Jealous man beat partner to death, court told

Gavin Horua as pleaded not guilty in the High Court at Rotorua to murdering Luana Ani Raukawa at their home in Kaingaroa Forest in November 2009. Photo / Thinkstock

Enraged to see his drunken partner being kissed in his bed by another man, a Bay of Plenty resident beat her so savagely she died, a jury was told today.

Gavin Horua, 35, unemployed, from Kaingaroa Forest, 50km south east of Rotorua, has pleaded not guilty in the High Court at Rotorua to murdering Luana Ani Raukawa at their home in the forestry village on November 7, 2009.

The jury was told Horua admitted causing Ms Raukawa's death, however his defence would be that he was not guilty of murdering her but guilty of manslaughter.

Crown prosecutor Amanda Gordon said the couple had been drinking heavily with friends before Ms Raukawa's death.

Initially she had refused a drink because she'd recently had a contraceptive injection and thought it would make her ill, but later she began drinking wine.

She became drunk quickly and collapsed twice before getting into bed.

A short while later a party-goer, Jason (Paora) Ransfield, went to her bedroom where he began to kiss her. He had described her as being "half out of it".

Ms Gordon said the accused had gone to the bedroom looking for a guest's car keys and Mr Ransfield saw him standing in the doorway, mumbling.

Mr Ransfield left and the accused returned to the bedroom where he severely assaulted Ms Raukawa, before pulling her into the hallway.

"The accused inflicted a number of blows to her head and face, Miss Raukawa initially tried to defend herself protecting her head and face but the attack was so severe she lost consciousness," Ms Gordon sad.

Jason Ransfield's brother Mark had gone into the house and heard Horua say, "that is what you get for kissing your cousin".

He saw the accused standing over a motionless Ms Raukawa, who was almost naked.

His first thought had been to retaliate but instead he went to Ms Ransfield's sister's home for help.

"He [Mark Ransfield] knew it was serious, that she may be dead," Ms Gordon submitted.

Meanwhile, Horua had placed his partner on the bed and tried unsuccessfully to dress her in a pyjama top.

He went to his ex partner's home where he claimed to have caught Ms Raukawa "rooting with Jason Ransfield in his bed".

He kissed his four children saying he would not be seeing them for a long time.

Ms Raukawa was later pronounced dead.

In a video interview he said when he saw Ms Raukawa and someone else having sex in his bed, he went away but returned to find they were still in bed together.

He had pulled Ms Raukawa out and hit her a couple of times before dragging her into the passage.

"He said he stood on her head and face around the nose and eyes, then put her to bed," Ms Gordon said.

"He said he didn't mean to go so far, that he just wanted to give her a couple of little hits and got carried away."

A post mortem established Ms Raukawa died as a result of brain injuries of the type normally associated with a high-impact road smash.

The trial, which is before Justice John Priestley, is expected to run until the end of the week.

- NZPA