Murder trial: Northland man shot from an estimated 300mm away

Michael John Paewhenua has denied murdering his acquaintance Moses Noor Mahanga in Otangarei. Photo / John Stone

A forensic scientist has estimated a Northlander was shot dead inside a car with a shotgun from a distance of around 300mm.

Gerhard Wevers, a senior forensic scientist with the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), examined a Mitsubishi Lancer in which Moses Noor Mahanga was shot on the night of October 4 last year on William Jones Dr, Otangarei.

Michael John Paewhenua, 27, is accused of murdering him but he denies killing his acquaintance.

In the High Court at Whangarei yesterday where a three-week jury trial is under way, Wevers said he saw Mahanga sitting in a reclined position in the driver's seat and numerous fragments of wadding — a disc of material used in guns to seal gas behind a projectile or to separate powder for shot — typically found in a shotgun.

Judging from the presence of soot, he said the shot was fired from close range but could not be precise. He said his best estimate was from about 300mm away depending on the type of ammunition and barrel length.

Earlier, forensic pathologist Dr Thambarajah Balachandra, who did Mahanga's autopsy, also told the jury the shot was fired from close range judging from the nature of injuries.

He said the cause of death as the gunshot wound, which caused extensive fractures and a severe laceration to Mahanga's skull. There was no contact wound or other injuries on his body apart from a non-related injury on his buttocks, Balachandra said.

Death, he said, would have been instant but he could not say when exactly the shot was fired or from what distance.

The Crown says Paewhenua fired a single shot from the front passenger's seat to the left of Mahanga's head. Police found Paewhenua's cellphone and a knife and uplifted his fingerprint and DNA from inside the car.

Paewhenua's lawyer Arthur Fairley is arguing the Crown case is circumstantial as no one saw who killed Mahanga. The trial continues.