KEY POINTS:
A married Tauranga father of three developed a sexual relationship with a married woman who lived two doors down from his house, but within a month he had beaten the woman's infant daughter to death.
That is part of the Crown case against murder-accused Michael John Curran, 28,
who is alleged to have inflicted 33 separate bruises on to the body of 2 1/2-year-old Aaliyah Morrissey.
The injuries included bruises to the toddler's genital area, head, ears, cheeks, eyes, trunk, abdomen, buttocks, and right thigh, as well as a broken arm.
The worst of the injuries were, however, internal, with her brain trauma proving fatal.
The High Court at Rotorua heard the opening address from Crown prosecutor Greg Hollister-Jones yesterday, in which he explained to the jury that Curran had beaten Aaliyah on two separate occasions before her death on September 15, 2005, in the Starship hospital.
Evidence from doctors would be given over the course of the eight-day trial, showing that Aaliyah's brain injuries were consistent with the child being "slammed against a solid object".
The first of the injuries were noticed by Aaliyah's mother, Hoana Morrissey, on September 9, the day after she left her daughter at Curran's house for an overnight sleep.
Mrs Morrissey gave evidence that she went to pick her daughter up in the morning and was told by Curran's wife Donna that the bruises to her daughter's face had been caused by a fall from a bunk onto a wooden toy box.
Mrs Morrissey, in tears at times, admitted that she had started a sexual relationship with Curran in the previous month. Her husband Brad, who worked at the Tauranga wharf, had moved out temporarily but had returned to live at home with her by the time the child was killed.
Sex with Curran would take place about twice a week for three weeks while the child played outdoors, Mrs Morrissey said.
At one stage Curran had objected to the child being clingy to her mother and commented that "I babied her", Mrs Morrissey said. When she rejected his advances for sex in front of the girl, he was often grumpy afterwards.
At one stage Curran had taken the girl from the arms of her mother, smacked her on the bottom and told her to go outside and play.
After the bruises were noticed on September 9, Mrs Morrissey became concerned at a worsening bruise to her daughter's genital area as the weekend progressed. She said she did not go to the doctor straight away because she wanted to see what happened to the bruise the following day.
Mr Hollister-Jones said evidence would show that at 11.30am on Tuesday September 13, 2005, Mrs Morrissey and Curran's wife left their youngest children, Aaliyah and Matthew [Curran's son], in the care of the defendant while they went to town to pay bills and shop.
It was during this time that extreme violence towards the young girl took place, after which Curran phoned his mother in a panic to report the child was bringing up blood and going floppy. He also rang a friend to say the girl was behaving like a "zombie".
When his mother arrived Curran went out to fix a bike, but the pair soon noticed the child's strange breathing.
A lie was perpetuated by Curran to say he and his mother were at the house together when the change to Aaliyah's condition began, Mr Hollister-Jones said.
It would be shown that Mrs Morrissey took a call at 12.23pm from Curran while she was leaving the Pak 'n Save supermarket. A short time later an ambulance call was made. The girl was admitted to ICU at Tauranga Hospital but was soon transferred to the Starship in Auckland.
Inconsistent accounts were given by Curran to detectives in the period that followed, including an admission by him that he had "freaked out" and shaken the girl. When consequences were brought up during an interview, Curran mentioned manslaughter, Mr Hollister-Jones said.
Curran faces one charge of murder. In a brief opening by defence lawyer Paul Mabey, QC, the jury was told his client accepted that he caused the death of the child. "It was by his hand." But he questioned whether the "unlawful killing" was manslaughter or murder. The trial continues.
