Albany, Auckland, bus station killing: Trial of teen accused of murdering Epapara Poutapu begins

Police investigate a stabbing at the Albany Bus station New Zealand Herald photograph by Dean Purcell 18 September 2023 with Epapara Poutapu inset

• Jurors in the murder trial of a teen accused of fatally stabbing Epapara Poutapu were shown CCTV footage.
• Poutapu died after being stabbed three times on September 18 last year.
• The Crown argues the stabbing was murder; the defence claims self-defence.

Jurors in the trial of a teen accused of stabbing 24-year-old Epapara Poutapu to death at an Albany bus station in broad daylight have been shown chilling footage of the confrontation between the pair.

Poutapu died after being stabbed three times on September 18 last year.

The murder trial for the now 17-year-old accused, who has interim name suppression, began in the High Court at Auckland today.

Epapara Joseph Jordan Poutapu was stabbed to death at the Albany Bus Station.

He wore a suit and tie to today’s hearing, in front of a full public gallery.

Footage from the station showed the pair appearing to square up and the victim removing his jacket and putting down his belongings before stepping toward the defendant.

His fists are raised as he walks toward the defendant and he is speaking but it’s unclear what is being said. The footage then shows the defendant and the victim engaging in a brief altercation, which is over in seconds.

Other videos showed blood streaking across the pavement and people assisting the gravely injured man.

The footage, captured from CCTV cameras on busses and at the station, was shown to the jury from various angles, and some video was zoomed in and/or slowed down.

Kasey Nihill presented the Crown’s opening statement, telling the jury the defendant “brought a knife to a fist fight”.

She said Poutapu died after being struck with a knife twice in the face and once in the head by the teen after a verbal exchange between the victim and one of the teen’s associates.

Nihill told the court the fight was over in 10 seconds and the defendant was later seen running from the station.

The Crown’s case, she said, was that this stabbing was a murder.

Nihill told the jury that although the defendant may argue his actions were in self-defence, she claimed CCTV footage revealed his actions weren’t in defence of anyone and the force he used was not reasonable.

The accused teen’s lawyer, Barbara Hunt, said her client was acting in defence of himself and his friends during a “terrifying” attack.

She said CCTV footage shows her client and his friends “happy, carefree, waiting for a bus”, and Poutapu appears to be edgy.

Hunt alleged the defendant, who was 16 at the time, was “under attack” from an “aggressive older man” with schizophrenia.

“He just reacted in self-defence to save himself and his friends.”

She told the jury her client didn’t intend to hurt or kill anyone that day and she urged members to wait until they had heard all the evidence before reaching a conclusion.

The trial continues on Tuesday.

Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.