Accused tells of sleeping with girlfriend's body

A man told a court yesterday that he slept next to his Thai sex-worker girlfriend's body after killing her. Photo / Greg Bowker

A man told a court yesterday that he slept next to his Thai sex-worker girlfriend's body after killing her.

Giving evidence at his trial in the High Court at Auckland for murder, Gordon Hieatt, 48, said he strangled Nuttidar Vaikaew, also 48, with a slipknot after they had an argument in April last year.

After she was dead he washed her with a cloth before spending the night in bed with her body. He strongly denied touching her in a sexual way. He spent most of the next month living with her body in the apartment. He also took four brief trips to Wellington, where he visited a prostitute.

Prosecutor David Johnstone said the truth was that Hieatt made a conscious decision to kill Ms Vaikaew after he punched her and he was worried she would contact the police.

Hieatt responded: "I didn't want to kill her; it's not what I wanted to do."

- NZPA