After two trials Christchurch man David Benbow has been found guilty of murdering Michael McGrath in 2017.
The High Court jury deciding if the Christchurch man killed his childhood friend, McGrath, agreed on the verdict in the Christchurch High Court on Thursday after three days of deliberations.
His childhood friend disappeared six years ago, and no body or weapon has ever been found.
In 2019, Benbow, a former corrections officer, was charged with his murder but with McGrath still missing, prosecutors have relied on several threads of circumstantial evidence for their case.
The first trial earlier in the year ended in a hung jury.
Benbow, 54, has denied killing McGrath in the Christchurch suburb of Haswell in 2017.
However, the Crown alleged he shot McGrath at his home and then disposed of the body along the Banks Peninsula.
The Crown's key argument was the fact that Benbow's ex-partner and mother of their two children Joanna Green had started a romantic relationship with McGrath. It suggested Benbow acted out of jealousy and anger towards the new relationship when he killed McGrath.
The Crown claimed Benbow shot McGrath with his .22 rifle after inviting him to his home to help shift railway sleepers the same day his friend disappeared. Benbow's rifle also went missing and has never been found.
Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes said Benbow had a CCTV system set up at his property, but it was turned off that day.
Hawes claimed it was not likely that the number of different pieces of evidence that add up against Benbow were just coincidences.
"That's not like lightning striking twice in the same place. In the context of this case, this is lightning striking the same place over and over again," Hawes said.
However, the defence argued the Crown did not have enough evidence to prosecute Benbow beyond reasonable doubt.
Defence lawyer Kirsten Grey suggested Benbow was a victim of tunnel vision by the police.
In particular, she highlighted how no forensic evidence had been found at Benbow's home, his car or McGrath's car. As for the missing gun, Grey suggested it could have been lost when he moved houses.
The defence said McGrath never turned up to Benbow's house that morning and it was possible McGrath, who has suffered mental health problems, took his own life in a place where his body could not be found.
She accused the police of picking Benbow as a target and working backwards from there to find evidence to convict him, citing the 8000 hours officers spent searching a dump Benbow visited after the disappearance, compared to the 800 hours looking for McGrath.
But the police found nothing of interest during their searches of the dump.
"The Crown case is a house of cards built on shaky foundations which if you give it any real probing will simply fall over," Grey said.
Ultimately, the jury sided with the Crown, finding Benbow guilty of murder.
Benbow will be sentenced on March 5, 2024, where he will face a life sentence.
