Lawyer fights to clear 'evil and dangerous predator'

Liam Reid during a 2008 court appearance. Photo / Supplied

A lawyer crusading on behalf of a man serving preventative detention for the brutal rape and murder of deaf woman Emma Agnew says she has closed her heart to the victim's family.

Davina Murray is fighting to clear the name of Liam James Reid, who is serving a 23-year sentence for the rape and murder of Ms Agnew in Christchurch in 2007 and the rape, attempted murder and robbery of a 21-year-old student in Dunedin nine days later.

Reid was described by the sentencing judge as an "evil and dangerous predator" but Ms Murray tonight described him as strong, determined and with "the spirit of a warrior" in an interview with 60 Minutes.

"I know that they've got the wrong man in jail, so the murderer is still out there."

Asked about what Ms Agnew's family might feel about her fight to clear Reid's name, Ms Murray said it was "very hard" to do her job and think about the victims of crime.

"You have to close your heart down to what they're going through and what they have been through, so I haven't given it a lot of thought."

Ms Murray visited Reid in prison 80 times over nine months last year - about three times a week.

She is currently facing two charges after she allegedly smuggled him an iPhone, cigarettes and a lighter at Mt Eden Prison in October.

Ms Murray described her relationship with Reid as very strong.

"You have a relationship of trust and you become their only voice. Nobody else is listening to him."

Ms Murray told 60 Minutes Reid did not commit the crimes and she had fresh evidence to prove it.

"I've read the file and I think I'm probably the first lawyer in the country, which is sad, to make that assumption.

"But in my view, if his trial counsel had in fact printed off all of the disclosure which was located on 24 disks that police had provided, it would have been evidentially clear that it was actually impossible for Liam Reid to have committed the murder."

Ms Murray said prosecutors had incorrectly claimed Ms Agnew's phone had not switched over to daylight savings time, and the chronology did not fit.

"Taking Emma, raping her, murdering her, digging a hole, putting a body in it - they have to push the time back to make it possible."

Ms Murray also disputed DNA evidence of a hair found in Ms Agnew's car, which she said was mixed up with evidence from Reid's backpack.

"He was never in that vehicle."

Ms Murray said the attack on the Dunedin student was a case of misidentification and she was not worried the victim's blood was found on the upper part of Reid's shoe.

It was plausible that he had walked through her blood, she said.

Ms Murray said Reid was "caught in the trap" of being in a gang and had been made to take the heat for the crimes.

She wants to take the case to the Supreme Court, which has denied an appeal, but said police had destroyed all exhibits - which she said was "incredibly suspicious".

Detective Inspector Tom Fitzgerald of Christchurch police told 60 Minutes that the Crown proved its case beyond all reasonable doubt, and Reid was convicted by a jury.

The matters raised by Ms Murray were canvassed in court and police had no wish to relitigate the case, he said.

Ms Agnew's mother Louise Agnew said she believed Ms Murray had been "fooled by Liam in such a way that she has become gullible".

"Liam's ex-girlfriend testified that he had killed Emma and there is no denying this and the strong DNA evidence against him," she said in a statement to 60 Minutes.

"If Davina Murray continues to support him through an appeal and he is released, then we believe that the community will not be safe and he will reoffend, and this will be on her shoulders."