Queen St apartment homicide: Woman describes desperate struggle before pensioner Herbert Bradley knifed in neck in his home

Sergio Williams is accused of murdering Auckland man Herbert Bradley in his apartment last year but says he was acting in self-defence after the pensioner lunged at him with a knife. Today his trial heard from the only eyewitness, who said both men were holding the blade when it plunged into the 70-year-old’s neck after a desperate struggle. George Block reports.

When Sophie Lucille Rutland flew to Auckland to meet a man she had only recently met on Facebook, she was nervous but hoped the move would improve her situation.

Rutland, then 25, had been living in various locations on the east coast of the South Island. She had longstanding drug and alcohol issues and had endured a series of dysfunctional and at times abusive relationships.

“I was at rock bottom for such a long period,” she told defence lawyer Philip Hamlin during her cross-examination in the Auckland High Court on Tuesday.

“The reason I went up there was for a fresh start.

“It didn’t work.”

She initially got on well with Sergio Frederico Williams, the 35-year-old she had flown north to meet.

They moved into the Upper Queen St apartment he shared with Herbert Bradley, a man twice his age.

Bradley had shown Williams kindness. He helped him fix his car and allowed him to stay at his flat, though what was meant to be only a few days turned into several weeks, and Bradley’s patience was wearing thin.

She and Williams had spent their time looking for a permanent place to live – the apartment complex was about to be knocked down – and sometimes helping Bradley do his laundry and get his medication.

Rutland said she and Williams had smoked meth together around three times in as many weeks, a substantial reduction on the amount she had been using.

About three weeks after Rutland arrived in Auckland, on August 23 last year, she and Williams were arrested and charged with Bradley’s murder.

Williams is now on trial.

He denies murdering Bradley and says he was acting in self-defence after the pensioner lunged at him with a knife.

Rutland, after several months in prison awaiting trial, had her murder charge dropped after she agreed to co-operate with police. She is now the Crown’s star witness.

Sergio Williams on the first day of his trial on the Auckland High Court on November 11, 2024. He is accused of murdering Herbert Bradley on August 23 last year. Photo / Michael Craig

On Tuesday morning, the jury of six men and six women watched Rutland describe the desperate struggle between Williams and Bradley for control of the knife.

She appeared on a screen via video link from the High Court at Christchurch and wore a silver cross around her neck as she was questioned by Crown prosecutor Claire Paterson.

The court heard how tensions soured in the small two-bedroom apartment, overlooking Symonds St cemetery and just off Karangahape Rd, after Williams had become annoyed at how Rutland was speaking to some of his friends at a gathering the previous night.

Their argument had not resolved before they went to bed.

They slept late on August 23 and it appears Williams’ mood worsened when he emerged from the shower to find Rutland and Bradley having a coffee and laughing together on the couch.

Rutland referred to Bradley as “Herbie” and remembered him as a kind, witty man who had never been anything but gracious to her.

The three of them got along well and would eat and share banter together, she said.

Bradley was suffering from a few health issues. Crown prosecutor Rebekah Thompson argued his worsening physical condition, including difficulty walking at times, showed Williams used far more force than would have been necessary for self-defence.

After Williams had emerged from the shower and then returned to the bathroom, Bradley got up and made it clear he had outstayed his welcome.

“Herbie was telling Sergio that he had been there long enough and it was time for him to leave,” Rutland said.

“He said, ‘Look mate, I’ve asked you to go this many times’.”

Williams tried to bring up the fact he’d helped Bradley do his laundry and fetch his medicine, but the older man wasn’t having it, Rutland told the court.

Bradley asked Williams to accompany him to the office of the building manager. Rutland said Williams refused, telling Bradley “I don’t want to go on camera anywhere with you”.

As tensions heightened in the small flat, Bradley raised himself off the couch, went to the kitchen and grabbed and concealed a knife from a drawer, Rutland said.

Police were called to the Upper Queen St apartment complex on August 23 last year after Herbert Bradley suffered fatal stab wounds in his apartment. Photo / Raphael Franks

She said Williams began asking her to come into the bedroom with him, but she wasn’t keen.

Rutland told the court her prior experience was that nothing good came of going into a small room with an angry partner.

Matters continued to escalate.

Rutland said Williams was repeatedly telling her to “get in the f****** room” while Bradley was telling him to “f*** off”.

Bradley went outside onto the apartment’s balcony to cool off, before coming back inside, apparently aggrieved at how Williams was treating her, Rutland said.

“He walked in off the balcony and said, ‘Don’t f****** do that to her’,” she said.

“Then he continued to pretty much run at Sergio with the knife.”

Rutland qualified her statement by saying the 70-year-old wasn’t exactly running but was moving pretty swiftly.

Willliams then grabbed a bar stool and swung it into Bradley’s jaw, she said.

“He took the hit and it didn’t really faze him.”

Bradley grabbed his jaw and took a deep breath.

Rutland said the pensioner then approached Williams with the knife again, appearing to try to stab him.

Williams caught the blade, cutting his hand, but managing to bend the knife up and away from his body.

“It was almost like a tug of war with one person holding the blade and the other holding the handle.”

Williams would have been stabbed if he hadn’t caught the blade, Rutland said.

“It was going to stab him in the abdomen or chest.”

Williams gained the upper hand. Rutland said she wasn’t sure if Bradley gave up or lost control of the knife.

His hand remained on the knife’s handle when it plunged into his neck, all the way up to the hilt, she said.

The knife went in at a 45-degree angle and came out vertical, leaving a huge gash, Rutland said.

Bradley was bleeding profusely.

Police in the carpark of the Upper Queen St apartment complex shortly after Bradley's death.

Rutland said Williams asked her if she had seen Bradley try to stab him.

She said she had, but told him he didn’t need to go that far. The struggle over the knife had lasted only about 20 or 30 seconds, and definitely no more than a minute, Rutland said.

“I thought he had enough strength and control to dominate that situation without Herb needing to get hurt.”

Bradley stumbled out of the apartment and managed to make his way to the ground floor, where he collapsed in a hallway outside the building manager’s office. He was critically injured and died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.

CCTV footage captured Williams and Rutland walking through the same hallway carrying their belongings and stepping over his body as they walked outside to the car park. Police found and arrested them in Williams’ van outside.

Rutland broke down in tears when the prosecutor asked if she’d considered stopping.

“Of course I did.”

She said she didn’t think there was anything she could have done for Bradley at that point.

During her cross-examination by Hamlin, representing Williams alongside Lorraine Smith and Sarah Hames, Rutland asked if Williams was in court.

She then asked whether she could speak to him or whether that would violate an earlier non-association order.

“Is Sergio there? Am I allowed to speak to him or am I still on non-association? Hope he’s alright though.”

The trial continues.

George Block is an Auckland-based reporter with a focus on police, the courts, prisons and defence. He joined the Herald in 2022 and has previously worked at Stuff in Auckland and the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.