'No reason' to gun down young pizza worker

Pizza parlour owner John Bell choked back tears yesterday as he described to a jury how part-time worker Marcus Doig was gunned down by a robber "for absolutely no reason whatsoever".

Mr Bell, the owner of the Pakuranga Pizza Delivery Company, was lucky to be alive after the aggressive and agitated robber, now known to be Ese Junior Falealii, tried to kill him as well.

Falealii is serving life for the murder of 23-year-old Mr Doig and the murder a week later of Mangere Bridge ASB teller John Vaughan, 43, in May last year.

Three men are accused in the High Court at Auckland of being parties to one or both murders.

They are also accused, with a fourth man, of being involved in a number of robberies.

Mr Bell told the jury that Mr Doig had worked part-time while studying at university. He continued the work when he got a full-time job at the ANZ in Newmarket, because he was saving to travel overseas.

Mr Bell told the court that on the night of the killing he was putting down the phone when a robber came into the shop with a cut-down rifle.

He heard a "sliding, clicking" sound from the gun as the robber told him to "put the ******* money in the bag."

As Mr Bell carried out the instruction, the robber gestured for Mr Doig to come out of the back room.

"He told him to get down on the ******* floor."

Mr Bell told Simon Moore, the Crown Solicitor for Auckland, that all the money from the till, just over $400, had been put in the robber's bag. As Mr Doig was getting to the ground, Falealii pulled the trigger. Mr Doig was hit in the top of the head and slumped face-forward.

Realising he would be next, Mr Bell dived for cover.

The robber fired two shots, missing him by about 30cm on each occasion, before leaving the premises.

Another part-time worker, Mark Mallard, told the court that as he left to make a delivery, he saw a car parked outside the pizza parlour with two Maori or Polynesian occupants who appeared to be "wasted".

In his opening address four weeks ago, Mr Moore said Falealii, who is to give evidence for the Crown next week, would say that Joseph Sam Samoa and William Logan Johansson gave him a gun and waited in the car while he carried out the robbery. They allegedly told him that if the owner did not co-operate "he should just shoot him".

They also allegedly told him that they had carried out a raid on the premises some time before but the owner had resisted.

Johansson's lawyer, Chris Comeskey, suggested there was a marked distinction between the first robbery at the pizza parlour, where no shots were fired, and the later robbery in which Mr Doig was killed.

Mr Bell agreed with Mr Comeskey that despite complete co-operation from him and Mr Doig, Falealii shot Mr Doig for no apparent reason.

The shooting was unprovoked and unexpected, and was carried out after the robber had the money.

Mr Bell agreed with Samoa's lawyer, Ron Mansfield, that if Falealii had suggested or had earlier said that something gave him a fright, causing him to pull the trigger and accidentally shoot Mr Doig, that would be "ludicrous".

Mr Mansfield suggested that Falealii was in control, but Mr Bell told the court: "He was in control because he had a gun and we were almost lambs to the slaughter.

"But his actions and aggressiveness, I would not call that control."

Mr Bell agreed with Justice Tony Randerson that there was a difference between the robber controlling others and being in control of himself.

The accused

* Facing charges are Joseph Sam Samoa, 28, of Mangere and William Logan Johansson, 27, of Otara, who are accused of being involved in the murder of Marcus Doig and the attempted murder of the pizza parlour owner, John Wilfred Bell.

* They are also accused, with Pago Savaiinaea, 27, of Otara, of the murder of John Vaughan.

* Samoa faces five charges of aggravated robbery, having pleaded guilty to four others at the start of the case and another one during the trial, including the robbery of the pizza parlour.

* Johansson faces 12 aggravated robbery charges, Savaiinaea three.

* A fourth man, Kenneth Edward Kitiseni, 33, of Manurewa, also faces three aggravated robbery counts.