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
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from New Zealand
South Island girls' cricket team stranded in Dubai storm
Mum says parents on the trip have been more stressed and the girls have 'just adapted'.