KEY POINTS:
Police investigating the murder of German backpacker Birgit Brauer simply "got the wrong man", the defence says.
Michael Scott Wallace, 46, is on trial in the High Court at New Plymouth for the murder of the 28-year-old tourist, whose beaten and stabbed body was found at Lucy's Gully,
near Oakura, southwest of New Plymouth on September 20, 2005.
The crown says Wallace was drifting around the country, often taking drugs, when he picked up Ms Brauer as she hitchhiked between Wanganui and New Plymouth, drove her to Lucy's Gully and killed her.
In opening the defence, lawyer Patrick Mooney said the defence theory could be put very simply.
"The defence case is that they got the wrong man."
He then called a witness who told the court he saw a woman he believed to be Ms Brauer at Oakura on the day of her death at a time when Wallace had been seen at Cardiff, near Stratford by other witnesses.
Mr Mooney said if Wallace was at Cardiff and Ms Brauer was somewhere else then he could not be her murderer.
Richard Baird, an auto dismantler, told the court that when he saw a picture of Ms Brauer in the newspaper after her murder he realised he had seen someone similar from the front lawn of his Oakura home.
He said the face of the woman in the newspaper was similar but she was wearing different clothes.
He thought it was the same woman he saw walking towards the Oakura motor camp then onto Oakura Beach, so he contacted police.
Mr Baird said the woman was in her mid to late 20s, slim to medium build, with dark hair that was hanging loose, just over her shoulders. She was wearing brown hiking boots, dark blue denim jeans and a blue parka or pullover.
In cross-examination crown prosecutor Tim Brewer reminded Mr Baird that in his police statement he had said the woman's parka was bright blue, like the colour of a street sign.
He showed him the fawn jacket found with Ms Brauer's body and Mr Baird said it was not the parka he saw.
Mr Mooney later showed him Ms Brauer's dark anorak and he said the style was very similar but not the colour.
Mr Brewer showed the witness the picture he had seen in the newspaper of Ms Brauer and asked how it compared to the woman on the beach.
"Similar, but I can't say it was definitely her," Mr Baird said.
In his original statement to police Mr Baird said he was sure the woman in the paper was the one he saw at the beach and that it had been bugging him all week, though she looked darker than she did in the paper.
Mr Baird said the woman on the beach appeared happy and looked like a tourist. She was not wearing glasses, was not carrying a pack or anything else and her hair was not tied back.
Justice Mark Cooper said he must see a number of people going to and from the beach from his house and asked if there was anything that made him take particular note of this person at the time.
He said no, other than that she was "semi-attractive".
Earlier today the court was told about things Wallace said to police when being questioned after his arrest on October 8.
Detective Ross Wright said Wallace told police he wanted to help but did not know what happened.
"I don't know what is real and what isn't".
He said "I don't want to hurt people, but I did", and that he had "screwed up" two months earlier by smashing up something sacred in his care.
He said he'd rather die than hurt someone and had tried to end things in his own way four times.
Mr Wright said Wallace told him the following day he wanted to give police a statement but his lawyers said he couldn't.
Detective Sergeant Rona Gower said Wallace told her during questioning that he had been using the drug P until he ran out the week before.
The crown and defence will make closing addresses tomorrow. Justice Cooper expects to sum up the case for the jury on Thursday and they will then consider their verdict.
- NZPA
