Sergio Williams argued the killing of Herbert Bradley was self-defence and a tragic accident, but failed to help the pensioner as he lay dying. Video / NZ Police
Sergio Frederico Williams was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Herbert Bradley.
Williams fatally stabbed Bradley after overstaying his welcome at Bradley’s Auckland Central apartment.
The defendant continued to claim self-defence, but Justice Jane Anderson highlighted his aggression and Bradley’s vulnerability.
Born in Switzerland while his father served two terms on the United Nations’ Joint Inspection Unit, he spoke four languages at his daycare. His mother had a PhD in civilengineering.
But then, at some point after moving to New Zealand, his “super bright future” took a radically different direction, his lawyer told a High Court at Auckland judge today as Williams, 37, was sentenced for murder.
Jurors found Williams guilty in November of fatally stabbing 70-year-old Herbert Bradley, a stranger in the early stages of dementia who had allowed the defendant to stay at his Auckland Central apartment for a few days in July 2023 after the car Williams was living in broke down.
A struggle over a knife occurred when Bradley tried to kick Williams out after he had overstayed his welcome - several days having turned into nearly two weeks.
Bradley’s daughter, who had left the apartment she shared with her father so the stranger could use her room, said her father’s generosity often resulted in such grand gestures. But never before had it backfired with such tragic consequences.
Herbert Bradley was killed in his Upper Queen St apartment on August 23, 2023.
“My father was a remarkable man - kind, thoughtful and always willing to help a person in distress, no matter if he knew them or not,” she said today as she read aloud a victim impact statement. “Losing my father has shattered our world in ways I cannot fully express...
“He was my anchor, my source of strength and my confidant... I know for a fact you received the best version of my dad.”
Williams’ lawyers argued at trial that he had acted in self-defence - lucky to emerge unscathed from a life-or-death struggle after Bradley introduced a knife into an already tense situation. The defendant continued to insist on that version of events today, briefly interrupting the proceedings to tell Justice Jane Anderson he had evidence of police corruption that would prove his innocence.
The judge told him it was a matter for appeal, not to be considered at sentencing, and carried on.
Sergio Williams appears in the High Court at Auckland on the first day of his murder trial in November 2024. He was found guilty of murdering Herbert Bradley, who had taken him in. Photo / Michael Craig
Recounting the facts of the case, Justice Anderson noted that Williams had taken advantage of the victim’s generosity by staying in the apartment and inviting his girlfriend to stay as well. The couple had argued the night before and were continuing the argument the next morning when Bradley stepped in, holding a knife behind his back, and told Williams it was time to move out.
The girlfriend, Sophie Rutland, was also initially charged with murder. The charge was later dropped, and she agreed to give evidence against Williams at trial.
“You were acting aggressive, beligerent and refusing to accept that you needed to leave,” the judge recounted today.
Williams was trying to force Rutland into the bedroom when Bradley presented the knife. Williams picked up a barstool and swung it at Bradley, hitting him in the face and causing him to stumble.
During the struggle that followed, Williams managed to pull Bradley’s fingers off the knife and gain control of it. He stabbed Bradley three times - to the left side of his face near his eye, to his left shoulder and the fatal wound to the right side of his neck.
All of the wounds were in a downward direction. The judge pointed out that Williams was 17cm taller and fit while the victim was about twice his age, overweight and unsteady on his feet. As Bradley bled to death, CCTV showed the defendant and Rutland stepping over him as they packed up their belongings and left the building.
They were arrested a short time later.
Murder generally carries a mandatory life sentence with a minimum period of imprisonment of at least 10 years.
Defence lawyer Lorraine Smith asked the judge instead for a finite sentence, arguing that the unique facts of the case would make a life sentence manifestly unjust.
“There were opportunities for both men ... to de-escalate the situation,” she said. “Neither did.”
Bradley, she said, could have called the building manager or police to help evict the defendant rather than introducing a potentially fatal weapon into the situation.
“While Mr Bradley was 70 years old, he was still a 70-year-old with a knife,” Smith said. “The struggle between Mr Bradley and Mr Williams was not one-way traffic.”
Justice Anderson agreed it was not “one way traffic”, which needed to be viewed as a mitigating factor as part of her sentencing. But she said the case was not like other rare murders where a life sentence was found to be manifestly unjust. Those cases have included mercy killings, young offenders and defendants who suffered longtime abuse at the hands of the victim.
Sophie Rutland and Sergio Williams flee the scene after Williams stabbed pensioner Herbert Bradley in the neck in his Upper Queen St apartment on August 23, 2023. They stepped over Bradley as he lay dying and made no effort to help him. Photo / CCTV via NZ Police
She agreed with the suggestion by Crown prosecutor Claire Paterson that Williams receive life imprisonment with a 10-year minimum before he can begin applying for parole.
“You overpowered a vulnerable victim,” the judge said. “I find you were motivated by anger when you stabbed Mr Bradley.”
But the judge also accepted the defendant’s troubled background.
His father, the defence had said, was at one point tipped to potentially be the next president of Panama. But he died of a stroke when Williams was 4. His mother, meanwhile, suffered a major head injury when the defendant was 2. It affected her short-term memory and her ability to respond to her son emotionally in a healthy manner, the judge was told.
Mother and son moved to New Zealand after his father’s death and his mother entered a physically abusive relationship that affected Williams greatly, the court was told. He developed dependencies on cannabis and methamphetamine that, combined with an ADHD diagnosis and his trauma, “left him locked in a world of dysfunction ... that led to his offending”, Smith said.
The judge noted that many murders are caused in the context of drug addiction by people with troubled backgrounds. Most, she said, result in life sentences.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
