Christchurch trial: James Holder shot David Bridgwater but says it was self-defence

James Arthur Holder is accused of murdering David Bridgwater (insert) in Aranui on January 4, 2024.

A night out in Christchurch turned fatal when a man was shot dead in a suburban street.

David Bridgwater had been partying with others at the Juicy Festival in QEII Park and continued into the early hours when things took a turn for the worse.

It was the morning of January 4, 2024 when the 38-year-old was found on Carisbrooke St, Aranui, lying beside his car, which was still running.

James Arthur Holder, 55, is on trial for Bridgwater’s murder, before a jury in the High Court at Christchurch.

Holder doesn’t deny shooting Bridgwater but claims it was in self-defence.

The Crown alleges Holder had intent when he shot Bridgwater in the abdomen.

He was asked to leave

In her opening address, prosecutor Penny Brown said the pair were not known to each other but had been in each other’s company that night.

David Bridgwater was found dead outside his car on Carisbrooke St, Aranui in Christchurch. Photo / Facebook

They had ended up at a Carisbrooke St address with others when an argument ensued.

Brown said Bridgwater walked out of the property and was followed by Holder who shot him in the street.

It was accepted that Bridgwater was shot with a .22 calibre gun that was never recovered.

Brown said the trial would focus on how and why Bridgwater received the fatal injury.

She said Bridgwater had been with a couple of women and had been described by a witness as behaving in an obnoxious manner at the address.

He had been asked to leave the address a number of times.

Brown said he was being “a bit of a smart guy” when Holder “piped up” and told him to leave.

He got into his car and started the engine when Holder followed him out and an altercation ensued.

Bridgwater was shot about 2.15am.

Police searching the Avon River after David Bridgwater's death. Photo / George Heard.

Holder then allegedly left the address in his car, drove to an associate’s home and then the red zone, where Brown said he disposed of the gun.

Police found a spent .22 cartridge beside Bridgwater’s body.

First responders unsuccessfully tried to revive Bridgwater who was pronounced dead about 2.43am.

A number of items that had been burned were recovered from the Carisbrooke St property when a search warrant was executed a couple of days later.

Police intercepted Holder’s phone calls in the following weeks, and he was arrested and charged on February 2, 2024.

James Arthur Holder is on a trial in the High Court at Christchurch. Pool Photo / Chris Skelton

‘Disrespectful, belligerent, dangerous’

Defence lawyer John Wayne Howell told the jury the trial would be about self-defence.

He said Bridgwater was under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and that he was being “disrespectful, belligerent and dangerous”.

“What was the altercation prior to him being shot, did the circumstances justify Mr Holder acting in self-defence?”

“When Mr Holder fired that shot, he was acting in self-defence; they had not met each other prior to that.

“What happened in those few minutes will come from the defence, keep an open mind, there is more to the story than the Crown evidence.”

The trial is being heard by Justice Lisa Preston and is set down for five weeks.

The Crown is expected to call 51 witnesses.

Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands News.