High Court trial starts in the alleged murder of Bob Kleiman

Ike Wellington Kingi is on trial in the High Court at Whangārei, accused of murdering Bob Kleinman at an Onerahi house, in October 2022. His partner Leonie Farrell and a friend Stacy Jamieson are also on trial for charges alleging they tried to help Kingi escape conviction. Photo / Michael Cunningham

When Hikurangi man Bob Kleinman was fatally shot at an Onerahi house two years ago, the firearm must have been so close to his face that it could only have been intentional. Kleinman could only have been murdered, Crown prosecutor Richard Annandale has told a Whangārei jury.

Annandale was making his opening address yesterday in the High Court trial for three people charged in relation to Kleinman’s death from a gunshot wound in October 2022.

Kleiman’s body was discovered in a recently vacated house in Onerahi, about 3.30pm on October 27 by the owner who had previously lived there and had reason to return that day.

The Crown alleges Kleinman, who was 56, was shot at close range at about 7.15pm the day before and it was Ike Wellington Kingi, aged 42 at the time, who intentionally pulled the trigger. Kingi pleaded not guilty to murder, claiming he accidentally fired the weapon - a 0.22 Rossi rifle he said belonged to Kleiman, who’d been showing him its new homemade scope.

Kingi’s domestic partner Leonie Farrell, who was 32 at the time and the mother of their then seven-week-old child, was allegedly also involved in the incident. So, too, was a friend of the couple Stacy Jamieson, then aged 36.

Jamieson and Farrell were each charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder - Jamieson with two counts of it, allegedly by tampering with evidence and hiding the firearm, which was not recovered. Farrell was additionally charged with two counts of conspiring with Kingi to pervert the course of justice by trying to get two witnesses to change their statements.

In opening, Annandale alleged Kingi, who didn’t have a firearms licence, had the rifle and used it to intentionally shoot Kleiman, killing him instantly.

A report of scientific evidence some weeks later showed the rifle must have been so close to Kleiman’s face that the shooting couldn’t have been accidental. Other evidence at the scene also ruled it out, Annandale said .

Immediately after the shooting, the trio contrived a narrative that it was accidental and they did all they could to control that narrative, at times dropping deliberate comments designed to bolster it.

However, the “accident narrative” was concocted and reported to police before the accused were aware of the scientific evidence that would later emerge to negate it, Annandale said.

Stacy Jamieson faces two charges of being an accessory after the fact to the 2022 murder of Bob Kleinman at a house in Edge Street, Onerahi. Leonie Farrell - the partner of murder accused Ike Kingi - is also on trial for charges alleging she also assisting him to avoid conviction. A court order prevents publication of images identifying her. Photo / Michael Cunningham.

Closed-circuit television (CCTV), mostly from a neighbouring house, put Kingi, Farrell, and Jamieson at the scene at key times before and after the shooting. All three fled in Kingi and Farrell’s black Nissan Nivara Ute.

However, minutes later Jamieson returned to the house on foot. He was there about 12 minutes, allegedly tampering with evidence by covering Kleiman’s body and putting a mat over a pool of blood beside him. He also allegedly disposed of the firearm.

Emergency services weren’t called until the next day when the owner of the property returned. From outside the house, she saw what looked like a figure lying on the floor, a hand and feet protruding from a cover over it.

Annandale alleged Jamieson’s actions bought Farrell the time she needed to help Kingi get out of town to a friend’s place up north.

The Crown case was expected to include 25 witnesses, CCTV footage, text and phone data - including calls Kingi and Jamieson made from a prison when they were both there on remand.

In communications with Farrell, Kingi and she conspired to get the Edge St property owner and their friend up north to change their police statements, Annandale said.

Identifying defence issues in the case, counsel Martin Hislop for Kingi; Annabel Ives for Farrell; and Julie Young for Jamieson, said their clients each strongly rejected the allegations and rejected the Crown’s contention there was a contrived “accident narrative”. The shooting was tragic, but exactly as their clients claimed - accidental.

Hislop said the people directly involved in the case, including the homeowner, and Kleiman were all friends. Kingi and Farrell were going to be moving into the Onerahi house, which is why they were all there. Kleiman brought the rifle to the property. Kingi didn’t know it was loaded and there was no trigger guard on it. Kleiman was holding it when Kingi knocked it as he went to sit down on a couch. Kingi would never have intended to harm Kleiman - either deliberately or recklessly (manslaughter). However, after the gun went off, he realised he couldn’t do anything to help his friend, panicked, and fled.

Ives said Farrell’s life was totally focussed on her new born at the time. She was in the ute at the property but attending to her baby in the back seat of it.

Within 20 hours of the shooting, she’d been in touch with the property owner, who she knew had been with police and within 36 hours had gone to police herself to tell them what she knew about the accidental shooting of Kleinman. A few days later she was with Kingi when he went to the police station to hand himself up.

Comments she made in calls weren’t attempts to pervert justice, she basically only wanted the truth.

The trial - before Justice Jane Anderson - is expected to take about two-and-a-half weeks.

Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, much of which she spent court reporting. She is passionate about covering stories that make a difference