trailers were destroyed.
- Criminal damage: Vandalising Scott and Kylee Guy’s new home once construction had nearly finished.
It was also revealed that Macdonald illegally hunted 100-200 times on the farms belonging to Mr Sexton and Mr Barber.
Their illegal hunting was discovered when Macdonald’s vehicle was found and reported to police. When questioned, Macdonald told them he was “just photographing deer”.
He got his vehicle back, was trespassed and apologised to Mr Sexton for poaching a number of stags, returning a number of stag heads at the same time.
Police arrested Macdonald in April 2011 and charged him with the murder of Mr Guy, who was shot dead on his Feilding driveway in July 2010.
The month-long murder trial was heard in Wellington last month where a jury found Macdonald not guilty.
Police interviews from the day Macdonald was arrested were played in court which show him admitting the three crimes.
Watch Firstline tomorrow for an exclusive interview with one of the affected farmers from 6am.
3 News
source: newshub archive
