As he began to speak, his older brother began to cry in the dock.
Stanley Murray told the jury that he was being beaten up by a man when he heard his older brother yelling.
"He was saying 'get off my brother, get off my brother," Stanley Murray said.
"He had a sickle in his hand. He held it with two hands."
He did not see what happened next, but the alleged assault stopped.
"I got up and ran with Michael..."
Stanley Murray said after the incident he lied to police "I didn't want anything to happen to me, from the victim's family... I feared for my life."
He knew Mr Morris and his family were connected to the Head Hunters gang and said they were "violent" and he was worried about retribution and revenge.
The night Mr Morris died Murray was at home with his partner and kids. They had been to Rainbows End and came home with McDonalds to eat for dinner.
That night there was a party down the driveway at number 403c Don Buck which Murray had been invited to, but did not attend. The party was a 21st for a Jason Teiho, whose brother Trevor Morunga and sister Iesha Teiho lived at the house.
The three siblings are cousins of Murray's own cousin Shamus Wira. Mr Wira was at the party.
Later in the night a Mr Wira, Mr Teiho and Mr Morunga left the party and walked up the driveway to Murray's place.
Murray joined them on a deck, drinking beer and smoking cannabis.
When the drinks ran out Murray decided he wanted to go to bed and told his mates they should leave. The group all went to the top of the driveway together.
A group of men walked towards them Mr Morunga kicked one of them. That group of men had come from a housewarming party at Mr Morris' sister Cymmion's. They were going to a nearby petrol station to buy juice and cigarettes.
Murray told the court he told the men that he didn't want any trouble at his home, where his children were.
"They didn't want to listen," he told the jury.
Murray said after Mr Morunga kicked out, one of the other group ran back to where they had come from yelling that he was going to get "Head Hunters".
Mr Morris was a member of the Head Hunters gang and other members were at the housewarming.
"I saw a wave of men coming down the road and the footpath," Murray said.
Murray said he could see Mr Wira getting bashed.
"I thought 'he's f**ked... I turned around, ran back to my property and retrieved the sickle."
He said the sickle was behind a hedge, where he had left it after cutting grass.
"I thought if I got something maybe it would scare them and stop them from attacking us," Murray said.
He wanted to "show them" to "brandish it and maybe scare them off, stop them from attacking".
Murray said he saw a bigger man pick his brother up and swing him "like a rag doll" and give him several upper cuts.
"I yelled at the man to stop, that's my little brother... he just looked like he was going to continue to smash him," Murray recalled.
"I had already seen Shamus get smashed. I was quite fearful for Stanley's life. I didn't want Stanley to get seriously injured or killed... I've stepped forward to the vicinity of where the man was, closed my eyes and swung... the sickle.
"I wasn't thinking at that time, everything was just happening so fast."
He said he didn't know where the sickle had hit the man.
He saw the man fall to the ground, grabbed his brother and ran. He took Stanley Murray to his bedroom, threw the sickle in a bush and then went back to his own room. He could hear a woman screaming on the road.
"I heard men stating that if (Mr Morris) dies, everyone in that house will die," he said, adding that the men were Head Hunters."
Murray said he was scared for his safety, and for his children and partner.
When interviewed by police four days later Murray lied about the night. He said he was asleep when Mr Morris was killed.
Today in court he explained the dishonesty.
"That was not true... Prior to me going to the police station I had been watching the news and I was aware that there would be retribution seeked (sic) from the Head Hunters... they would seek revenge. I was scared," he said.
He had also read about threats in newspapers and on social media.
"I feared for my life," he said.
THE ACCUSED, CROSS EXAMINED:
Murray's evidence was heavily challenged in court this afternoon by the Crown, who say he was not acting in self defence when he hit the 26-year-old in the head with a sickle.
Moreover, he knew when he swung the weapon that he was committing a crime and that is why he fled.
Crown prosecutor David Johnstone first suggested to Murray that there were only about six people on the road when he went to get the weapon, not the large group he had described.
"There was a lot of people... there was like a wave half covering the road, the footpath, the grass verge... I didn't have time to stand there and start counting," Murray said.
"We had four and we were clearly outnumbered. I couldn't give you a number but there was a lot of people."
Earlier today he told the court that he did not see anyone with a weapon. He was the only one armed, he said.
As he stood on the grass verge near his driveway he could see his cousin Shamus Wira getting beaten.
"That's when I've made the decision to run back in and get the weapon," he said during cross examination.
"I just wanted to get something that would stop them getting hurt."
He said he only intended "brandishing" the sickle to scare the other men.
Mr Johnstone asked him if, looking back, it seemed "ridiculous" that he could stop a "wave" of enemies by waving a weapon around.
Murray said no.
Mr Johnstone then questioned Murray about how long it took him to go and retrieve the sickle.
He explained running down the driveway, weaving between parked cars and going around the side of his sleepout to pick up the sickle, which he had left by a hedge after using it to cut grass.
"Did you think at that stage you might want to call the police?" Mr Johnstone said.
"It was all happening so fast," Murray replied.
He said Mr Morris went up to his brother, who said "we don't want no trouble from the Head Hunters".
Mr Johnstone accused Murray of "making up" his account.
He denied it, saying while it happened quickly, he clearly remembered Mr Morris attacking his brother. He recalled Mr Morris picking up, and giving him several upper cut punches to the head.
"In truth, you simply did not consider the prospect of your brother being seriously injured or maybe even killed at all, did you? That's not what you were thinking is it?" Mr Johnstone pressed.
"You know when I'm asking you these questions I'm asking you about what your intentions were," he said.
"Let's be honest Mr Murray, you swung the sickle for a reason. You were thinking that by swinging the sickle you would accomplish something. What you were intending to do was strike that man with the sickle. You knew that if you connected... you would likely hurt him.
"So what is the point of swinging it at him?"
Murray was adamant "there was no intention" when he swung the weapon. He said there was no time to think about anything but he certainly did not intend to hurt or kill anyone.
THE DEFENCE OPENS:
Marie Dyrhberg QC opened the defence case this morning and told the jury that her client would give anything to turn the clock back to 3 August 2014.
But that could not be done and he had to face what he had done.
"The defence case is that Michael Murray acted as he did in defence of his younger brother," she said.
"You will hear that Michael Murray is very close to his brother Stanley, and even though they're 12 years apart Michael Murray will tell you he took on an almost fatherly role, a protector role of his younger brother... that is a solid bond."
Ms Dyhrberg said the night Mr Morris died her client "didn't want trouble" but he was drawn into the fatal street fight.
"There was no murderous intent...Mr Murray believed that Connor Morris was seriously assaulting his little brother and that the only thing he could do to stop this potentially serious assault was to lash out with the sickle.
"The defence case for Mr Murray is that he neither intended to kill or cause any bodily injury that he knew was likely to cause death. He didn't contemplate for one moment that death was something that could eventuate when he swung that sickle. He reacted instinctively, in the heat of the moment."
Ms Dyhrberg said Murray did the only thing he could think of when his group was "outnumbered".
"He grabbed that rusty old sickle, this is something that looks in his panicked mind that might make this group stop their fighting. It was a bad decision in hindsight," Ms Dyhrberg said.
"When he returned from picking up the sickle he saw a man who later turned out to be Connor Morris beating up Stanley. The one thought that went through his mind was 'he's going to seriously hurt him, he might even kill him, Stanley can't protect himself, I have tom stop this attack on him.
"Plain and simple, he reacts instinctively, he swings the sickle... Michael Murray reacted in the heat of the moment to what he perceived as a clear and present danger to his brother - and that was it."
WHO IS MICHAEL MURRAY?
The court also heard details of Murray's life, and more background about his close relationship with his brother.
One of four children, the 34-year-old grew up in West Auckland and attended Wellsford College.
After school Murray worked as a labourer but has studied automotive engineering, study he completed alongside his younger brother Stanley.
Stanley is 12 years younger than Murray and the pair were close. Murray helped their mother when Stanley was a baby, changing nappies and caring for him. Later he would take him to rugby league and church.
In August 2013 Murray's mother died from cancer. She had been sick for several years but her diagnosis became terminal about six months before her death. During that time Murray and Stanley took on the role of caregivers.
They lived with her until she died and afterwards, when Housing New Zealand evicted the boys, they moved to 401 Don Buck Rd. They lived in separate rooms of a sleepout at the back of the main house.
Murray has three children of his own, two daughters and a son. They were with him for the weekend and staying in the sleepout the night Mr Morris was killed.
