KEY POINTS:
The partner of the man accused of murdering Hawkes Bay farmer Jack Nicholas lied to police about his whereabouts on the day of the crime, a court has heard.
Murray Kenneth Foreman, 51, is on trial at the High Court in Napier for the murder of Mr
Nicholas who was shot dead at his home near the Kaweka Ranges in 2004. He denies the charges against him.
Jurors yesterday heard recordings of angry exchanges between Foreman and his partner Lyssa Whatarau 19 months after Mr Nicholas was killed.
Napier detective Scott Dunn played sound bites extracted from bugging devices which had been planted by police in Foreman's house and cellphone, Mrs Whatarau's cellphone and Foreman's neighbour, Deon Betty's house.
On March 29, 2006, the day after Mrs Whatarau told Foreman to look her in the eye and answer, "did you shoot Jack?" (which he replied to with an aggressive "no") she was tracked down by police and interviewed for about five hours.
Later that evening she told Foreman about the interview and admitted she made a mistake by lying to police.
"I forgot what bullshit I said to them two years ago, I f****d up," Mrs Whatarau said.
"I said that I was staying the night at your house and that you were on the nightshift the morning Jack got killed."
Foreman became enraged at his partner and the conversation spiralled into an argument. He told her she was not to talk to anyone again without a lawyer.
"I'm wild, don't you sign nothing, don't talk to nothing. From now on you say nothing without a lawyer, okay?" Foreman said.
She told him how she also lied to police about where she was living at the time Mr Nicholas was shot dead.
"I lied and they caught me out lying," she said.
Although Foreman was furious at his partner for talking to police, he always turned the conversation's focus to her cousin Donna Kingi - the woman who believed Foreman told her he shot someone the morning Mr Nicholas died.
Foreman threatened to "get her" and "slit her throat" if he ever saw her again.
"What the f*** is she doing accusing me of doing something I didn't do?" Foreman said.
The trial continues
- NZPA
