Justice David Boldt is presiding over a murder trial in the High Court at Gisborne. Photo / George Heard
Justice David Boldt is presiding over a murder trial in the High Court at Gisborne. Photo / George Heard
A teenage witness was visibly upset when he described seeing the fatal injuries of Chrysler Stevens-Mark in a murder trial at the High Court in Gisborne on Friday.
Libya Tamihere has pleaded not guilty to murdering Stevens-Mark and Kane Wiremu Te Paa in an altercation at a party inLytton Rd in the Gisborne suburb of Elgin on March 23, 2024.
He also denies wounding two other men with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Another man charged in relation to the altercation died this year.
The witness was 15 when the altercation took place. He and another teen witness, also 15 at the time, gave testimony via AVL link.
The youth said an altercation broke out and he saw people fighting. Later he saw Steven-Mark lying beside a blue vehicle, not moving - having suffered severe injuries.
He was visibly emotional when describing the scene.
Earlier, another teenage witness also gave testimony via AVL link.
This teenager said he attended the party with his family and was wearing a red shirt and hat, which two men who had come to the party took exception to.
He described seeing a man of big build with facial tattoos.
Other witnesses also gave evidence as did police staff, who had presented photo montages to witnesses.
A man, who travelled from Hamilton with his siblings for the party, described being in the marquee.
He said there was singing, dancing, talking and drinking.
He heard raised voices and saw two men. One was wearing a black hoodie and had facial tattoos.
A second man, who was not as big as the first man, was “mouthing off”, but the first man did not say anything.
People at the party were trying to remove the men but they “were not going anywhere”, the witness said.
A fight broke out and the witness said he later saw Stevens-Mark walking back and falling near a blue car.
He saw the second man carrying a large knife, which he described as being about 20cm long. It was “tactical”, rather than a “kitchen knife”.
The witness also saw Stevens-Mark had been injured and spoke with Te Paa, whom he had not met before. Te Paa told him he, too, had been stabbed and went into a house.
The witness said another man had also been stabbed and laid down next to Stevens-Mark.
Questioned by defence lawyer Tiana Epati, the witness confirmed he had seen two men and that the second man had the knife.
Tiana Epati is one of the defence lawyers in a High Court murder trial, which started in Gisborne this week.
The trial, before Justice David Boldt, is expected to run for between two and a half and three weeks.
