Texts to girlfriend spoke of stabbing confession

Haiden Davis. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Murder accused Haiden Davis texted his girlfriend saying he was "going to church to wash away his sins" after the fatal stabbing of Augustine Borrell, a High Court jury has heard.

Davis, 20, sent Kara Mustard a string of text messages hours after he fought with Augustine, 17, on Jervois Rd in September 2007. Augustine died from a stab wound to the heart and Davis is defending a murder charge at the High Court at Auckland.

His lawyer, Ron Mansfield, asked Miss Mustard about texts he sent her the day after Augustine was killed.

Davis seemed "shocked and upset" when he was talking about the fight, she said.

She told the court Davis had shown her how he had stabbed Augustine, but in cross-examination Mr Mansfield challenged her account of the conversation.

He put it to her that the demonstration never happened. She said it did.

Asked why she didn't mention it to police until last March - when she had already given them two statements - Miss Mustard said she didn't remember it when she gave those statements.

Mr Mansfield read to the court a series of texts the pair had exchanged. Davis wrote: "I think I stabbed him", "I'm going to confess", "He just kept fighting me" and "He fell on the ground".

The lawyer asked Miss Mustard why she would need to ask questions about what went on if he had already shown her what happened.

She replied she "just didn't think".

Dr Timothy Koelmeyer, a forensic pathologist, told of the autopsy performed on Augustine. He said the knife was not twisted and passed "straight in and came out again".

Justice Rhys Harrison asked if it was known how much force was used. Dr Koelmeyer said the knife had a very sharp point so wouldn't have required a lot of force - just a "firm push".

The judge asked if a person who had been stabbed in the heart would be able to stay on their feet, and for how long, before they collapsed.

"Surprisingly some stab wounds can take some time to have an effect on the body ... it can be anything up to 10 or 15 minutes," Dr Koelmeyer said.

In response to questioning from Simon Lance, a lawyer for Davis, the pathologist said he couldn't exclude the possibility that the body was "propelled" on to the knife.