The defence in the Venod Skantha murder trial is picking apart the testimony of a key witness - suggesting the witness was involved.
Dunedin doctor Skantha, 32, is accused of stabbing 16-year old Amber-Rose Rush to death in her bed in February last year.
Under intense cross-examination in the Dunedin High Court on Wednesday, the teenage witness, who cannot be identified, has admitted to exaggerating, and lying to police.
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He claims he drove Skantha to the scene but maintains he did not go inside Amber-Rose's house.
Defence counsel Jonathan Eaton QC questioned the witness about the morning after the murder.
"What you're saying is that on Sunday in Balclutha after a morning breakfast, Vinny [Skantha] asked you to clean his shoes?"
"Yes," the witness replied.
"You clean them with a damp rag, and then put the shoes in a place in the garage where you think he might forget about them?"
"Yes."
Eaton QC said in a February 4 interview with police, however, the witness said it was Skantha who put the shoes in the garage.
"You lied to [the] police again?"
Eaton QC also suggested the witness created an alibi late on the night of Amber-Rose's death.
When asked if he did something stupid he regrets, the witness replied "no".
Skantha has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and four separate counts of threatening to kill.
The trial is ongoing.
Newshub.
