11.30am
Murder accused Antonie Ronnie Dixon left court today to a chorus of expletives and abuse after he appeared to answer further charges that he tried to murder two women in the Hauraki Plains township of Pipiroa.
As he stood in the dock in the Manukau District Court today, members of the
public said "scum, scum," as defence lawyer Peter Kaye asked for him to be remanded for another fortnight at the psychiatric unit at the Mason clinic, in Auckland.
As he was led out by his police escort, further calls of "mother f.....", 'murderer" and "killer" were yelled from the public gallery.
Dixon, 34, from suburban Beachlands, had earlier appeared on a charge of murdering James Te Aute, 25, in the Auckland suburb of Pakuranga last week. He was also charged with kidnapping, unlawfully entering a building with intent to commit a crime, and shooting at police.
Today, additional charges of attempting to murder Simonne Rachel Butler and Renee Joy Hills were laid when Dixon made his second appearance.
Both women were attacked with a samurai sword about 7pm last week before Dixon allegedly drove to Auckland, killed James Te Aute and then held two people hostage for several hours before surrendering to armed police.
Surgeons unsuccessfully tried to reattach Ms Hills' right hand, which was cut off during the attack, but the attempt failed because blood vessels in the hand had shrunk and prevented blood from flowing.
The hand was amputated further up the arm during a 14-hour operation at Middlemore hospital.
Simonne Butler was in the operating theatre for 27 hours as surgeons reattached one of her hands and repaired the other badly damaged hand.
Both women are reported to be making a good recovery in hospital.
Members of Mr Te Aute's family who were in court for his appearance were particularly upset as he stood in the dock and later waited outside the court for the police to take him to the Mason Clinic.
- NZPA
* CORRECTION: A picture of James Te Aute, which briefly accompanied this story, was incorrectly identified as a picture of Antonie Ronnie Dixon.
