Eli Epiha has pleaded guilty to the murder of Constable Matthew Hunt. Video and audio here was shown to the jurors.
Video / Supplied
WARNING: THE VIDEOS IN THIS REPORT ARE GRAPHIC
Two confronting videos showing the moments before and after Constable Matthew Hunt's murder have been released by a High Court judge.
During an opening statement from prosecutors, the two videos were played to the jury in the Auckland trial ofEli Bob Sauni Epiha and Natalie Jane Bracken.
In one of the videos — stationary CCTV footage focusing on a nearby backyard — a car crash, screams then 14 loud gunshot blasts could be heard. They were from a military-style semi-automatic firearm.
The other video shown to jurors — cellphone footage taken by a witness moments after the shots — showed Constable Hunt lying motionless in the street as Bracken got into the driver's side of another car and Epiha, with two guns slung over his shoulders, took the passenger seat.
Constable Matthew Hunt. Photo / Supplied
Epiha, whose trial began this week, has admitted murdering Hunt, although he contends the death was due to recklessness rather than murderous intent.
Hunt, 28, was fatally shot at a traffic stop in West Auckland's Massey on June 19 last year. He was the 33rd police officer to be killed in the line of duty in New Zealand.
Eli Epiha. Photo / Michael Craig
While admitting killing Hunt, Epiha denies a charge of attempting to murder Constable David Goldfinch, who was seriously injured during the same Massey shooting.
Bracken is also on trial this week in front of the same Auckland jury, charged with being an accessory after the fact to Hunt's murder, assisting Epiha by obtaining a car and driving him away from the scene.
"It shows a level of persistence and determination that demonstrates what was in Mr Epiha's mind," Crown prosecutors Alysha McClintock told jurors yesterday, explaining that only 10 seconds elapsed between when Goldfinch was shot at 10 times and Hunt was fired on four times.
"It is hard to imagine a clearer demonstration of Mr Epiha's intention that day. It really does take you as close to the inside of his mind as you can get."
