Forensic evidence reveals brutal details in Jamie Gill murder trial in Wairarapa

Wire Manuel Reddington in the High Court at Wellington, where he denies a charge of murdering Jamie Gill on June 25 last year at Carterton. Photo / Catherine Hutton

Warning: This story contains graphic details

Pieces of flesh, blood and even fragments of a dinner plate were found on the driveway of a Wairarapa house where Jamie Gill was found dead.

A forensic scientist has told the High Court at Wellington the evidence shows the 32-year-old victim grasped the mud with his hands as he was dragged on his back down the driveway of a rural Carterton property in June 2023.

The Crown alleges Gill was killed during a fight in which he was cut and beaten before being strangled and then dragged down the driveway of the property. He was then dumped in a paddock, face down in a ditch where he was left to suffocate. Pieces of his ears had also been ripped off.

Wire Reddington, who was drinking with Gill on the night he died, has been charged with his murder. Reddington denies the charge and has instead pointed the blame at his older brother Tipene.

The two brothers and their mother, Isobel Anderson, lived at the property, which included a sleepout, where they were drinking that night. A gravel driveway to the house was a central focus of the ESR (Institute of Environmental Science and Research) investigation.

Crown prosecutor Stephanie Bishop took the jury through a booklet of 500 photographs today, including the results of the ESR’s examination of the property after the alleged murder.

ESR forensic scientist Mark Connor gave evidence of his reconstruction of events, following his examination of the scene.

He said blood and pieces of ear flesh found at the scene belonged to Gill. Blood was also found in the soil and on the fence.

Clothing and a greenstone pendant which were also found in the mud came off as Gill was dragged, he said.

“The long thin marks indicated that someone has grasped the mud with their hands whilst being moved or moving, leaving rake marks in the mud,” he told the jury.

He said the grazes and soil on Gill indicated he was dragged on his back and blood stains on the farm gate indicated it had been opened by the person who was moving him.

He said the large amount of luminol staining beside Gill indicates he’d been flipped from his back to his front.

Inside the house, blood stains were found in the bathroom and in particular on the shower door handles, mixer and back wall. Traces of blood were also found in the soil in the shower trap.

Connor told the court it was his strong opinion that the strong positive reaction to the luminol testing in the shower showed the person who showered there had blood and soil on them.

In the sleepout, Connor said, blood was detected on the floor, bedding and a mat. Items of clothing taken from the property also had blood on them.

Wire Manuel Reddington faces trial in the High Court at Wellington. Photo / Catherine Hutton

Under cross examination from defence lawyer Ian Hard, Connor was asked if it was possible that the soil and blood found in the trap could have come from Gill, if he’d used it in the days before his death.

Connor replied that would depend how often the shower was used, but given the continuous flow of water it was unlikely soil would remain in the shower trap for long.

Hard also asked about the absence of other people’s footprints on the driveway. Earlier the jury heard from the property’s landlady, Jeanette Lindsay, who found Gill’s body on the Sunday morning, and Reddington’s mother, who initially believed it was her son lying in the ditch and had run down the drive and hugged the body.

Hard asked Connor if another party could have stood in the driveway without the traces being clear to him.

Connor said that unless the person had stood in blood their footprints wouldn’t be picked up during luminol testing.

What happened that night?

The Crown alleges Reddington, Tipene and Gill were drinking at the sleepout.

Prosecutor Tamara Jenkin told the jury in her opening address that Tipene left to put his mother, who’d had a bit to drink, to bed and returned to find Gill and his younger brother fighting. He broke up the fight and told the pair to clean up the mess.

She said Tipene went back to the house to check on his mother and when he returned, the sleepout was empty. He yelled out, but there was no response and he returned to the house.

Jenkin told the jury Reddington returned to the sleepout early in the morning, clad only in his boxer shorts. He was covered in mud and wouldn’t tell Tipene where Gill was.

The next morning, the landlady found Gill’s body in the paddock and called emergency services.

Reddington’s lawyer told the jury during his opening that the Crown’s case was circumstantial and police focused unduly on his client when they should have spent more time looking at Tipene.

On Wednesday his lawyer put it to Reddington’s mother that Tipene had admitted killing Gill about a month after his death while they were travelling in the car and approaching a bridge outside Carterton.

“This is where I killed Jamie, I told Wire we should have chucked him off the bridge, but no our stupid arse brother had to drag him to the paddock. I ****** told him I’d finish it off because he didn’t have the balls to.”

Anderson, who had been struck in the face by Tipene during the car ride, told the court she didn’t remember him saying that, but she didn’t remember anything after being hit.

Reddington’s lawyer also told the jury at the start of the trial that if after hearing all the evidence they thought his client guilty, which he wasn’t, they should consider the defence of insanity.

The jury trial before Justice Jason McHerron continues.

Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.