Darkie Cable on the morning he pleaded guilty before his murder trial go under way. Photo / File
WARNING: Distressing content
A man bashed his long-time partner so badly, she lost consciousness and later died in hospital.
But Darkie Cable tried to deny he killed Sam Shaylani Reid, instead concocting a story to police he was tending to his nearby cannabis crop when his partner fell off a deck at their home near Taupō.
Cable came clean about what he did to Reid on the day he was to face a charge of murder before a jury in the High Court at Rotorua on August 2.
The horrific details of Reid's final days with her abusive partner have now been revealed in a summary of facts released to the Rotorua Daily Post.
Reid and Cable had been together for about 13 years. There had been five previous family harm incidents relating to the pair between 2008 and 2020.
As well as a charge of murder on January 25, 2020, Cable pleaded guilty to two counts of injuring Reid with intent to cause her grievous bodily harm a month earlier, on Boxing Day December 26, 2019.
The summary said the pair were together at Reid's parent's home in Maketu celebrating Boxing Day when the couple began arguing.
Cable dragged her outside by her hair and subjected her to a sustained physical assault, punching her in the face with a closed fist in front of family and friends.
Each punch was delivered with such force it caused Reid to fall to the ground.
He also kicked her several times in the head and torso.
Family and friends pleaded with Cable to stop, but he responded threateningly
saying: "You better f*** up!" "Stand there and watch or I'll smash you."
It eventually stopped when a neighbour confronted Cable. Reid fled to a relative's house.
Later that night, Reid returned to the house. Cable again punched her in the head with a closed fist.
The punch was delivered with such ferocity it sent Reid's head through the
wall cladding causing the wallboards to splinter, the summary said.
Cable then grabbed her by her hair and threw her down a flight of stairs into
a vehicle that was parked nearby.
While she was on the ground, he stood over her and said: "I'll smash you in front of your cousin ... I don't care, I'll smash all these c***s."
He then dragged her by her hair around the side of the house and continued the attack, kicking and punching her.
Police later arrived and Cable fled the scene. Reid was taken to Tauranga Hospital where she was treated for extensive bruising to her head, face and torso. She also had a
conjunctival haemorrhage around her right eye.
Between this day and January 25, police were looking for Cable but couldn't find him.
The summary said Cable was no longer welcome at the Maketu house so the family moved to Te Toke Rd, Ohaaki, near Taupō, where there was a porta-com building and a single- level dilapidated house.
The property adjoins neighbouring land where Cable's half-brother and his partner lived.
Cable became enraged with Reid over a minor issue when he asked her to get some of his personal items from his vehicle. Reid did as she was asked, but didn't get everything he wanted.
Cable then began assaulting Reid outside the porta-com on a grassed area.
He punched and kicked her several times.
An autopsy was unable to confirm whether a weapon had been used, but the force of the violence caused her to lose consciousness.
Cable then drove off and told his sister-in-law to go and help Reid. The pair then returned to their house and carried Reid inside.
Cable's half-brother also came to help and Cable told the pair to tell emergency services he wasn't there and that Reid had fallen off a deck.
Cable then hid at his half-brother's house.
Due to her critical injuries, she was taken by ambulance to a nearby area where a rescue helicopter was able to land and she was airlifted to Waikato Hospital.
While paramedics waited, Cable went to where they were waiting and said someone had told him she was being taken away by ambulance.
He attempted to explain her injuries by telling them Reid had been renovating the house, had been drinking heavily lately, and smoking marijuana.
At the hospital, she was placed on life support but due to the non-survivable nature of her injuries her life support was turned off and she died the next day.
The autopsy revealed the victim died as a result of blunt force trauma to her
head that caused a large bleed on her brain and led directly to her death.
An assessment of the number of blows to Reid's head and face was complicated
by the existence of injuries from the earlier assault on Boxing Day.
When interviewed by police, Cable said on the morning of her injuries he wasn't at home and had driven to attend to his cannabis plants near the State Highway 5 and Ohaaki Rd area.
Reid has been described to the Rotorua Daily Post by her family as a beautiful and loving woman who could make anyone smile.
He will be sentenced on November 19 at the High Court in Hamilton.