Lance Hall on trial for murder of Whangārei man Jason McNae at flat stabbing

Lance Hall on day one at the high court in Whangārei for the murder of Jason Mcnae Photo / Shannon Pitman

WARNING: This article discusses graphic violence and may be upsetting to some readers.

Emotions ran high in a courtroom today as haunting footage was played showing the moment a father-of-two was fatally stabbed in the neck after responding to a request for help from a friend.

The CCTV footage was part of the Crown’s case against Lance Hall, 51, who is accused of murdering Jason McNae at a block of flats in Whangārei in 2023.

It showed Hall inflicting a blow to McNae’s neck before the 24-year-old descended down a stairwell. He is later seen collapsing on the ground outside where people frantically try to help him.

It was the first time McNae’s whānau had viewed the footage with many becoming visibly upset or having to leave the courtroom.

Hall’s trial started in High Court at Whangārei today with Crown prosecutor Bernadette O’Connor telling the jury about the incident, Hall’s background, and the preceding issues he allegedly had with people in the block of flats on Morningside Rd.

Around April 2023, Hall had been living with a woman in a flat before moving into a room available in another flat with a man called Cody Rudolph under the agreement he would buy food and help pay rent.

Rudolph did not know Hall before he moved in.

However, things began to take a turn when Hall’s behaviour shifted and he became aggressive. The Crown alleges Hall was a methamphetamine user, a habit Rudolph disagreed with.

In days leading up to the incident, Rudolph told Hall he had to leave because of his meth use which Hall took offence to and allegedly threatened to stab him.

On that occasion, Rudolph called Hall’s partner who managed to calm him down and requested he stay until she could get there to pick him up.

On June 19, 2023, Rudolph went to an appointment in town and returned to find several people drinking downstairs in an open carport and Hall inside the apartment smoking meth with someone he did not know.

Hall and his associate went downstairs and joined the party and Rudolph heard him later yelling out for a swipe card. Rudolph threw the swipe card down but when Hall could not find it, he allegedly became enraged.

Rudolph went down to help find the card and was allegedly met with a punch to the face from Hall.

‘We need to help him’

O’Connor said Rudolph called his ex and mother of his child, Courtney Rapata for assistance and said he needed help to get a man out of his flat.

Rapata was in a relationship with McNae and the court heard that when McNae heard Rudolph needed help he responded by saying “We need to help him”.

McNae drove Boston Tahitahi, who lived with them, Rapata and her sister Kelly Rapata to the block of flats and on arrival allegedly saw Hall in the carpark jumping around aggressively.

Jason McNae was looking forward to his new job on a farm when he was stabbed in the neck at a block of flats in central Whangārei.

Kelly stayed with the car while the rest of the group walked past Hall and headed up the flight of stairs to check on Rudolph. Hall allegedly decided to follow them.

As Rapata and Tahitahi led the group upstairs, with Hall and McNae behind, she told the court she heard a pop.

“I thought Lance was calm. I didn’t think anything was going to happen and within seconds he had stabbed Jason ... I never heard a sound like that,” she said in tears.

Hall allegedly said “You better come help him or he’s going to die,” as she turned and saw Hall with a pair of scissors in his hand.

‘Do you want to die today?’

Rapata said she tried to get past Hall but he began brandishing the scissors towards her yelling “Do you want to die today?”

She told the court she was yelling at her partner to get out and get help as McNae exited the stairwell before collapsing against the car as he bled out.

Rapata, Tahitahi and Rudolph managed to get around Hall to McNae and as she attempted to protect herself behind the car door, Hall allegedly kicked the door pushing her into the driver’s seat.

“He tried to come around and stab Jason again,” she said.

“It was crazy, we were sitting there watching my partner die while a lunatic was jumping around tormenting us, laughing at us. This is what we had to listen to while we’re going through all that.”

McNae was taken to hospital but did not survive.

The Crown said Hall eventually ran off and was later found in a unit at the Ōtaika Rd campgrounds.

Hall is being represented by Ron Mansfield KC and Connor Taylor who opened with a different version to the Crown.

It is the defence case that Hall was being attacked by the group and feared for his life.

“Sometimes it’s human nature. Men, being staunch and resulting in a combination of decisions made and things often get out of control,” Taylor told the jury.

“Out of control for those involved having no appreciation for what may happen.”

‘He was outnumbered’

Taylor said the Crown had painted Hall as the aggressor when it was the other way around.

“He thought a serious assault was to follow upstairs, it is that narrative that is relied on as being correct.

“To avoid this serious assault he did swing out with a pair of scissors to injure and distract so he could get past him and away from the risk. Hall was alone, he was outnumbered and that was his reality the entire time.”

Taylor said Hall carried the scissors on him because he had been knitting.

Police outside the block of flats at Anzac Rd, Morningside, where McNae was fatally stabbed. Photo / NZME

Emotions became high in the public gallery as CCTV showed the fatal moment McNae suffered the stab wound to the neck.

The footage captured the group talking at the bottom of the stairwell before Tahitahi, Rapata and Hall, in a fluorescent orange shirt, ascending the stairs with McNae behind.

Hall is seen turning and inflicting a blow with his right arm to McNae’s neck. McNae then descends the stairwell and goes out the door.

Outside CCTV footage captured the frantic aftermath as multiple people stepped in to assist McNae as he collapsed on the ground while Hall is seen kicking the car and pacing back and forth.

Hall is later captured on CCTV exiting through a rear building door and running down a hill.

Under cross-examination, Mansfield put to Courtney Rapata that the group arrived ready to “teach this guy a lesson” which she refuted.

Mansfield suggested McNae and Tahitahi made a beeline for Hall and that Rudolph was attempting to hide his appearance from CCTV.

Mansfield said the CCTV had not captured an area at the bottom of the stairs where he alleges Hall was given a hiding by McNae and Tahitahi.

“That is false,” she responded.

“In that whole time I was there I seen Lance and nobody laid their hands on Lance”.

The trial is expected to last three weeks before Justice Grant Powell.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.