Māngere murder accused was gun enthusiast and competitive gun club member, jury hears

Ita Faataape, left, and Corrdon Esera are accused of killing 19-year-old Misiona Talafu Petelo in 2021. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Prosecutors say the man accused of murdering 19-year-old Misiona Talafu Petelo was a gun enthusiast who knew the “power and danger” of the military-style rifle he chose to use in the 2021 shooting in Māngere.

Corrdon Femitiai Vailoa Esera attended a gun club, took part in shooting competitions and had extensive safety training about guns and gun storage, Crown prosecutor Aminiasi Kefu told jurors at the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday.

Police had found a single-bolt rifle, an air gun, rounds of ammunition, scopes, and gun cases at Esera’s home, the court heard.

After a brawl at the Oakwood Manor motel in South Auckland on October 16, 2021, the Crown alleges the 32-year-old defendant went home, chose an AR-15 semi-automatic and used it to fire four shots at a car filled with people because he was angry at them.

At the wheel of the car was Petelo, who was killed by a bullet that struck him in the back of the head.

Esera has admitted firing the gun from the passenger seat of his Mazda ute, driven by his friend and co-defendant Ita Faataape.

The court heard the pair lay in wait at the motel for their target, followed the Suzuki Swift Petelo was driving before Esera fired four shots, one of them fatal.

It wasn’t an act of self-defence or a scare tactic gone wrong, Kefu told the jury, but a plan Esera “considered, prepared for, and executed”.

He said Esera’s murderous intent was evident in the number of shots he fired at a full car, his knowledge of guns, and the preparation that went into the shooting.

“The result of the four shots speaks for themselves. Actions speak louder than words,” Kefu said in a four-hour closing address.

Esera had asked another friend to drive him at first, saying “Someone pulled a knife on me”, but this friend was not available so he went to Faataape, the court heard.

Kefu said Faataape was party to the murder - he knew Esera’s intention and chose to help when he got into the driver’s seat.

Faataape’s claim he did not know Esera had a gun and was forced to drive his friend out of fear were lies, the prosecutor argued, saying the rifle was nearly a metre long and difficult to conceal.

But there was no evidence Faataape knew what Esera was going to do or saw the rifle until it was too late, defence lawyer Kelly-Ann Stoikoff countered in her closing address.

She said Faataape had tried to drive the car away from the Suzuki Swift as quickly as he could once he grasped the situation.

Her client did, however, lie to police when he denied being close to Esera and driving his ute at first, she said, addressing what she called the “elephant in the room”.

He was in the driver’s seat and the pair were like cousins, Stoikoff said, but he lied out of fear when police told him the case was a shooting and a murder.

Defence lawyer Graeme Newell asked the jury to find Esera guilty of manslaughter - that is, killing as a result of the unlawful act of firing a gun.

He said Esera had merely wanted to scare the group and stop them from returning to the motel to cause trouble - there had been violence, threats to kill and to use a knife at the property, which had caused fear.

“He had no reason to intend to kill or injure anyone,” Newell said.

Judge Layne Harvey will sum up the case before jurors retire for deliberations on Thursday.